Money.

There are many aspects of The Next Generation that put the "fiction" in "science fiction." One of those futuristic concepts that boggles the 21st-century viewer is imagining a world without money. What does it mean to live in a time when, as Captain Jean-Luc Picard explains in Star Trek: First Contact, "the acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives"? Does the existence of replicators and seemingly endless energy destroy any modern concept of economics?

In this episode of Earl Grey, Daniel, Darren, and Phillip attempt to suppress their Ferengi capitalistic instincts and try to explain how Federation society works without any identifiable currency. They also tackle how Starfleet exists in the same galaxy as other species who use latinum, leks, darseks, and other forms of money in their pursuit of trade agreements and resource exchange. Get your bitcoin account ready to accept Federation credits as Earl Grey tackles money—or the lack thereof—in the 24th century. 

 

Hosts

Phillip Gilfus, Daniel Proulx, and Darren Moser

 

Editor and Producer

Darren Moser

 

Associate Producers

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Chapters

Money in TOS-TNG (4:02)

Federation Interactions with Species with Currency (13:17)

Menial Jobs (16:09)

Why Work? (29:16)

No Personal Wealth (40:02)

Is This Possible? (45:20)

 

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