what is the philosophy of money in Star Trek and how do people acquire things without money?

Question

I know its fiction, but there is philosophy in star trek

Answer 1

They pay each other through sexual favors, haven't you ever wondered why Captain Kirk got so much booty, because he was a starship captain and his pay scale was much higher.

Answer 2

Disclaimer: I am not a Trekkie, so this information may not be reliable.

In the original, 1960s series, money exists, at least on Earth. I can't remember the evidence for this very clearly, but i think Bones might mention getting paid at some point. There's also a race of energy beings which use money - the game players of Triskelion, who use quatloos. In other words, a very advanced race of beings uses money, so it can be presumed that money is simply a fact of life in the Star Trek universe as portrayed in the original series, rather than something civilisation will eventually grow out of.

In the Next Generation and other series set after the 23rd century, the Federation does not seem to use money at all. I think Picard says something to the effect that it isn't used any more very early on in the first episode. Meanwhile, the Ferengi definitely do use money and their whole civilisation is based on the idea of profit. As a result, people in the Federation tend to look down on them.

The Enterprise is full of replicators. These are not perfect because the precious metal latinum, for example, cannot be replicated. Assuming this to be a widespread and easily-available technology throughout the Alpha and Beta Quadrants, this means that most goods are easily available to everyone with access to one. This undermines the phenomenon of scarcity, so there are probably few differences in material standards of living between different citizens of the Federation. This changes the whole concept of value, because everyone's material needs can be more than satisfied without anyone having to work. However, not everyone can create an original work of art or have the same skills, so services would still be valued. So, that's part of the answer to your question: people acquire things through replicators.

I can recall various scenes in Star Trek where works of art are regarded as valuable, as are skills, particularly technological ones. However, for some reason i don't get the impression anyone in Starfleet is actually paid. There are differences in status, for example the ordinary crew members are lower down in the Enterprise hierarchy than, say Troi, Picard and Data, but this is based on such things as respect, kudos, experience, responsibility and leadership skills rather than money.

The motivation for work remains. People do things as a means of personal expression, out of academic interest and a desire to do something with their lives.

There is a major difference between the original series and the series set in later centuries concerning money. In the original, money is a fact of life which even very advanced beings use, but in the later series, money is, as Iain Banks once said, "a sign of poverty" and advanced societies do not use it. Work is motivated by altruistic aims or the desire for fulfilment rather than material gain, because all material needs are easily satisfied.

There is a website called www.memory-alpha.org , which can probably give you much more useful info than i could, but i think that's the basic situation. I don't know how the Trekkies explain the change in attitude between the 23rd and 24th centuries though.

Answer 3

Credits? Perhaps chits? People work at various jobs; in several episodes, the miner/whatever on various planets were receiving SOMETHING for their efforts which they used to buy things, so I would say a form of credit.
When I was stationed in Germany, my wife, a Filipina, worked for the Germans. She received no money, no check; it was like a direct deposit. Of course, she could go to ANY bank and withdraw money; out rent was paid the same way. We did not send a check or pay cash, just told the bank to CREDIT our landlord the amount of the rent.
So, I would say a more sophisticated form of credit than what we had in Germany.

Answer 4

The one who said "socialism" is correct. They never ever actually said, to my knowledge. All Picard would ever say was, "It has been worked out," or something to that effect.
I always got the distinct feeling it was the utopian (not-empirically-based) version of "you give your best, we take and give you give you back what you need for your existence." In other words, Marxism. But where Marxism failed mankind in Soviet Russia, leaving millions to starve, and millions to be put to death, Roddenberry's staff felt it could work.

This is my "intuition," which is defined by Dictionary of Philosophy as: "The direct and immediate apprehension by a knowing subject of itself, of its conscious states, of other minds, of an external world of universals, of values or of rational truths."
If it is written otherwise, tell me.

Answer 5

Money is not necessary and no longer exists. They acquire things by going to the replicator.

Answer 6

Yes the philosophy of people who need to move out of their parents' basement.

Answer 7

hmm here is no money its a socialitst society.......go ask a real nerd unless u are 1