Re:Driverless buses hit the streets of Sion
by narrowrail on Saturday May 14, 2016 @03:25PM
(#11697649)
Was Star Trek TNG an example of futuristic communism? It seems all real world attempts at communism were simultaneously founded as dictatorships, and Picard didn't seem like a dictator. I guess the post-scarcity world is a bit difficult to imagine.
[ Parent
| on HN ]
Re:Driverless buses hit the streets of Sion
by dbcooper on Saturday May 14, 2016 @05:28PM
(#11698116)
The Volokh Conspiracy post, "How Federal is Star Trek's Federation?", is probably the best thing I've read on Trek's political economy. It describes something rather more authoritarian ...
Re:Driverless buses hit the streets of Sion
by david-given on Saturday May 14, 2016 @04:49PM
(#11697969)
...there's a fan theory that Star Trek and Blake's 7 are both depictions of the same universe, portraying the same Federation; it's just that Star Trek is pro-government propaganda, while Blake's 7 is resistance propaganda (on a much lower budget). Neither one, of course, tells the whole story...
Re:Driverless buses hit the streets of Sion
by kuschku on Saturday May 14, 2016 @03:53PM
(#11697768)
Star Trek TNG was social democracy with a basic income.
No one had to work, but people could still get a benefit from doing so, and could own things.
One theory how all this fits together: https://medium.com/@RickWebb/the-economics-of-star-trek-29ba...
Re:Driverless buses hit the streets of Sion
by johnchristopher on Saturday May 14, 2016 @03:55PM
(#11697775)
The federation was a peaceful powerhouse but it was the most aggressive economic force around.
https://medium.com/@RickWebb/the-economics-of-star-trek-29ba...
(keep in mind we are in the fan realm, nonetheless a nice read if you are into ST)
Star Trek's form of government (TNG and after) was an example of "capitalism bad something something magical post-scarcity fairy juice." Fans have since put much, much more effort into theorizing about its actual nature than the writers ever did.