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Scotty ~ Pay for the week???

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Keith1701

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I was watching TOS, THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE on DVD and Kirk tells Scotty that he has earned "his pay for the week?" Does anybody know, how much a Chief Engineer on a Starship would make for the week? :brickwall: Please advise...
 
The Squire of Gothos said:
Not sure, just a few years later the Captain can't pay for his date as the Feds don't use money any more :cardie:

They may not use money as we consider it, but I'd wage dollars to doughnuts that there is some from of "currency" system in the Federation.

Most likely transaction are all electronic by that point and "pay" is in the form of "replicator credits" or some such that cover luxury items (Ex: Everyone gets free food and free shelter-- the basics of life--, but if you want that new Apple I-Tricorder, you're going to need to have "replicator credits" to "pay" for it.)
 
I'd always grudgingly gone along with the self-bettering ideal that Trek was supposed to espouse so that everyone had the best fed-pod or whatever and just did what they did out of a sense of duty or some such thing.

I'd reckon on a star ship there would be a need to ration such things so nobody gets distracted from duty, but for the regular Fed cit, who knows what life of dereliction they lead.
 
This is how I sorta see it... Earth didn't have money, but there was a "common currency" in the Galactic community... the Federation Credit. Handy thing to have for any star fleet officer (to save up for that retirement boat).

That's a bit of a retcon, but seems right?
 
Keith1701 said:
I was watching TOS, THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE on DVD and Kirk tells Scotty that he has earned "his pay for the week?" Does anybody know, how much a Chief Engineer on a Starship would make for the week? :brickwall: Please advise...
Why in the name of fuck would anyone know this? You've seen the same episodes that we have, did you see it anywhere?

If this was a failed attempt at some kind of humour, feel free to ignore the above.
 
Plum said:
This is how I sorta see it... Earth didn't have money, but there was a "common currency" in the Galactic community... the Federation Credit. Handy thing to have for any star fleet officer (to save up for that retirement boat).

That's a bit of a retcon, but seems right?

Well, Dr. Crusher did buy that material at the Farpoint Station and told the vendor to "charge" it to her.


elton said:
Keith1701 said:
I was watching TOS, THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE on DVD and Kirk tells Scotty that he has earned "his pay for the week?" Does anybody know, how much a Chief Engineer on a Starship would make for the week? :brickwall: Please advise...
Why in the name of fuck would anyone know this? You've seen the same episodes that we have, did you see it anywhere?

If this was a failed attempt at some kind of humour, feel free to ignore the above.

Kirk gave Chekov an early payday also, but the episode title escapes me for the moment.
 
Given typical rates of inflation and the 23rd century setting, Scotty might be making a billion dollars a year and still feel underpaid.
 
elton said:
Keith1701 said:
I was watching TOS, THE DOOMSDAY MACHINE on DVD and Kirk tells Scotty that he has earned "his pay for the week?" Does anybody know, how much a Chief Engineer on a Starship would make for the week? :brickwall: Please advise...
Why in the name of fuck would anyone know this? You've seen the same episodes that we have, did you see it anywhere?

If this was a failed attempt at some kind of humour, feel free to ignore the above.

Elton,

Good to see you're consistent. Take a Paxil and chill, son.

As far as the OP's Q, I believe Scotty was paid in liquor. Green liquor.
 
elton said:
Why in the name of fuck would anyone know this? You've seen the same episodes that we have, did you see it anywhere?

If this was a failed attempt at some kind of humour, feel free to ignore the above.
Chill out a little elton. It was just a question, feel free to move on to another thread if it bothers you so much.
 
Maybe Kirk was just be facetious when he said it. In another episode he told Scotty he was fired and then later told him he was rehired.
 
Funny, wasn't that a thread some weeks ago? I remember people were talking it to death.

Anyway, I believe what Picard says. There is no use for money in the future. At least not in the Federation!
 
SeerSGB said:
They may not use money as we consider it, but I'd wage dollars to doughnuts that there is some from of "currency" system in the Federation.
IIRC, DeSalle's twist on that phrase was "I'll bet credits to navy beans", which is another clue. I would agree that all indications were that the Federation used a form of currency in the 23rd Century, though it may have been electronically transferred. Kirk's statement in TVH pertains specifically to an incident in which he's expected to chip in for a 20th Century pizza, and clearly they wouldn't be using U.S. dollars in the 23rd Century, nor "money" in general as Gillian would have understood it. My take was always that Kirk was saying that he didn't carry any form of currency that anyone in the 20th Century would recognize.

I also think it's silly that there isn't some form of currency exchange in the 24th Century, as the Federation does deal with species who use hard currency, such as the Ferengi. This weakness was highlighted in an episode of DS9 in which Jake went out of his way to say that he couldn't pay for something on the station because the Federation didn't use money. I'm sure those jumja stick vendors are getting something!

I would tend to think that in Roddenberry's world, the Federation wouldn't base whatever they use for exchange on a valuable commodity such as gold, and they wouldn't have a stock exchange. IMO, that's enough of a basis for saying that they don't have money as we understand it, without getting all hippy drippy and pretending that anyone in the Federation can just pick whatever they want off trees anytime they feel like it.
 
SeerSGB said:
They may not use money as we consider it, but I'd wage dollars to doughnuts that there is some from of "currency" system in the Federation.
IIRC, DeSalle's twist on that phrase was "I'll bet credits to navy beans", which is another clue. I would agree that all indications were that the Federation used a form of currency in the 23rd Century, though it may have been electronically transferred. Kirk's statement in TVH pertains specifically to an incident in which he's expected to chip in for a 20th Century pizza, and clearly they wouldn't be using U.S. dollars in the 23rd Century, nor "money" in general as Gillian would have understood it. My take was always that Kirk was saying that he didn't carry any form of currency that anyone in the 20th Century would recognize.

I also think it's silly that there isn't some form of currency exchange in the 24th Century, as the Federation does deal with species who use hard currency, such as the Ferengi. This weakness was highlighted in an episode of DS9 in which Jake went out of his way to say that he couldn't pay for something on the station because the Federation didn't use money. I'm sure those jumja stick vendors are getting something!

I would tend to think that in Roddenberry's world, the Federation wouldn't base whatever they use for exchange on a valuable commodity such as gold, and they wouldn't have a stock exchange. IMO, that's enough of a basis for saying that they don't have money as we understand it, without getting all hippy drippy and pretending that anyone in the Federation can just pick whatever they want off trees anytime they feel like it.

[/QUOTE]

You also forgot another great line.

DeSalles jab at chekov (koeing) about his duties in the science department and his jab at him for speed.

I love koeing's next line to the jab.

"No chief, I'm not that green." (reference to mr spock)
 
klingongoat said:
Kirk gave Chekov an early payday also, but the episode title escapes me for the moment.

Didn't Spock make a reference to the amount of money Starfleet invested in the training of himself and Kirk in (IIRC) Errand of Mercy?

TGT
 
Yes. I think it's Kirk though. When they're storming Kor's HQ, he says something about Star Fleet getting a return on their considerable investment in them. There's a similar comment in "The Apple" after Spock get's the chest full of poison thorns. Kirk asks him if he knows how much Star Fleet has spent on his training and Spock starts to quote the figure.

To the broader issue, there's always going to be confusion on this issue when people try to view the original series through the socialist utopian lens of TNG.

In Star Trek, the Federation, if not outrightly a capitalist society, retained many of the characteristics of one. Officers were paid credits for their work. Miners dug dilithium and pergium for credits. Asteroids were prospected and tribbles bought and sold for credits. Subspace radio brides were provided for credits and false patents were sold for them. Mad starship captains planned to sell immortality for credits. Colloquial speech carries references to money or a medium of exchange--"Credits to navy beans", "I'd pay real money if he'd shut up".

It can be problematic to use the 24th century shows to illuminate the 23rd. They're either different universes (divergent WW3's, etc.) or something happened to change UFP culture and the mindset of humanity in the time between ST and TNG. Or rather Star Fleet culture as that's our limited window on the UFP. Drawing from GR's speculations in the TMP novelization, perhaps the 24th century attitudes are the result of nearly a century of the New Human movement's influence on Terran society.

Guinan may give you a drink for free, but if you want one on K7, better have a credit or two.
 
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