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A comment on Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016). Parent comment

Re:Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016) by SkyMarshal on Sunday September 05, 2021 @10:42PM (#28429721)
> Actually, I feel like most of stories do not have anything about money. A writer makes a choice. If everybody made choice to create world without money, would you be nitpicking about it, too?

The Star Trek TNG formulation for this is that scarcity of everything was eliminated with the invention of matter-energy conversion technology, along with limitless energy-generation tech like matter-antimatter reactors.

In a universe where all advanced civilizations can convert energy into food, clothes, equipment, etc, and energy is effectively limitless, at least relative to human needs, then money becomes obsolete and people no longer use it for anything.

At least one episode covers it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQQYbKT_rMg

I've always assumed any other post-scarcity sci-fi adapts the same premise - unlimited energy + matter-energy conversion = money is non-existent.

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Re:Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016) by User23 on Monday September 06, 2021 @12:17AM (#28430170)
Iain M. Banks did a far better job with this concept in his Culture[1] novels. In short sure, if you just want to eat a lot of steak or be a god in your local reality simulating VR or something you're good to go, but if you want to be a galactic kingpin not so much. And on the scale where the real players are playing, it comes down to matter. There's plenty to go around, but don't get greedy.

[1] http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm

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Re:Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016) by WalterBright on Monday September 06, 2021 @12:19AM (#28430189)
Steak is so cheap these days, we've already more or less achieved that :-/
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Re:Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016) by WalterBright on Monday September 06, 2021 @12:18AM (#28430181)
> then money becomes obsolete and people no longer use it for anything.

Why doesn't anyone build their own fleet of starships, then? And why do the Ferengi exist?

Then again, why do anything at all since the Holodeck could dial up any experience you wanted?

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Re:Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016) by Avamander on Monday September 06, 2021 @05:14PM (#28438172)
> Why doesn't anyone build their own fleet of starships, then? And why do the Ferengi exist?

Because you get to human relationships, there's a very strong push towards not allowing you to do that if it could endanger a lot of others in the wrong hands.

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Re:Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016) by tintor on Monday September 06, 2021 @01:09AM (#28430511)
Even with unlimited energy and matter conversion, but without money what motivates doctors, for example, to do their job?
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Re:Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016) by Ekaros on Monday September 06, 2021 @02:23AM (#28430996)
And doctors might be on the more interesting end of job spectrum. What about dude whose job is to watch over the robots doing cleaning, of the sanitation system. Or other similar things, day after day looking at monitors with nothing new on them...
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Re:Towards a taxonomy of cliches in Space Opera (2016) by SkyMarshal on Monday September 06, 2021 @01:29PM (#28435966)
They probably have robots to watch over the robots doing the cleaning, and AI to watch monitors and stuff.
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