this post was submitted on 10 Sep 2025
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There are no billionaires in star trek, Elon.
There's been billionaires since the Orion were introduced and it's not like there aren't wealthy businesses owners in the federation. It's just post scarcity in large part so the difference between the wealthiest person and the poorest isn't so stark.
When you take into account Natasha Yar's childhood where she grew up in poverty having to hide from rape gangs then is it even really post-scarcity?
Or is it just post-scarcity for Starfleet and certain parts of the Federation?
Turkana IV (Natasha Yar's planet) started off as a federation colony after all. And became a dystopia even while still a member of it. So if the Federation is considered a post-scarcity society then why didn't Turkana IV benefit from that?
Inside the federation it's very very close to post scarcity but it's not quite perfect. Outside the federation like we see in the delta quadrant it's 100% not and a overall story line for like 4 seasons was them getting chased around with everyone trying to steal replicator technology.
Lower Decks made fun of billionaires in the latest season. There was a planet that recently joined the Federation and was burning money and throwing away gold. And there were some unhappy local billionaires.
I want one of their "no money no problems" t-shirts
Sure there are. They are all short with really big erogenous ears.
People should absolutely reply with pictures of Quark and various Ferengi.
Elon names stuff after things in The Culture, but he's Joiler Veppers
Grok really upsets me, that's my favorite book and although I know Mike wouldn't hate Elon I really really hope he would. That said if you limit sources and insist on making it see through your lens you're by definition not allowing it to grok anything.
Grok is from Robert A. Heinlein. I believe the first reference is Stranger in a Strange Land. He would probably be okay with billionaires, too. He was also a promoter of competence and critical thinking, so he might have held Elon specifically in disdain.
Yes it's my favorite book.
Mike was a billionaire, the nest had a literal pot of money that anyone could just take and do whatever.
But no he would love Elon. To grok is to understand fully, to understand is to know, to know is to love. Essentially everyone has a redeemable quality and Mike would love that part especially but also all the lesser parts and even the hard to love parts because all those other parts are part of what makes the part he truly loves.
Ah. The "he" I was referring to was Robert. It's been over 30 years since I read that book, and forgot the protagonist's name?
Oh Heinlein was a stanch liberation so yeah he probably would be.
Eh don't feel bad his name is actually Valentine Michael Smith but all his friends just call him Mike and most of the book he is referred to as Mike or Michael.
Yeah, that's the one. If I remember the overall tone, it would be in character for him to see the collection of wealth as a response to some childhood harm that it would be better for Elon to overcome, so he could be free of its binding influence. Not that his being a billionaire was bad, but him having a compulsion to hoard wealth is harmful for his well-being.
Exactly. I would have started with ending all monetary systems and starting a global post-scarcity society.
A Starfleet Captain commands the wealth of nations. I don't think it's fair to say Billionaires Don't Exist so much as to say the liberal ideal Meritocracy is made manifest.
Being entrusted with large amounts of resources is very different from owning large amounts of resources.
I didn't watch Picard. How did Geordie end up with the Enterprise?
Paramount wanted to make a shit ton of money off a property they owned, so they fucked around with established continuity to give it more mass appeal.
He's the caretaker of the federation fleet museum. Basically a cushy retirement job for a guy who has a family and didn't want to get shot at any more. He's probably the only cast member that acts like an adult in Picard. 😆
So they could have undocked an historical fleet and only took their favorite ship? Seems like a tactical oversight.....
Giordi has spent like 20 years putting it back together from pieces after it was destroyed, and it was still the most powerful ship in that museum by a long shot. The Galaxy class was still in active service in Picard.
Fair enough. Would have been nice to see some Nebulas and Mirandas be used as harrying vessels.
I had forgotten it got destroyed in Generations. Poor Beverly.
I’m in charge of $600 million+ worth of hardware at my job. This does not grant me monetary agency over the value of that hardware.
Commands, as in "has the responsibility for".
Not "owns and can do whatever the fuck they want with it and be a dumbass asshole to everyone"
Various Star Fleet officers have periodically violated Federation rules and guidelines to achieve some ideological goal or moral imperative that cuts across the fleet's stated mission. Like with anything there's limits - Starfleet has its own police, crews can mutiny, eventually you run out of dilithium to gas up your warp drive so you can't go rogue forever. But for a deep space galaxy class vessel, they're regularly stuck making their own decisions under a military autocracy.
The Starfleet Admiralty Problem is a chronic plotline in the series, with admirals routinely engaged in all sorts of corrupt practices and villainous endeavors. Every captain from Kirk to Freeman has to deal with their share of higher ranking officers fucking around and being dumb assholes. Hell, Kirk himself is demoted from Admiral to Captain for going rogue in The Voyage Home.
Yes this is called individual freedom. And people are apt to serve their own interests occasionally. The overall point is that there are consequences to those actions. And every one of those rogue admirals discovered what those consequences were. None of them got off scot-free to ride off into the distance with their ill-gotten gains.
That's why we need Wobblies from Space
Don’t worry. When there’s a point of saturation. We won’t be able to leave earth orbit because of space junk.