People in the UFP don't get paid. They don't get paid!!

[Deks]

The Federation trades with other species on a regular basis.
They merely don't use money/currency to accomplish it, but rather resources, scientific knowledge, technologies, etc ... you know ... things that certain species might find invaluable in comparison to currency.

Janeway for example traded 145 (I think it was that many) Isolinear chips for an Isokinetic cannon.
They also created a Federation based alliance in the Void in season 7 which purpose was in fact sharing of technology and resources through a basic trade system and nothing more (something the actual federation was doing).
Heck ... Janeway even gave to one alien captain a phase compensator for nothing in return ... which in the long run resulted for the said captain to join the alliance that drew other ships to join and Voyager also gained technology that tripled replicator efficiency using 50% less power than they did before ... not to mention that through such cooperation, ships in the alliance fared far better with sharing resources and technologies than when they were separate ... which also lead to the creation of a specific field generator that was required for the alliance to escape the void (and the work on the generator would have been much slower if Be'Lanna didn't have help from their allies).

I would say the said system works.

 

[Sci]

Deks said:
OK ... when it comes to waiters in Sisko's restaurant ...
Did it ever occur to someone that there are people who like to do such jobs ?

I have yet to meet a single person in my entire life who truly enjoys waiting enough to do it with no compensation. The best I've ever heard any waitor say about the job was that it wasn't unpleasant and that she got paid. The worst I've ever heard said was that the work was demeaning, servile, involved unreasonable social pressures, and didn't pay enough for all the stress involved, and that he'd never wait again for the rest of his life even if he was starving to death.

As such, I find the idea of someone waiting for anything other than some form of compensation to be extremely, extremely implausible.

 

[broberfett]

Sci said:

Deks said:
OK ... when it comes to waiters in Sisko's restaurant ...
Did it ever occur to someone that there are people who like to do such jobs ?

I have yet to meet a single person in my entire life who truly enjoys waiting enough to do it with no compensation. The best I've ever heard any waitor say about the job was that it wasn't unpleasant and that she got paid. The worst I've ever heard said was that the work was demeaning, servile, involved unreasonable social pressures, and didn't pay enough for all the stress involved, and that he'd never wait again for the rest of his life even if he was starving to death.

As such, I find the idea of someone waiting for anything other than some form of compensation to be extremely, extremely implausible.

I concur, I agree wholeheartedly with this statement. I was a waiter once. As far as Barkley, the enlightened Federation assholes were laughing at him and mocking him. If Picard wasn't there, they would have continued laughing at him and mocking him.

 

[Turtletrekker]

^ I see waiters being people who are maybe working their way through a non-Starfleet Academy college or simply waiting for a better job to open elsewhere.

I used to work at a 7-11, and when asked by a small child (out of the mouths of babes, indeed) if I liked working there, I told him that I liked working at 7-11 better than I liked not working at all. Honestly, even though it was 7-fucking-11, it was better than not having income and having way too much time on my hands. It was my "Oh my God I need a job" job, but it was better than nothing.

 

[broberfett]

Yeah, but why would you do that? You aren't getting money to pay for college. I'm in college and there is so much homework that I barely have time to do anything, so going to hangout for a shift at Cisko's restaurant to "improve yourself" would just hurt your grades. You won't starve either in their Federation Utopia(yeah, right). I bet the waiters stomachs are growling from hunger when they are waiting the tables and if they try to graze some food from the restaurant Darth Cisko beats them.

 

[serdogthehound]

Looking Backwards is a idea of how a system of "money-less" econmics may work it something to look at for those interested

 

[Turtletrekker]

broberfett said:
Yeah, but why would you do that? You aren't getting money to pay for college. I'm in college and there is so much homework that I barely have time to do anything, so going to hangout for a shift at Cisko's restaurant to "improve yourself" would just hurt your grades.

Lots of people work their way through College. Perhaps a student working in a restaurant such as Sisko's could even be gaining work credit because they would like to own their own restaurant someday, or be a chef themselves. It's called "practical experience". And even if the school provides food and shelter for its students, they still might like to go out on the town, or go off planet during liberty/vacation periods. They would need credits for that.

You won't starve either in their Federation Utopia(yeah, right). I bet the waiters stomachs are growling from hunger when they are waiting the tables and if they try to graze some food from the restaurant Darth Cisko beats them.

This is such a ridiculous assertation that I have to honestly wonder if you've ever actually watched Star Trek. Or if you have, I have to wonder if you see what's really being shown or if you just see what your pre-conceived notions let you see.

Although "Darth Sisko" does have an ironic note to it as Brock Peters played Darth Vader in NPR's Star Wars radio dramas.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

People keep saying that the Federation could operate on a barter system or something like that. This is inherently inefficient, especially on such a massive scale. Barter breaks down when no one wants what you have, and you want what nobody else has.

That is why a monetary system of some kind is the most efficient - the only efficient - means of exchange. It's something anyone and everyone can use.

 

[broberfett]

Hey, I actually know stuff. Such an obscure reference and you thought it was by accident.

 

[John Picard]

Babaganoosh said:
People keep saying that the Federation could operate on a barter system or something like that. This is inherently inefficient, especially on such a massive scale. Barter breaks down when no one wants what you have, and you want what nobody else has.

That is why a monetary system of some kind is the most efficient - the only efficient - means of exchange. It's something anyone and everyone can use.

Exactly. In Econ 101 you learn that whenever a society wants to come up with a fair and efficient means of seeing who gets goods/services, it always boils down to the auction system.

 

[Turtletrekker]

broberfett said:
Hey, I actually know stuff. Such an obscure reference and you thought it was by accident.

So I did. :thumbsup: