the average Ferengi doesn't exactly have progressive politics
I wonder how true this is sometimes. Given that the Grand Nagus was a secret commie (by Ferengi standards) who hands off leadership of the Ferengi government to an overt communist (again, by Ferengi standards) and we never hear of a Ferengi Civil War or Rom's assassination in subsequent media. That suggests to me that there's more progressivism buried in Ferengi society than we might think.
Of the DS9 Ferengi, the only main cast true believer in the Ferengi ways is Quark, and as you said even he comes around a bit at the end. His brother is a commie, his nephew joins the commies (Starfleet) and his mom is a radical feminist anarchist or commie or something. Of the recurring Ferengi characters, I think only Liquidator Brunt (FCA) is a die hard and that's probably because he's their equivalent of a fed.
It's not absurd to think that the majority of Ferengi are pretty reasonable after centuries of contact and exchange with more progressive and open cultures and that they're only being led around by a powerful (rich) minority of die hard conservatives who can destroy their lives for daring to dissent (or form a union).
I wonder how true this is sometimes. Given that the Grand Nagus was a secret commie (by Ferengi standards) who hands off leadership of the Ferengi government to an overt communist (again, by Ferengi standards) and we never hear of a Ferengi Civil War or Rom's assassination in subsequent media. That suggests to me that there's more progressivism buried in Ferengi society than we might think.
Of the DS9 Ferengi, the only main cast true believer in the Ferengi ways is Quark, and as you said even he comes around a bit at the end. His brother is a commie, his nephew joins the commies (Starfleet) and his mom is a radical feminist anarchist or commie or something. Of the recurring Ferengi characters, I think only Liquidator Brunt (FCA) is a die hard and that's probably because he's their equivalent of a fed.
It's not absurd to think that the majority of Ferengi are pretty reasonable after centuries of contact and exchange with more progressive and open cultures and that they're only being led around by a powerful (rich) minority of die hard conservatives who can destroy their lives for daring to dissent (or form a union).