True to its fictional motto, 'to boldly go where no man has gone before', the franchise dares to do something that none have done before - to creatively imagine futuristic societies and institutions and thus, paint a realistic albeit utopian vision of humanity's future.
Star trek is one of those shows that has, and will continue to exist for a long time. Over the years it has undergone a lot of changes with regards to cast and storylines. But what makes Star Trek my favourite television franchise is the fact that it paints an idealistic yet possible future for humanity. I mean, this is the series that predicted technologies like AI, automation, androids, wireless communication and even touch screen devices at a time when people used telephones and a computer was the size of a room. Star Trek also predicted a lot of socio-economic conditions, some of which our generation will experience in the coming future.
Set a couple of centuries into the future at the time of its inception in the 1960s, Star Trek is a fictionalised futuristic universe created by Gene Roddenberry. At this point in time mankind has colonised space beyond the solar system, and are coexisting with other alien species. Earth and mankind are now part of the United Federation of Planets, an interstellar, semi-autonomous, democratic union of 150 planetary governments spanning 10000 light years and consisting of 82 species and 100s of sub-species. Headquartered in San Francisco, with earth as one of its founding members, the federation has a democratic setup equivalent to what we have today, and has a democratically President who is the head of state and government.
Early versions of the franchise, showed the citizens using the Federation Credit as the common currency to facilitate trade and commercial activity throughout the federation. But latter versions of the show took a more transcendent and utopian view. In the latter versions of the show the writers portray the federation as a highly advanced society that has transcended the idea of material wealth. No currency is used and yet everyone has everything they need.
How it works?
In his book Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek, the author Manu Saadia points out that Star trek portrays a world that modern economists refer to as a post-scarcity economy. All the needs and wants of mankind has been met due to colossal advancements in AI and automation. This is done using devices like Protein Synthesisers (a device that synthesises food out of protein biomolecules) and Replicators (a device that can replicate and build almost anything anyone needs). These devices are metaphorical of an endpoint in the industrial revolution - machines freeing humans from tedious mechanical work. In such a society there is no fight or exploitation for resources. Ninety percent of all conflicts and exploitation today are directly and indirectly tied to securing finite resources. In this idealised version of society, an average person is not concerned about such things as he has infinite access to food, clothing, shelter and other amenities. The vast majority of things a person uses are publicly shared goods. Of course, it’s not that they don’t use money or trade at all. The government buys and sells various vital commodities, minerals, and resources not available in the federation using an elaborate and sophisticated barter system with other civilizations and inter-planetary governments. But this takes place at the governmental level, and an average person need not be concerned about all this.
Modern 3D printers are a real life rudimentary equivalent of Star Trek replicators. While these devices are certainly impressive, current 3D printers are primitive in capabilities compared to their fictional counterparts.
Wealth and income inequalities are negligible and or non-existent in this society. Wealth acquisition is a redundant concept. Humans take on the roles that machines cannot fulfil – like being artists, poets, singers, designers, lawyers, lawmakers, actors, scientists, researchers etc. In this idealised utopia, people do not compete for money, but for positions, titles, and social reputation. In this particular society, people compete for things like Starfleet candidacy, command on a spaceship of their own, a lawmaker’s position, the Presidency, finding fame as an actor or singer, working in the government, etc. People are free to pursue their dreams without being constrained by having to work to secure their needs. Corporates, companies and brands are non-existent as replicators do away with the need for these as almost anything can be replicated instantaneously.
Is it possible?
Critics of the book Trekonomics have argued that at its roots, what Star Trek portrays is an idealised form of communism. Also in this scenario, a lot of power and responsibility is being assigned to the government, without accounting for the possibility of corruption and or misuse of power. Also, the show does not account for modern facilities like Software as a Service (SaaS) products and consumer service products. The franchise focuses on the idea that only food, water, clothing and such amenities are needed for post-scarcity economy. But a lot of people would argue that things like internet connectivity, cellular services and even Netflix and Amazon subscriptions, can be considered necessities. While humanity won’t achieve the level of technical prowess and socio-economic and political conditioning required to evolve to that level anytime soon, some of
the things mentioned can and will be achieved in the coming decades.
An EV charging point in Europe. The future of transportation and perhaps even housing will revolve around the concept of publicly shared goods.
The idea of sharing resources and using it collectively for public purposes is not new. Most countries in the world, though primarily capitalistic, follow certain socialistic policies like universal healthcare, free education, cheap/free public transport etc. These policies are expected to rise and become more widespread in the future. Millennials and Gen Z have ranked climate change/sustainability and healthcare as the top two priorities in the Millennial Survey 2020 conducted by Deloitte Global. Keeping in tune to this, young people surveyed in many countries have voiced the opinion that they would continue travelling using public transport and ride hailing services like Uber and Ola post pandemic. Turo, referred to as the Airbnb of cars, is another important service that is revolutionising the transport in western countries. Similarly, startup services like Airbnb, OYO rooms etc. are also radically changing the hospitality sector and ultimately promoting the concept of publicly shared goods.
While we won’t be zipping around in spaceships, coexisting alongside other species and or be having machines or devices that provide everything we need infinitely anytime soon, the current generation will witness radical changes in the way society exists, interacts and subsequently trades in the coming years. Changes that an almost sixty year old television show once predicted.
Georgie Sam Shibu
References:
1) Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek by Manu Saadia
2) https://www2.deloitte.com/global/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/millennialsurvey.html
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