Prisoner rehab?
If Money is not a driving force for the federation, what would actually work to replace this....
- Thread starter Maccyj571086
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Prisoner rehab?
Because in the Trek future no one would consider that work menial?
IRL there are people who are happy to be lowly servants for the Royal family because of who they are. And there are people like me who you could not pay me enough money to be at anyone's beck and call 24/7, unless I am looking after my own infant.
I have a friend who is butler to a billionaire, he earns more than me and I still would not do his job.
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I often liked my customer service jobs. I worked at a Wawa (convenience store) and I Ubered a while back for years. They greatly expanded my knowledge of human behavior, and I got to learn the local geography better — and about its different micro-cultures first hand. I have countless stories that I remember and countless others that I wish I’d written down or even recorded...I've often thought that, if I was of the sort, I could have written a sweeping Russian epic about the American experience from my time in these jobs. I knew I could up and leave at any time and easily find similar employment at countless similar places, and that was a great comfort when infrequently I needed to remind myself of that option. I listened to many audiobooks I always wanted to between Uber rides too. And both jobs gave me what I really wanted at the time — time to think. I wasn't tied to them by the neede to support anyone but myself, and they were quite good overall. Plus, in customer service, interactions are usually brief, so by the time you got tired of them or they of you, it was off to the next one. And at the end of the day you'd helped make those of countless others just that much better.
I've had jobs where I earned much more, and in some cases when lives or the serious quality of those lives could have been at stake, but I didn't enjoy them half as much. I didn't feel that connection to making people's lives better for my time there.
If you told me I could take a job as a waiter at Sisko's, I'd jump at it in a heartbeat. I'd work in the old-fashioned restaurant by night and maybe write or sight-see by day. Off to the next world the following summer. And every Andorian Labor Day I'd light a star-lantern and watch it rise and disappear into the night sky as I said a prayer for all us here today, whether we pauper or prince be.
I've had jobs where I earned much more, and in some cases when lives or the serious quality of those lives could have been at stake, but I didn't enjoy them half as much. I didn't feel that connection to making people's lives better for my time there.
If you told me I could take a job as a waiter at Sisko's, I'd jump at it in a heartbeat. I'd work in the old-fashioned restaurant by night and maybe write or sight-see by day. Off to the next world the following summer. And every Andorian Labor Day I'd light a star-lantern and watch it rise and disappear into the night sky as I said a prayer for all us here today, whether we pauper or prince be.
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I always figured that the various waiters and civilian crew we've seen at points were working passengers. That they're heading to a destination - maybe some distant outpost or whatever - and that any Starfleet ship heading in that direction will let them come aboard for the journey, so long as they don't mind pulling a few pints or mopping a few floors along the way.
That waiter from Lower Decks (the episode) sure seemed to enjoy his job and that he gets to talk with the senior officers through that position.
I also guess lounges on ships don't necessarily need bartenders or waiters, since people would be perfectly able to replicate what they need, or even mix it (as Data was allowed to in Conundrum) and it's possible that Ten Forward was fairly unique because Guinan enjoys running a bar and is friends with Picard.
I also guess lounges on ships don't necessarily need bartenders or waiters, since people would be perfectly able to replicate what they need, or even mix it (as Data was allowed to in Conundrum) and it's possible that Ten Forward was fairly unique because Guinan enjoys running a bar and is friends with Picard.
I was a waiter for years and there were times I hated the job, but there were occasions when it was enjoyable, there are a lot of very nice customers out there (more than the horrific ones), but often it was the people I worked with that made all the difference and kept me from quitting. It's a sector that builds team work and organisational skills, plus if you love food then its a great way to get insight into that as well.
Yeah, I'd imagine that in Trek, people who choose to serve people behind a bar for example aren't 'rushed' to fulfill orders for one thing... you're not on a strict deadline... people go Ten Forward to relax and enjoy social companionship mostly... the drinks and food are an extra addition really.
The crew (and regular people) usually have replicators or cooking stations at home so they can prepare meals themselves.
They go to restaurants for the location and to enjoy a change of pace when eating with friends.
Again, its not specifically a 'rush job' really, and the 'stress' would be minimal.
Customer service jobs like restaurants or bars are probably very different in a socio-economic context where 1) impatient customers are more than capable of replicating their order easily, and 2) the employee does not face the prospect of not being able to afford to quit the job if it becomes abusive. In fact, the employer's incentives are changed in such a circumstance; since the employees can always quit without endangering themselves financially, the restaurant or bar has more incentive to side with the employee when there's a conflict with a customer than with the customer (as they do today).
Exactly.
A non monetary system creates completely different circumstances and behaviors - nothing that would even remotely compare to what we have right now.
So if people go into customer service in Trek, they do it for the pleasure of experiencing it and maybe learning more about other people like that.
Not really.
In a society where accumulation of wealth is not a desirable goal (or necessary), your priorities shift yes, but not towards procreation.
Why?
Well, mainly because the population would also be exposed to relevant general education, critical thinking and problem solving.
And with a different socio-economic system in place, you aren't facing societal pressure to have kids... you end up having them if you REALLY want to... and even then it would give you a pause because you'd have the knowledge/mental capacity to really think about the prospect of having a child.
And many people may opt NOT to have children (already we are seeing that the birth rates in well developed nations are well below replacement lines due to better access to say education and basic necessities of life - including health care)..
I didn't literally mean producing more offspring. I meant engaging in the act that normally leads to it.
Kor
Children are an important part of Federation society in the future, just as they are today. It was important enough that Starfleet experimented by allowing families to travel aboard starships on deep space missions.
Beverly Crusher says in one episode (I can't recall which at the moment; perhaps someone can remind me and dig up the quote) that telling a patient that they can't have children is one of the tough conversations that a doctor can have with a patient. Her attitude there comports with attitudes regarding such circumstances today.
The desire to have children is not universal today, and doubtless it won't be in the future. Picard sacrificed the possibility of a family to pursue his career. But in his case that's also something he was shown regretting.
For those who want children, doubtless this will be an incentive to socialize. It could even explain why some people might do something like waiting on tables. It would be in order to meet new people, all kinds of people. It would be unsurprising that some percentage of those waiting on people on starships and starbases are doing it to find a mate. Maybe some are doing it just to get laid.
If we're talking aggregates, I basically agree with @Kor, here. The desire to procreate is a driving force in every known society, including ours. Without it, society would collapse altogether, by the way. Doubtless, this would still be true in the Federation. [edit - My post here was written before I saw @Kor's follow-up.]
On the subject of why birth rates are down in developed nations, @Deks's list is at best substantially incomplete, if not comprising a list of factors that only correlate with the low birthrate. To summarize, @Deks said/proposed that that education and better access to health care are primary causes for the decline in birthrates in developed nations. A more complete list of significant causes would include/consist of the expense of having children, the opportunity costs involved in having them, and the general necessity of every adult in a household to be a breadwinner.
We do not live in an economy in which there are no costs to having children. Besides monetary costs, there are opportunity costs to having children, especially for women, who, because of the way the workplace is structured in countries like the US, must still in many cases sacrifice careers to have them.
In the Federation, post-scarcity or virtually so, there will be fewer costs and opportunity costs to having children. In other words, birthrates won't be as depressed as they are in our society, "despite" education and health care being even better and even more widely available. Having a higher birthrate wouldn't mean that everyone would have children. It would be the case, though, that except in rare cases (see e.g. Sela) having children would be a choice.
Yep.
With the colonies that Trek shows, where its a just a few people living in a village, they need all the children they can get or those colonies will die
Yeah that's one of the silliest things in 90s Trek that (almost?) all the colonies we see are just one, very small, frequently walled settlement.
I guess they got their inspiration from old west frontier towns?
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Levels of privilege would replace money.
For example you would get to use the replicator for certain items, coffee, tea, or chocolate for example as a personal luxury but until you made a certain rank you wouldn't be able to use the replicator to replicate rare artifacts, weapons or other items that might create cultural instability.
Only higher ranking officers, Captain or XO of a ship, would be allowed to replicate personal items of a very rare nature or could give permission for lower ranks to replicate the rare item for personal use.
Everything has a time pattern associated with it and a very rare item, other not the original item, when replicated by a cadet and left in a locker could suddenly become a portal for something that wasn't supposed to come through the item.
For example you would get to use the replicator for certain items, coffee, tea, or chocolate for example as a personal luxury but until you made a certain rank you wouldn't be able to use the replicator to replicate rare artifacts, weapons or other items that might create cultural instability.
Only higher ranking officers, Captain or XO of a ship, would be allowed to replicate personal items of a very rare nature or could give permission for lower ranks to replicate the rare item for personal use.
Everything has a time pattern associated with it and a very rare item, other not the original item, when replicated by a cadet and left in a locker could suddenly become a portal for something that wasn't supposed to come through the item.
Why though? I feel like we’re trying to force inequity into the future because we’re used to it today.
How about this: you strive to better yourself because less “excellent” people have less capacity for realms of happiness. Two people can drink the same hundred year old wine and both like it, but for the one it might be an exquisite experience and the other just another drink. Same with watching a hover-ball match, or plumbing the unknown emotional depths of a holo-novel.
The driving force is to make the most of your life. Others will be of theirs. And it’s fun to discuss and relate.
Striving to better oneself does not give you beachfront property, a yacht, a space shuttle, a ranch with horses or even a family winery
And if you want land on Vulcan ....forget it
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