It's not so much a matter of forgetting as it is a matter of those lines having nothing to do with currency in the 23rd Century.
Scotty ~ Pay for the week???
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THe real money statement came from Mccoy in Star trek movie 6: Undiscovered country, but remembner they had to learn crash course in 20th century earth during star trek 4 where they had found they needed real money. Great Classic moments too...
"Excuse me sir, can you tell vhere there are newluer wessels?" - Walter Koeing (Star Trek 4: Voyage Home)
"Watch where you're going dumb ass." - Driver
"Well Double Dumb ass on you!" - Kirk
I always rolled my eyes at the thought that the Federation was socialist or communist whatever and didn't use money (including credits or whatever.)
While it's nice to believe that people would work for the betterment of man, there's no way in the galaxy that would happen with humanity.
People don't work because they want to, for the most part. They work for something and it's more tangible than bettering humanity. It would have to be more than just food and shelter if everyone was getting food and shelter. People are greedy and want more.
Of course, I never figured out how they kept people from holodeck addiction. Personally, I'd bolt the door and never emerge from the holodeck!
While it's nice to believe that people would work for the betterment of man, there's no way in the galaxy that would happen with humanity.
People don't work because they want to, for the most part. They work for something and it's more tangible than bettering humanity. It would have to be more than just food and shelter if everyone was getting food and shelter. People are greedy and want more.
Of course, I never figured out how they kept people from holodeck addiction. Personally, I'd bolt the door and never emerge from the holodeck!
I think Kirk was just using an old term or euphemism in partial jest, since Tom Paris in VOYAGER once stated that by the late 22nd century both Earth and the Federation had done away with conventional forms of money and compensation.
Hurm. Even if we all accept VGR in our personal canons...I'll point out that he's essentially saying that they have used some form of money and compensation, just not "conventional" ones in the eyes of whoever he was talking to. Arex indicates several hard references to some sort of exchange in credits in TOS that can't all be written off as euphemisms.
That's best as a hobby done in one's spare time can hardly be compared to a potentially fatal vocation like service aboard a starship. And if maintaining a BBS where folks can argue increasingly trivial nuances of a 40-year old TV show--no matter how amusing a distraction that might be--is bettering humanity, I've missed something someplace.Belar said:
So I won't even open that can of worms.
People will work for the betterment of humanity, they do it today, but they'll always want a little gravy for doing it.
IMHO, moderating a BBS is bettering humanity. I think it can be described as a social service. It brings people together and one cannot underestimate the value of entertainment (even of the trivial kind). And on another note, there are people on this planet who actually do something for a greater good and are not paid for it. Is it so hard to just imagine an advanced society (the biggest advancement being the replicator) where personal enrichment isn't the only thing that keeps us working? Well, I can. If that makes me a dreamer -- fine. Maybe that's what lets me enjoy Star Trek so much.
BUT, I wasn't THAT serious about it. So, come down and let us be friends!
You're not serious? Not serious? All those electrons wasted, the fuel burned, what kind of Sasquatch-sized carbon footprint did you leave posting a comment that wasn't serious?Belar said:
BUT, I wasn't THAT serious about it. So, come down and let us be friends!
I'm just throwing all three hands up and shaking my head in disbelief. Not serious...
They were obviously playing around...
But they do use credits as currency in that era
But they do use credits as currency in that era
Earth itself, I'd guess, is a social democracy. A perfectly egalitarian society. Credits are a system used to exchange uncommon items of value or services (like Sisco using up his 'transporter credits' at Academy to visit his family every night in New Orleans). There's no money needed in a society who's economy and population is balanced and mutually beneficial.
The galactic economy, however, is much less balanced and suffers from desperate needs from thousands of worlds. It can't be easy to balance an economy with so huge a set of circumstances.
This is just me, but I think it works given how things were generally portrayed in the shows and movies. Socialism and Capitalism, I would point out, are a part of this economic universe just as they are major parts of our economics today. I guess I could say that Earthlings are socialists while Ferrengi are capitalists, yet they can meet in a galactic economy and agree on trade and value.
So what is the exchange rate for a bar of gold pressed latinum?
The galactic economy, however, is much less balanced and suffers from desperate needs from thousands of worlds. It can't be easy to balance an economy with so huge a set of circumstances.
This is just me, but I think it works given how things were generally portrayed in the shows and movies. Socialism and Capitalism, I would point out, are a part of this economic universe just as they are major parts of our economics today. I guess I could say that Earthlings are socialists while Ferrengi are capitalists, yet they can meet in a galactic economy and agree on trade and value.
So what is the exchange rate for a bar of gold pressed latinum?
Credits were the currency of TOS. It isn't till TNG (or, arguably, TVH) that we get this "no money" nonsense. It is quite likely, however, that TOS's Federation was a cashless society. We are rapidly approaching such a state with debit cards, credit cards and electronic banking. When the Anti-Christ takes over, we'll all have sub-cutaneous credit chips implanted in our foreheads or left hands.
But, if it helps, just imagine that Kirk paid Scotty in 17-year-old yeomans and bottles of Laphroaig and Oban.
And again I say.
But, if it helps, just imagine that Kirk paid Scotty in 17-year-old yeomans and bottles of Laphroaig and Oban.
And again I say
.
Heh heh. 
It's confusing to say Earth had credits and so did the Federation, even though both economies are separate. Seems to me all those times a starship was dealing with a non-Fed planet they would use trade exclusively. Hey, I've got a whole cargo hold of diterium for that warp coil.
It's confusing to say Earth had credits and so did the Federation, even though both economies are separate. Seems to me all those times a starship was dealing with a non-Fed planet they would use trade exclusively. Hey, I've got a whole cargo hold of diterium for that warp coil.
Well now let's see. Scotty was a Lieutenant Commander in TOS, so we'll use that as a basis for comparison. A Lieutenant Commander in the present-day U.S. Navy is an O-4 rank according to militaryspot.com. According to startrek.com, Scotty began his service to Starfleet in 2242, so by the time of "Doomsday Machine" (which took place in 2267) he'd have been serving for 25 years. An O-4 in the U.S. Navy with a quarter century of service earns $6,252.30 a month or $75,027.60 a year, according to military.com.
Now then. Assuming that the "Doomsday Machine" takes place in 2267, you're looking at two hundred sixty years of wage hikes. If you figure on 2.5% inflation per year, a $75K salary in 2007 would balloon to $46 million by 2267. But if you just bump up that rate a point and a half to 4% a year, Scotty would be pulling down a cool $2 billion a year on his Lieutenant Commander's salary.
So yeah, a billion a year might not mean diddly to our favorite Scotsman by the 23rd century.
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