Star Trek Universe Has What Type Of Govt?

Star Trek is definetly a representary democracy- it's the voice of the people that rule, including aliens.

I would dare take the next step forward and preclude that an apartment anywhere on Earth 500 of your years from now is worth $1 million and up... that Earth will quickly build milespires- buildings a mile high.

Furthermore, Earth must have some sort of tarriff on exo-planetary goods coming to Earth... Starfleet would have to be a three Trillion dollar arm of the government.

 

Wow you managed to insert Newt into a Star Trek question. Clumsily albeit. But a valiant effort. Obsessed are you?

 

Give how cheap food is and the general avilibility of bridges to live under, you've pretty much got that now.

However people are impressive for their ability to say that everyone has a right to things that didn't exist a couple decades ago, and they can't live without them.

Trek may have finally managed to get past that with cheap holobands that can make you think you're anywhere, holographic doctors, and food replicators that just need a jolt of energy to turn your poop back into a cheeseburger.

But we're still a looong ways off.

 

Two or three centuries maybe. Nanotech will slowly destroy scarcity over time and until it destroys it entirely.

 

I have to agree, albeit, a fantasy government, they would best be described as a Socialist, Democracy, with a pinch of Patriotism. Probably based on the US, and Canada...Diplomatic (*)(*)(*)holes, depending on what side of the Federation you are on.

(Side Note)
They did have an interesting idea, on a Participatory Government, but didn't go into details ~ ST:TNG Inner Light

 

The problem with Star Trek is that even if humanity gets to where they are technologically, this human race will NEVER share the prime directive, which is to observe without getting involved.

Even advanced humanity will have the urge to be imperialists. Our prime directive will be to dominate other species "for their own good", in order to make them civilized capitalist Republics that share our values and laws. Any disobedience to that directive will result in oppression and possible annihilation through indirect, insidious means.

Of course, the true narrative underneath humanities "moral imperative" is that we only explore, survey and act as imperialists in order to collect and drain natural resources to feed a never ending capitalist craze and promises that our markets must always grow in order for the masses to be happy.

Yeah, Star Trek as it was could never happen in our society.

 

You've entirely ignored the fact that Star Trek is a post-scarcity economy. Capitalism does not exist under such a system. There is not need to drain natural resources because resources are infinite with replicators.

 

That's the thing though, there will ALWAYS be a capitalist mindset to certain resources in modern society. The minute you have a replicator, you will have "authenticators" that value natural resources higher than artificial ones. A "real" gemstone or mineral from planet X will be infinitely more valuable than a carbon copy made in a laboratory. Its why people will buy a used, empty soda can that was drank by Elvis for 10's of thousands of dollars. A replicated autograph of Babe Ruth is worthless. The real thing? An entirely different story.

Humans are not robots, and therefore we hold intrinsic value to sometimes worthless things. Look at what western culture allows to go on simply to put a shiny transformed piece of carbon around their neck or on their fingers. We've got fake diamonds, why aren't those as good as the ones mined by 10 year old African children?

 

So who put them in charge?

 

That's a good point. One of the things they also show on Star Trek is that society as somehow become post-materialistic too. They a make a bigger deal about reliving history through the holodeck than owning or possessing stuff.

 

Star Trek....


Well...

It's not capitalist, at least not fully. Picard and a lot mention that they don't really have rich or poor anymore. However, other times you see them mention money like Federation credits. Basically it's completely contradictory sometimes as they've at different times said "oh we're beyond that and have no use for money" then "oh here's my money!"

So saying what kind of money system they had is impossible. HOWEVER they DID make use of money a lot and not only theirs but other culture's money when they needed and towards their borders. I have the theory that the more deep you go into the Federation the less "money" you need, eventually money being useless because all your basic needs are 99% met as well as many unbasic needs. But as you go out to the edges and meet more non-Federation species they seem to use money more often. DS9 used it a LOT. Though even then they often said stuff like "what use does a Federation officer have with money?"


They weren't communist. You had the ability to get rich if you wanted but it seems like most humans and Federation members just didn't care about that.

Star Trek's government and economy are so fantasy that they're impossible to predict. I mean for example everyone is motivated to better humanity? Not in 1000 years.




As to what form of government it has, democracy and a Federation.
Democracy is flat out mentioned several times. They have Presidents. The citizens get a vote.
It's a Federation as it's a collection of mostly self-governed planets and species. They don't just let anyone in but the requirements are not made clear. I'd say they're like States but with a bit more power over what goes on in their own space. Local traditions can be VERY different. Tolerance is required. Multiculturalism is there times 1000 since it's aliens. The Federation members stop having a military (maybe a defense one still exists but it matters what fiction you believe) and commit much of their resources to Federation stuff like Starfleet.



It's hard to say anything specific since it's a fantasy world and they never really give you specifics.

 

Also resources are NOT infinite with Replicators.

Like anything Replicators take energy and had a fuel. The matter and stuff doesn't come from nowhere.
Replicator credits are mentioned in the show. This likely means they can't do what the heck they want any time they want like "Oh I want all new furniture every day of the week!"... Replicators cannot replicate anything that takes too much energy and species hard to replicate items (like Latinum).

Replicators aren't free.


That said in Star Trek the Federation clearly has an abundance of resources. The Federation has a HUGE surplus of resources. That cannot be said for other factions like the Cardassian Union which even with Replicator technology they still war for resources and are resource thin.


Also if you remember in Voyager they had to ration the Replicators as they couldn't guarantee being able to replace it's fuel any time they wanted like in Federation space. They didn't have too many issues and started ignoring this rationing in later episodes but it was originally an issue. They may have been able to trade for the resources Replicators needed.

 

Sisko's baseball is a good example of something that can't just be replicated. You would always have things like that -- Kirk's glasses, now that I think about it, are another example. They do have antique shops on Earth still in the 23rd century, I guess.

My guess is that you would never entirely give up capitalism and trade. People would still engage in it, even if only for fun. But since everybody has everything they need, trading for what you want would be less morally problematic.

It would be sort of like the world that a lot of the right-wingers say we have now: Everybody has everything they need! There's no real poverty in America! And anyone can make as much money as they want instantaneously!

So who is really the crazier Utopian -- the people who believe that such a world might exist in the future, or the people who believe that we already live in that world?

 

And don't forget about labor costs. There is true value in having someone labor over something, even if it can be created from scratch. Paintings of landmarks are far more valuable than pictures of those landmarks, even though a picture is a far more accurate depiction with no flaws in comparison. The artists strokes and efforts make it worth it.

I actually see future societies abandoning dollars in exchange for some sort of "culture credits". Once food, energy and living spaces are in abundance due to replicators, meteor mining or some other unknown advancement, people will trade in skills and culture. A man made sculpture, an artistically done drywall job, musical compositions, crafts of any and every sort, written works and articles, athletic prowess and superiority, even skills at bricklaying or decorating. Those things will always be valued above an average persons efforts. Even invention will have a place among a culture credits system. Now, whoever can devise a workable trade system for such a thing certainly earns themselves the Obama prize for Economics (I switched it from Nobel as in the future I'm sure that is what will happen )

 

Never break the Prime Directive...except in every episode, and champion peace with torpedoes and phasers ablaze constantly.

That 7of9 woman was hot tho.

 

No, it is not a UN or NATO equiv. It is like the US or Australia as both the US and Australia are Federations.

 

Whats funny is the United Federation of Planets would be considered a "liberal" left wing organization. Are conservatives against the future of star trek? (if it were to happen that is)

 

Surely there is enough war for them, though not enough religion. I guess we could try to get them to goto Bajor. Atleast their gods are real, though they're just wormhole aliens.