https://fxtwitter.com/Oetscherbaer/status/1813242561365987659
The Star Trek universe is not communist, although it is often misunderstood as such. Here are some arguments against it:
Private property exists: Characters in Star Trek own personal items like clothes, PADDs (Personal Access Display Devices), and other belongings. This contradicts the communist ideal of common ownership of the means of production.
Currency exists: Although the Federation claims to be a post-scarcity society, there is evidence of some form of currency, such as "credits" or "gold-pressed latinum," which are used for trade with other civilizations.
Social hierarchies exist: In Star Trek, there are clear social hierarchies, such as ranks in Starfleet, different positions in government, and various social classes. This contradicts the communist idea of a classless society.
Individual freedom is valued: Characters in Star Trek have the freedom to make their own choices, pursue their own careers, and hold their own beliefs. This contrasts with the communist idea of collectivism, where the individual is subordinate to the good of the community.
Replicators do not create abundance: Although replicators can produce many goods, they cannot replicate everything, such as latinum or complex technologies. This means that there is still scarcity, and resources are not unlimited.
Competition and rivalry exist: In Star Trek, there is evidence of competition and rivalry, for example in scientific discoveries, sporting events, or political debates. This contradicts the communist idea of cooperation and shared progress.
The Federation is a democratic republic: The Federation is depicted as a democratic republic, where citizens elect their representatives and participate in political decision-making. This is fundamentally different from communist systems, which are often one-party states with limited political freedom.
Although Star Trek presents an idealized vision of the future where many social problems have been solved, it is important to emphasize that it is not a communist society. There are many elements in Star Trek that contradict the basic principles of communism.
Private property exists: Characters in Star Trek own personal items
Opinion immediately disregarded
You mean you don't rent out your clothes to people?
IMO we need a rebranding of the term "private property" to something a bit clearer.
When you say "private property" to the layman, they tend to think it means the same thing as personal property.
I'm personally a fan of using the term "means of production" instead of private property.
Or in other words, "hippity hoppity, surrender your private property."
I've seen someone make the distinction on here where private property is factories means of productions and such and personal property is the stuff you own including things like your home
Characters in Star Trek have the freedom to make their own choices, pursue their own careers, and hold their own beliefs. This contrasts with the communist idea of collectivism, where the individual is subordinate to the good of the community.
Meanwhile, capitalism: "Oh, you decided to go into the arts? Have fun starving. Should've gotten a tech degree."
"Oh you got a tech degree? You absolute dunce and oaf, should've gone into a trade."
"Oh you learned a trade? You're literally an idiot as clinically defined in the early 1900s. You should learn to code."
“All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air, all that is holy is profaned, and man is at last compelled to face with sober senses his real conditions of life, and his relations with his kind.”
Hey ChatGPT give me a list of reasons why Star Trek is actually Capitalist
Lab grown bait. Each point is inconsistent in its perspective of communism. One says they're are officers so its not a classless society, another says its not a one-party system so its not communism.
The first point is “communism is when community toothbrush”, this is weapons grade bait because it’s infuriating even if you recognize it
Captain Fredrick Marx of the U.S.S. John Brown: [looks directly at camera] The Federation does not use money. We no longer strive to collect material things. The necessities of life, including education and access to information, are freely and universally available. We have eliminated poverty, hunger and curable diseases. Hierarchies, such as the chain-of-command on starships, are rare and only used when necessary; civilian life is highly meritocratic. Federation society is not perfect, but it is an improvement on what came before.
Isn't that an almost verbatim quote? I swear either Picard or Sisko said something along those lines either to a time traveler from the past or while they were timetraveling to the past themselves.
Isn't that the Voyager episode "the 37's?"Nah, I'm the one that's wrong here The Neutral Zone is correct.
Picard talking to 20th Century Capitalism Man in "The Neutral Zone"; Picard talking to Lily in the movie "First Contact"; Troi talking to Mark Twain in "Time's Arrow"; Kirk in 1980s San Francisco saying "They're still using money," in "The Voyage Home" -- plus a whole lot more. So yeah, you're absolutely correct.
i was thinking bout the porkie from the neutral zone, thank you
tng The Neutral Zone is where a lot of that comes from, although you may be thinking of Lily asking Picard how much the ship costs in the movie
Passing around the galactic toothbrush because Space Stalin said humans have to share
this has to be a bit.. you couldn't possibly be this absolutely wrong about everything so perfectly
Imagine being so bothered by something not real that you feel the need to write a tiny novel about it.
Assuming they didn’t ask an AI bot to shit it out for them
Actually Stalin literally made sure that every competition finish in a dead heat so there wasn't any hierarchy. This is true don't look this up.
This is also why the first person to stop clapping went to gulag. It wasn't because Stalin was egomanical, it was because he believed everyone deserved exactly the same amount of applause as everyone else.
Sitting around in my utopian spaceship being mad as hell all the time because 24th century Dengists are keeping the government from coming and stealing all my clothes
Communism is when we line up for the toothbrush at the allocated time and place.
Toothbrush? Bourgeois decadence. Ash and water is all a good comrade needs to clean teeth with.
You CAN make a case that Star Trek isn't as communist as it could/should be, but this ain't it.
I think Star Trek is not exactly communist but very advanced phase of socialism, defined by two main factors:
- It became one not because revolution but because WW3 destroyed a lot of capitals and demolished a capitalist class, so it failed to recover before aliens came and brought tech transfers rendering capitalism obsolete and preventing restablishing of the capitalist system (mainly free energy and replication tech making scarcity nearly nonexistent).
- There are hostile reactionary imperialist forces in the galaxy. Therefore state is still needed.
Communist armies and aid corps famously had no chain of command.
Yes