[ThinkDifferent]

Was I the only one who noticed in Next Gen, Picard waxed rhapsodic ally about how the Federation had no need of money but in DS 9 (the superior franchise, IMO) the they introduced latinum as currency?

Nope. Here's an analysis of Star Trek economics and politics, showing that they're essentially communist: http://www.stardestroyer.net/Empire/Essays/Trek-Marxism.html. I always rooted for the Ferengi.

[Zionist Conspirator]

I was looking over this thread and just came upon your very detailed analysis of the post-TOS "Star Trek" Federation as Communist. My only objection here is that you appear to be too easy on TOS, which was clearly secular humanist and pictured a post-religious civilization despite occasional mentions of Moses and chr*stianity as having roles in mankind's ethical development. Spock is clearly an atheist and in the episode in which the Trekkers meet Ap*llo Captain Kirk says "we have no use for gods." The addendum "we find the One quite sufficient" was obviously added by network edict, since it contradicts the preceding statement. Also note the non-judgmental attitude towards Communism (ie, Ensign Chekhov) and the very judgmental attitude toward "fascism" displayed in the ep where a Federation official uses Nazi Germany as a model and the ep where a 1930's pacifist must die in order to prevent Nazi German conquest of earth. Can you imagine Roddenberry expressing such a thought about a pacifist in the Cold War era?

One thing I want to commend you on is your calling attention to the fact that under Communism everyone is forced to work (Communism and leftwing socialism are, after all, exaltations of "toil"). The ideal of every Communist state is manual labor for everyone and "parasites" are shot. Unfortunately, many conservatives seem to view Communism as a plot by "lazy people" to eliminate work and put everyone on the government "gravy train." In fact, so many conservatives are obsessed with "lazy people" not working that I have often wondered if the Social Darwinist segment of the conservative community might actually join forces with the celebrators of "toil" on the Left. Good job for calling attention to the true attitude of Communism toward the "lazy."

Most of all, thanks for giving me the opportunity to "ping" this to the top of the page again!
;-)

[stacytec]

Not to dork out about this, but I always thought it interesting how the portrayal of the Ferengi evolved from NG to DSN. Quark and pals were portrayed as having more humanistic qualities and through the series we see that all Ferengi aren't all treasonous scum and there were rules to acquisition.