What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

[Kamen Rider Blade]

The Royal navy and US navy literally has dedicated science vessels.

Yes, a few dedicated "Science Vessels".

I know, I've seen the Fleet Inventory of both the US Navy & Royal Navy.

The amount of dedicated WarShips & Logistics Ships still out number the "Science Vessels" by a good margin.

Both the USA and UK military have dedicated laboratory facilities and research facilities.

I know.

But that's a far cry from EVERY Ship in the US Navy & Royal Navy having Giant Science Labs & Lab Staff / Researchers on every single vessel + War Time Configuration for Combat Duties + Diplomatic Suites + Engineering Staff + Tactical Staff all on the same vessel, multiplied across every Ship in the Fleet as a standard configuration.

Every Single StarFleet Vessel is Multi-Role and generally would have a:
- Deep serious Science Division on Board
- Dedicated Engineering Staff
- Dedicated Tactical Personnel on Board
- Regular Ships crew.
- Etc.

Then there are dedicated Divisions within StarFleet that handle the spread out R&D from each of the major dedicated stationary labs, Ship labs, Field Labs where you have Scientists constantly reporting back on their findings and sharing knowledge first hand and doing cross referencing of information and sharing at such a massive level that it might as well be close to a University & Dedicated Research Institute level on top of being a StarShip / WarShip and able to do all the other things StarFleet is usually tasked to do.

That's completely different way of operating than what a traditional Military is asked to do on a daily basis.
The scale, scope, & focus is completely different than what a conventional Military is tasked to do on their daily routine.

 

[Crazyewok]

@Kamen Rider Blade

I would be intrested to hear your views on currency in the federation.

 

[cooleddie74]

Now that's a can of worms even gold-pressed latinum for the best opener shouldn't buy.

 

[Crazyewok]

Now that's a can of worms even gold-pressed latinum for the best opener shouldn't buy.

Just doing my part to keep this forum active and alive

 

[cooleddie74]

Earth doesn't use anything resembling 20th and 21st century money, hence Kirk and other characters starting in TVH and stretching up to the present saying "we don't use money." Federation credits, though, exist for trade, barter and exchange on multispecies Federation-aligned outposts and space stations.

Other Federation member worlds have the option of local currencies based on their indigenous cultures and the planets that do continue a local currency-based economic structure comply with the economic rights and protections clauses in the Federation Charter and Constitution.

And, of course, lots of non-Federation powers and civilizations use money because, hey, we're not those enlightened Federation people who eschew most forms of profit.

 

[Crazyewok]

Now that's a can of worms even gold-pressed latinum for the best opener shouldn't buy.

Actually to be fair I think it operate like the EU.

Kinda depends what planet you are on.

Earth likely has no money or little use and you can get by on rations of replicator credits if you so wish. Though you have the option to do work like waiting ect to earn money for imported or specialized items like a bottle of chatou picard or a meal cooked with real ingredients.

Nearer the frontier which will rely more on imports they probably have more use for money.

 

[Crazyewok]

Earth doesn't use anything resembling 20th and 21st century money, hence Kirk and other characters starting in TVH and stretching up to the present saying "we don't use money." Federation credits, though, exist for trade, barter and exchange on multispecies Federation-aligned outposts and space stations.

Other Federation member worlds have the option of local currencies based on their indigenous cultures and the planets that do continue a local currency-based economic structure comply with the economic rights and protections clauses in the Federation Charter and Constitution.

And, of course, lots of non-Federation powers and civilizations use money because, hey, we're not those enlightened Federation people who eschew most forms of profit.

Beat me to saying basically the same

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I would be intrested to hear your views on currency in the federation.

This is from one of my older posts, but here it is again.

Here's "My Head Canon" on 'Money' within the UFP:

Money in the UFP never went away, it was just left as a "Digital Form" of currency for many centuries.
The Federation Credits that we see & hear about is the only form of "Universal Currency" that is truly considered "Universal" across the UFP since you can use it on ANY member world within the UFP & all of it's allies/protectorates.
The primary reason for "Digital Only" currency was because the advent of rapid manufacturing & replicators made counterfeiting of traditional "Physical Currency" WAY too easy.
Digital Currency also gives Governments more Power/Control over currency and where it goes by monitoring it and putting locks on it should somebody misuse their funds, the government/banks can freeze their accounts.
That was one of the "Ulterior Motives" behind going pure Digital Currency.
Unfortunately, due to the 'Early Rapid Additive Manufacturing that leads to the eventual Replicator Revolution', Digital Currency became the default solution due to the massive counterfeiting that was going on.


Part of the reason that StarFleet Officers don't worry about Currency is that they get paid in Federation Credits, but they generally don't use Credits while participating in service as a StarFleet Officer.
All Acommodations, Food, Items, Knowledge, Transportation, etc are provided to StarFleet Officers w/o having to be part of the greater UFP Economic System.
Thanks to Replicator Technology and StarFleet as a Organization being 100% Vertically Integrated, they have their own Supply Chain to run their operations and take care of everything, including long term payments for the Work / Service of their Officers.


That's why Beverly Crusher was able to pay for the "Bolt of Gold Fabric" and have it charged to her account on the Enterprise-D.
Verbal Confirmation along with Video Footage allowed automated charging of her digital account.
The entire financial process is seemless / frustration free.
Also, she rarely needs to buy things from outside vendors, so she's flush with Federation Credits.
Thanks to her history as a top level doctor, her joining the "Mariposas" and her nomadic life style allows her to function as part of "Doctors w/o Borders".
The Mariposa Foundation even gives her the SS Eleos XII to operate out of on a semi-permenant use basis w/o charge as long as she functions as a Doctor for their organization.
That's why she's able to live her life in a nomadic life-style as a Doctor & raise Jack Crusher as a single-mother.


Anways, back to Physical Currency, it didn't make a return until relatively recently (Late 24th / Early 25th Century).
The Ferengi is on the path to join the UFP thanks to Grand Nagus Rom & Captain Carol Freeman helping to (show/prove) that the (UFP/StarFleet) isn't filled with "a bunch of Suckers & Rubes" for people.
They of course eventually join sometime in the (Late 24th / Early 25th Century).
Captain Carol Freeman's Picture is immortalized in UFP/StarFleet history when the Ferengi first signed the documents to join the UFP as an example of a truly cunning & wise human that convinced Grand Nagus Rom that it's worth it for the Ferengi Alliance to join into the UFP.


Thanks to the eventual new UFP members, "The Ferengi Alliance"; their help within the UFP bring back Standardized Physical Currency in the form of a new "Latinum based/embeded Physical Currency".
The Physical form of Currency based on "Latinum Embedment" into the Physical Currency itself makes it "Impossible to CounterFeit".
Beyond the requirement to embed the appropriate amount of Latinum inside each piece of physical currency, there are other "Anti-CounterFeit" measures in place.
"Simple Tech" like embedded RFID chips within the Physical Currency that contains a Encrypted Unique Serial # / Date of Manufacture of each piece of Physical Currency helps to make sure nobody can CounterFeit w/o detection.
So somebody else trying to put extra Latinum into the wider Currency Supply chain is detectable since there is a Universal Government Run database of every currency ever created (Physical/Digital)
The RFID chips allow it to be traced along its journey thanks to retail outlets who check if the currency is valid during the Check-Out / Payment process.
Any form of excess CounterFeit currency that is detected will be removed and financial investigators will be sent to find out who CounterFeit the currency by making their own Latinum based Currency and try to infliltrate the total supply of money. With a Government Backed Universal Database, the total supply of currency has been kept relatively fixed.
Basically all "Digital Federation Credits" are a 1:1 asset representation to the "UFP Physical Currency".


This makes physical currency available & Financial Privacy available to individuals again; something people have opined for years, but was never able to solve on a wide scale.
All Currency is "Heavily Regulated" along with a UFP Government Law to prevent Inflation / Deflation of the value of currency.
This way, the value of each unit of currency stays constant and adjust to the size of the population and the actual wealth of the economy so that each persons buying power remains fixed per unit of currency, no matter the time frame or location within the UFP and it's sphere of influence.

After that, most of the economy is generally very stable and there are little to no financial issues within 99.9% of UFP Core Member Worlds that are heavily populated and aren't part of the expanding frontier colonies.
Also, modern UFP Physical Currency is designed after the Metric Standard, so every unit of Currency that increases in value is exactly 10x the previous unit.
Everybody loves the Metric System, even StarDates are "Metric Time" based.

Unfortunately, the only hold-outs from using the Metric System as their "Primary Form" of units of measure are the Americans on Earth and most other Alien Member Species within the UFP.
They have a Dual Measurement System where they learn both their customary species form of "Units of Measure" that co-exist with the "Metric System", just like the Americans on Earth.

 

[Ray Hardgrit]

Oh no, am I too late for the monthly 'is Starfleet a military' discussion? Because I've thought of a good answer this time.

Starfleet carries out the duties of a military and is structured like a military and literally has court martials, but it cannot be confined by our understanding of what a military is or should be. For example, a statement like "Riker should've been forced to command a ship after Best of Both Worlds because that's how militaries work" is flawed, because Starfleet is clearly doing its own thing.

It's like how a phaser is undeniably "a gun", but it's not a device that uses tiny explosions to launch bullets out of a barrel. If someone uses a phaser to heat a rock or cut metal, the show isn't getting guns wrong.

 

[Finn]

It was a loop ten pages ago.

 

[Tallguy]

OMG there's SIX NEW PAGES this morning!

 

[BillJ]

OMG there's SIX NEW PAGES this morning!

Hey, I’m only responsible for five of them…

 

[cooleddie74]

I'm partly to blame for taking the bait on the "does the Federation use money" question, but at least KRB didn't post a 10-paragraph response to my comment.

 

[Campe]

I have many other things I need to catch up on as well.

Trek isn't the only Franchise I follow.

I have many backlogs of many different things from Various other Shows, to numerous Anime series, to Tokusatsu, to J-Dramas, to Games.

Then there's work & various IRL responsibilities.

That's not to mention keeping up with Tech on a daily basis.

I have a full time job, two young children, a wife who travels a lot for work and I coach my son’s T ball team. This week, I had time to catch up on several shows despite my wife being gone three days, one of my coworkers being on PTO all week, my son having his 6th birthday party and two T ball games and practice.

Oh, and I was born in 1979 and I’ve seen all the Treks.

And Who’s the Boss.

 

[Turtletrekker]

This thread is becoming the definition of insanity.

 

[1001001]

I would be intrested to hear your views on currency in the federation.

 

[The Wormhole]

Starfleet carries out the duties of a military and is structured like a military and literally has court martials, but it cannot be confined by our understanding of what a military is or should be.

Loath though I am to engage in this particular never ending circular debate, I'm going to say that if the audience isn't supposed to view Starfleet according to our definition of what a military is today, than the show shouldn't have done its damnedest to make Starfleet so similar to modern militaries. When viewers see US military traditions and terminology being used in Starfleet, it's understandable why they think of Starfleet as being the US military in space. If the writers wanted Starfleet to be something "more than military" or "other than military" it was their job to depict it as such, not the fans job to think of it that way contrary to what we see.

For example, a statement like "Riker should've been forced to command a ship after Best of Both Worlds because that's how militaries work" is flawed, because Starfleet is clearly doing its own thing.

Then ignore the military angle. Riker still should have been forced to command a ship after BOBW because this is a time when experienced command personnel were needed by Starfleet, and Riker was one of the most qualified XOs to be promoted. Granted, the fact that he just saved the Federation does mean Starfleet would be willing to grant him any favor he wanted, and letting him revert to his previous rank of Commander and posting as the Enterprise's XO isn't exactly an outrageous request, even if it does mean squandering a valuable and needed asset. At the very least, Riker most certainly should have been amongst the first batch of officer promoted to Captain when the Dominion War broke out.

 

[BillJ]

As far as Riker goes, I figured that he had an agreement with Starfleet to stay with Picard to keep an eye on him. Professionally, no one would know him better. No one would know if Picard was off after his experience with the Borg.

***

Real world? My oldest son was recruited by the US Navy for their nuclear engineering program. It was quite the opportunity. I just advised him to be prepared for anything if the military needed to be used in combat.

He declined the opportunity.

 

[XCV330]

Now that's a can of worms even gold-pressed latinum for the best opener shouldn't buy.

I'd by THAT for a quatloo

 

[fireproof78]

Then ignore the military angle. Riker still should have been forced to command a ship after BOBW because this is a time when experienced command personnel were needed by Starfleet, and Riker was one of the most qualified XOs to be promoted.

This. They have a top rated experienced command crew and the Federation is now short of experienced officers.