If there is one post to this tumblr I want to see reblogged like crazy, it’s this one.
So how would a cashless society work? This is, IMHO, one of the most important questions to ask when discussing Star Trek in general.
Roddenberry had a vision which continues to motivate and inspire people today, because it envisioned humanity so far beyond its time. It allowed the show to craft an ideal. Something that may never be completely achieved, but that should be strived for continually. Providing not a roadmap, but a light to follow.
Social issues are incredibly important, and are not to be understated when discussing this specific topic- they are the fundamental ideals within the Star Trek universe. But close behind this is the concept of economic enlightenment. In fact, I would argue they are fundamentally one in the same. In order for us to find love among all of us, without any hate or envy or fear, we need to find means of providing for everyone, so that everyone can be given the same opportunities to choose how they live their lives.
One aspect of this Roddenberry version of a fair and enlightened global society would be one with no cash.
But How Does That Work?
How, can anything work without cash? Or to clarify, money? I don’t believe it could right now, but in the future, if certain issues were solved, we could be well on our way. Here are three aspects of our society that will need to be addressed or achieved before we would even be close:
1. There needs to be a movement to Post-Scarcity
People need to have easy access to homes, health, and the basic comforts that money currently is required to attain.
There’s a lot of talk about a “post-scarcity” economy. With 3d-printers, efficient production, and global access to information we are already moving towards this. But one big hurdle in this issue is energy. Until we find a means of providing nearly limitless energy to the entire planet, a post-scarcity society will be very hard to maintain. (Cold fusion is an exciting potential leap forward)
2. Automation for the dangerous jobs and Universal Basic Income
We need robots to do the repetitive and dangerous jobs people shouldn’t do or just don’t want to do. The more these jobs are taken up by robots, the more there will be a need for a Universal Basic Income. The general concept is this: companies that produce goods while removing jobs from the market will need to pay tax on the robots that were once paying jobs. The money will then be given to the citizens as a dividend. This will eventually be the foundation for providing a universal live-able distribution of resources to everyone.
3. Debt needs to be reversed
The final issue is debt will need to be removed from society. This is arguably the hardest to understand and I imagine even harder to implement. Our current understanding of economics runs on debt. Person A gives money to Person B so that person B can make more money and give back that money (plus interest) to person A. The problem is this seems to allow the money to be consolidated into large pools. Currently the top 8 richest people in the world hold more wealth than the bottom half.
We need a way to believe in a society that can work in reverse. A society where we pay it forward, rather than pay it back. This is where I haven’t fully understood the ideas being proposed. But one thing is certain, those in the top 1% will need to provide for those in need for this to ever work. There needs to be a rational, if not spiritual enlightenment among the richest in the world that we need to all have a place in society. A place unburdened by overwhelming fiscal obligation. When people don’t owe money, they can make the choices that benefit themselves and the rest of us at the same time. Rather than the choice that just makes them money.
I honestly think this is the biggest hurdle out of all of them. Because while the other issues can be solved with technological and political progress, this one truly requires a global enlightenment. Yes things like bitcoin and ethereum might help, but this is a bigger problem than just banking access and credit.
*Takes Deep Breath*
So that’s one take on Roddenberry’s vision of a cashless society. It’s something I truly hope comes to fruition. A world where people are secure in knowing they have access to healthcare, a home, and the ability to pursue their passion. A world where all its people are freed to be their best self. Where creativity and science and kindness have priority. Orchestras could play in the park for free. Artists could make paintings of anything for anyone they wish. Scientists can spend their time inventing what they believe will help the planet the most. And we can finally get to the business of exploring the stars.
“Captain’s Log, April 5, 2063. The voyage of the Phoenix was a success – again. The alien ship detected the warp signature, and is on its way to rendezvous with history.”
So there has been a bit of “what if humans were the weird ones?” going around tumblr at the moment and Earth Day got me thinking. Earth is a wonky place, the axis tilts, the orbit wobbles, and the ground spews molten rock for goodness sakes. What if what makes humans weird is just our capacity to survive? What if all the other life bearing planets are these mild, Mediterranean climates with no seasons, no tectonic plates, and no intense weather?
What if several species (including humans) land on a world and the humans are all “SCORE! Earth like world! Let’s get exploring before we get out competed!” And the planet starts offing the other aliens right and left, electric storms, hypothermia, tornadoes and the humans are just … there… counting seconds between flashes, having snowball fights, and just surviving.
To paraphrase one of my favorite bits of a ‘humans are awesome’ fiction megapost: “you don’t know you’re from a Death World until you leave it.” For a ton of reasons, I really like the idea of Earth being Space Australia.
Earth being Space Australia
Words cannot express how much I love these posts
Alien: “I’m sorry, what did you just say your comfortable temperature range is?”
Human: “Honestly we can tolerate anywhere from -40 to 50 Celcius, but we prefer the 0 to 30 range.”
Alien: “……. I’m sorry, did you just list temperatures below freezing?”
Human: “Yeah, but most of us prefer to throw on scarves or jackets at those temperatures it can be a bit nippy.”
Other human: “Nah mate, I knew this guy in college who refused to wear anything past his knees and elbows until it was -20 at least.”
Human: “Heh. Yeah everybody knows someone like that.”
Alien: “……. And did you also say 50 Celcius? As in, half way to boiling?”
Human: “Eugh. Yes. It sucks, we sweat everywhere, and god help you if you touch a seatbelt buckle, but yes.”
Alien: “……. We’ve got like 50 uninhabitable planets we think you might enjoy.”
“You’re telling me that you have… settlements. On islands with active volcanism?”
“Well, yeah. I’m not about to tell Iceland and Hawaii how to live their lives. Actually, it’s kind of a tourist attraction.”
“What, the molten rock?”
“Well, yeah! It’s not every day you see a mountain spew out liquid rocks! The best one is Yellowstone, though. All these hot springs and geysers from the supervolcano–”
“You ACTIVELY SEEK OUT ACTIVE SUPERVOLCANOES?”
“Shit, man, we swim in the groundwater near them.”
Sounds like the “Damned” trilogy by Alan Dean Foster.
“And you say the poles of your world would get as low as negative one hundred with wind chill?”
“Yup, with blizzards you cant see through every other day just about.”
“Amazing! when did you manage to send drones that could survive such temperatures?”
“… well, actually…”
“… what?”
“…we kinda……. sent……….. people…..”
“…”
“…”
“…what?”
“we sent-”
“no yeah I heard you I just- what? You sent… HUMANS… to a place one hundred degrees below freezing?”
“y-yeah”
“and they didn’t… die?”
“Well the first few did”
“PEOPLE DIED OF THE COLD AND YOUR SOLUTION WAS TO SEND MORE PEOPLE???!?!?!?”
My new favorite Humans are Weird quote
“PEOPLE DIED OF THE COLD AND YOUR SOLUTION WAS TO SEND MORE PEOPLE?”
aka The History of Russia
aka Arctic Exploration
aka The History of Alaska
‘But surely you have records of volcanic activity doing tremendous damage to human settlements.’
‘Yep. Pompeii is legendary. Entire cities went. Towns buried under lava, peoples’ brains boiled in the first rush of heat, loads more killed by falling pumice.’
‘ah, good, they learned their lesson and didn’t build there again.’
‘…well…’
‘Are you seriously telling me this volcano is legendary for killing several urban conurbations and you built on top of it AGAIN?’
‘In our defence it hasn’t actually done it since.’
‘What about earthquake-prone areas? Tell me you’re at least vaguely sensible about those.’
‘Oh yeah. After the first major earthquake that flattens a city, we build them better.’
And then the aliens learn what it means to “facepalm” despite not having palms per se….
‘Tornado Alley?’
‘Yep.’
‘An area that regularly hosts gigantic tunnels of extremely destructive winds for several months out of the year.’
‘Yep.’
‘I bet you build cities there, don’t you?’
‘…a few, yeah. But get this–some are also located in hurricane zones! At the same time!’
‘….’
‘You know about the giant random sinkholes in Florida, right?’
I feel the need to point out Starfleet’s headquarters is in San Francisco. As in the city sitting on top of two tectonic plates that occasionally get frisky with each other. Picture some human trying to explain that logic to Vulcans.
Initiative Archival Network 