Living in the Cashless Federation- How do they do it?

[wraith1701]

Earlier, I was reminded of the fact that money pretty much doesn't exist in the Federation. 

The way I understand it, all of the needs of the Federation citizens are taken care of, and citizens don't get paid for the work they do.  I guess that those with a taste for exploration opt for a job in Starfleet, the creative folks work as artists or writers, and the folks with a desire to work with their hands work as mechanics, etc.- all for no pay.

This makes me wonder- where do the Federation citizens get money to use with races who still use cash (like the Ferengi)?  Do they pick up a second, non-Federation sponsored job to earn actual money?

What about the Starfleet personnel stationed on DS9?   Quark obviously requires monetary payment for his goods and services.  What do the Feds use to pay him?  Where would someone like Bashir or Dax get latinum to pay for their drinks?

[Jen]

Good question. Maybe they have side jobs. They might also trade goods and services.

[Geekyfanboy]

I think the Federation supplies credits for everyone. There might be set amount they can spend in a week or month but the Federation seems to supply everything else that people need.. why not credits/money/latinum

I don't think they ever really address this issue in any of the series. Federation people just seem to have money when they need it.

[Jen]

It's socialism... How does the Federation get the credits? It has to be backed by something. Interesting question. Maybe it's replicated.  :D

[Bryancd]

It's socialism... How does the Federation get the credits? It has to be backed by something. Interesting question. Maybe it's replicated.  :D

LOL! Then it's socialism with run away inflation! This does raise an interesting point. Who decides who get's what? How do inequlaities within the society of the Federation effect things like standard of living, leveles of responsibility? Are we really capable of having a functioning society where our needs are all taken care of? Do we want one?

[wraith1701]

I guess the Federation could provide a sort of Cash Allowance to citizens, but that starts to contradict the oft-stated claim that the Federation is cashless. 

And if an allowance is given out, is it the same for all citizens, or is there some kind of sliding scale related to the difficulty of a citizen's job?  For example, would an Admiral or Doctor receive the same Allowance as a sanitation engineer or professional philosopher? 

And if the allowance amount is related to the perceived importance or difficulty of a job, when does it stop being an allowance and become a Pay Check?

I was also wondering- Does Sisko's dad get paid for running his restaurant?  Or does he run it out of sheer joy?  And what about the waiters, cooks, and dishwashers who work for him?  Do his customers pay for their meals? 

I know that there aren't yet any official answers to these questions, I'm just curious what you all think.

It's socialism... How does the Federation get the credits? It has to be backed by something. Interesting question. Maybe it's replicated.  :D

lol!  Replicators have to be a counterfeiters dream come true!

[jedijeff]

I think in the epsiode The Neutral Zone Picard inidicated they no longer had the desire for material gain or something along those lines. As seen in future epsiodes in the different series, did not always seem to be the case. My guess is that you need some sort of economy in the future to help maintain the federation. I would think that everyone is given an allowance of some sort, and that their basic needs are covered by society or the federation, and the allowance is theirs to do with what they wish.

[Geekyfanboy]

well with the invention of replicators.. you could pretty much get anything you wanted.

[Jen]

Maybe the planets that join the Federation all pay dues and that's how it hands out allowances and builds ships and funds missions of exploration.

[Blackride]

I think the Federation supplies credits for everyone. There might be set amount they can spend in a week or month but the Federation seems to supply everything else that people need.. why not credits/money/latinum

Talk about depending on the goverment/federation :)

[space_invader64]

That is a fantasy part of it.  It does not work like that in real life.

I do prefer DS9 because they live the most like we do.