Money In Star Trek EXPLAINED

4. Real World Ideas

In our world, not too long after The Original Series aired, the seeds of many similar ideas were planted. Unfortunately, however, they haven’t yet grown into widespread cohesion. Many of these grew in the wake of great conflicts, not unlike the formation of the New World Economy or the Federation itself. Gene Roddenberry was one of the people affected by World War II and inspired to effect change, of course, but he was not the only one. A common thread for many of these individuals was having fought in one of the major wars of the 20th century, then coming to ideologically oppose the conditions that led to them. This included social, political, and economic factors.

There are many schools of thinking when it comes to progress and reform, but the two from our world that parallel most closely with the New World Economy are anti-consumerism and post-consumerism. Both of these ideologies are closely related with similar goals, primarily a shift in focus from the acquisition of material wealth to the well-being of the self and the world.

Specific endeavors like The Venus Project seek to provide solutions for the many problems those ideologies try to address. Their approach is multi-pronged, with ideas including redesigning communities and reshaping energy production. And much like in Star Trek, culture lies at the center. Collaboration on a global level is not possible without a great shift in the mindset of the world, and it is a choice that must be made and agreed upon by all.

The Venus Project and other ideas like it also emphasize a change in humanity’s approach to work. Automation would be made more prevalent to free up people to do more. This idea would not be the same as companies today replacing entire divisions with AI, or just eliminating them, and those people affected would suddenly be left without a livelihood. In this case, automation would do what it was originally intended for: take over tasks that do not require a human to do them. In this theoretical society where no one has to worry about working a job they might not like to support themselves, people would be much freer to pursue their passions and work together towards innovative advancement in every field.

Competition and wasteful development would be phased out in favor of cooperation and sustainability. In this seemingly utopian ideal, work would be undertaken not out of a desire for wealth or a necessity to provide for oneself and one’s family, but to elevate the common good of everyone. Society would be transformed through culture and technology to create a world where all have their needs met and can focus on helping each other. It may seem out of reach today, and Star Trek may just be a story, but ideas can have great power if they’re given a chance to take hold.