Isn’t the world of Star Trek allegedly centered around some form of post-scarcity communism? I’ve heard that for years.

Here’s a fun look at Star Trek’s Marxist economy, complete with nationalized assets and fiat money:

The Federation is communist. Accept it. If you think communism is wonderful, I guess that means you’ll love this aspect of Star Trek. If you think it’s terrible, I guess this means you’ll hate this aspect of Star Trek.

The Federation is a suffocatingly patriarchal society, where the endless rhetoric about rights and freedoms and individuality is never backed up by actual working examples. The military has such sway over the government that civilians can be sentenced by military judges, and the government has such sway over personal activity that individual wealth has been eradicated.

Ever since the first episode of Gene Roddenberry’s emasculated TNG revision of the Star Trek mythos, Star Trek has been plagued by a persistent “have your cake and eat it too” mentality. Cause and consequence are never tied together, and though there are many examples of this mentality in action, the most blatant is the writers’ attitude toward freedom and strong government.

You simply can’t have unbridled freedom and strong government at the same time, because one acts directly against the other. The Federation claims to offer virtually unlimited personal freedom to every citizen, but no one ever tests this claim. Billions of people live quiet, spartan, communist lifestyles. They never covet wealth, they never go ripping through space in a personal vehicle, they never expect compensation for their achievements, they never challenge the government with rebellious propaganda, they never push the envelope by producing offensive art, they never accumulate private arsenals … in short, they never do anything to test the limits of their freedom. Supposedly, they have all the benefits of a strong government, without any of the negatives.