Nije pogon al jeste ekonomija i društveno uređenje:
A ‘Star Trek’ Future Might Be Closer Than We ThinkSet against some of the biggest sci-fi franchises of the last five years, many of which imagine the future as a wreckage in which the strong prey relentlessly upon the weak, “Star Trek” can seem kind of quaint. After all, the show, especially in its second and strongest incarnation, “The Next Generation,” takes place in a time when, essentially, everything has worked out.
But it is precisely this quality that interests Manu Saadia, the author of “Trekonomics,” a forthcoming book about the economics of the “Star Trek” universe. The book, which grew in part out of conversations between Mr. Saadia and his friend Chris Black, a former writer for “Star Trek: Enterprise,” will be sold through the publishing platform Inkshares. It examines “Star Trek’”s “post-economic” system, in which money no longer exists and anything you want can be made in a replicator, essentially for free.
When everything is free, said Mr. Saadia, objects will no longer be status symbols. Success will be measured in achievements, not in money: “You need to build up your reputation, you need to be a fantastic person, you need to be the captain.” People will work hard to reach those goals, even though they don’t need a paycheck to live.
Felix Salmon, a senior editor at Fusion whose imprint at Inkshares will publish “Trekonomics,” says not everyone would strive for greatness in a post-money economy. In general, society might look more like present-day New Zealand, which he sees as less work-obsessed than the United States: “You work to live rather than the other way round.”
In a time of rising inequality and stagnating wages, a world where everyone’s needs are met and people only work if they feel like it seems pretty far away. But, said Mr. Saadia, a post-scarcity economy is actually far more within reach than the technological advances for which “Star Trek” is better known. Warp drive isn’t coming any time soon, if ever, he explained, but wealthy retirees today already live an essentially post-money existence, “traveling and exploring and deepening their understanding of the world and being generally happy.”
If productivity growth continues, he believes there will be much more wealth to go around in a few hundred years’ time. Whether those gains will be distributed equally is an open question. But for Mr. Saadia, “Star Trek” offers a way of imagining what would happen to life and work if they were.
The function of science fiction, he said, “is not so much to predict the future,” but “to provoke a critical reflection on the present.” And maybe understanding Trekonomics can help us consider what it would take to bring about a world where technological advances allowed everyone to lead comfortable and meaningful lives, rather than enriching a lucky few. If nothing else, it’s a great excuse for watching “Star Trek.”
