Oh Alright! Nerdy Trekker Thread

My dream is for the utopian world which is the United Federation of Planets from Star Trek to have a real-life equivalent by the time of the 24th Century.

If we can keep it together to have such a successful, pluralist, civilised and progressive polity as the UFP in the future, then I can die happy, knowing that future generations will grow and progress.

Microfinancing - is it your personal goal to be involved in it? Otherwise, it sounds like you want to be a good man which is admirable. I think I would like to be a good Irish man specifically. I like this country.

A-T - that's more like it. Cosmic expansion has a bit more oomph about it. Being involved in developing whatever is the real life equivalent of warp-speed would be pretty cool. Not to be venal, but perhaps there is a personal fortune to be made from coffee cup holders specially adapted to warp-speed?

Zhou_Enlai wrote:

A-T - that's more like it. Cosmic expansion has a bit more oomph about it. Being involved in developing whatever is the real life equivalent of warp-speed would be pretty cool. Not to be venal, but perhaps there is a personal fortune to be made from coffee cup holders specially adapted to warp-speed?

There would be, and you could dominate the market in seat-belt procurement for Starfleet, there's a paucity of them.

On my dream, ever since I've been watching Trek from childhood, it's been a great example to me. Did you know that ST: TOS had the first on-screen inter-racial kiss? Capt Kirk and Lt Uhura were the social pioneers there. Trek is such an example of tolerance, fairness, advance and constructive diplomacy. If that's the future, I'm delighted!

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Zhou_Enlai wrote:

A-T - that's more like it. Cosmic expansion has a bit more oomph about it. Being involved in developing whatever is the real life equivalent of warp-speed would be pretty cool. Not to be venal, but perhaps there is a personal fortune to be made from coffee cup holders specially adapted to warp-speed?

There would be, and you could dominate the market in seat-belt procurement for Starfleet, there's a paucity of them.

On my dream, ever since I've been watching Trek from childhood, it's been a great example to me. Did you know that ST: TOS had the first on-screen inter-racial kiss? Capt Kirk and Lt Uhura were the social pioneers there. Trek is such an example of tolerance, fairness, advance and constructive diplomacy. If that's the future, I'm delighted!

I'm in argeement with ST's example. I was a major fan of the Next Generation as a kid (still am!).

I've often wondered what the Stark Trek economy is though. Personally I don't think there'd be a market in anything!

I think it's somewhat Libertarian socialist, or Marx's view of a final utopia, or even a Parecon type economy.

Unofficial Economics of Star Trek
http://vanparecon.resist.ca/StarTrekEcon/index.html



Don't tell me: they don't have money in the 23rd Century?

Well, we don't.
-Conversation between Dr. Gillian Taylor and Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek IV

Pax wrote:

I'm in argeement with ST's example. I was a major fan of the Next Generation as a kid (still am!).

Good to hear it. I'm glad I'm not the only Trekker in the Nation, it'd be sad if I was.

Quote :

I've often wondered what the Stark Trek economy is though. Personally I don't think there'd be a market in anything!

I think it's somewhat Libertarian socialist, or Marx's view of a final utopia, or even a Parecon type economy.

Mir bin nichts sicher. What about the Ferengi? They're the epitome of laissez faire, capitalistic, corporate free-for-all, what about the Promenade on DS9? That was a thriving thoroughfare of private commerce. The resort planet of Risa can also hardly be a bastion of a Soviet UFP. I'm sure there's an equivalent of Budget Travel, Ryanair and Oceanico slugging it out in good old free market competition!

Quote :

Unofficial Economics of Star Trek
http://vanparecon.resist.ca/StarTrekEcon/index.html



Don't tell me: they don't have money in the 23rd Century?

Well, we don't.
-Conversation between Dr. Gillian Taylor and Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek IV

That relates to the Federation, the Federation ain't the whole galaxy, it ain't even the whole Alpha Quadrant!

AT's school photo.

cookiemonster wrote:

AT's school photo.

Ah now...that's only the stereotype!

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Pax wrote:

I'm in argeement with ST's example. I was a major fan of the Next Generation as a kid (still am!).

Good to hear it. I'm glad I'm not the only Trekker in the Nation, it'd be sad if I was.

Quote :

I've often wondered what the Stark Trek economy is though. Personally I don't think there'd be a market in anything!

I think it's somewhat Libertarian socialist, or Marx's view of a final utopia, or even a Parecon type economy.

Mir bin nichts sicher. What about the Ferengi? They're the epitome of laissez faire, capitalistic, corporate free-for-all, what about the Promenade on DS9? That was a thriving thoroughfare of private commerce. The resort planet of Risa can also hardly be a bastion of a Soviet UFP. I'm sure there's an equivalent of Budget Travel, Ryanair and Oceanico slugging it out in good old free market competition!

Quote :

Unofficial Economics of Star Trek
http://vanparecon.resist.ca/StarTrekEcon/index.html



Don't tell me: they don't have money in the 23rd Century?

Well, we don't.
-Conversation between Dr. Gillian Taylor and Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek IV

That relates to the Federation, the Federation ain't the whole galaxy, it ain't even the whole Alpha Quadrant!

Babylon 5? No?

AT now.

cookiemonster wrote:

AT now.

Mmm...I'm comfortable with that, cookiemonster!

I expect Kate P, and the rest of the gals are too.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cookiemonster wrote:

AT now.

Mmm...I'm comfortable with that, cookiemonster!

Clearly photoshopped from the neck down... harumph!

WorldbyStorm wrote:

Babylon 5? No?

I've seen Star Wars(all six, have repressed memory of most recent trilogy), Stargate(film and series, series jumped shark about 2 years ago imo.), a bit of Doctor Who, Star Treks TNG, DS9 and VOY and about three-quarters of the films, Day of the Triffids, The Time Machine and Red Dwarf. Babylon 5 is a sci-fi treat I have yet to try.

WorldbyStorm wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

cookiemonster wrote:

AT now.

Mmm...I'm comfortable with that, cookiemonster!

Clearly photoshopped from the neck down... harumph!

You should be aware that that's a treasonable offence...

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

WorldbyStorm wrote:

Babylon 5? No?

I've seen Star Wars(all six, have repressed memory of most recent trilogy), Stargate(film and series, series jumped shark about 2 years ago imo.), a bit of Doctor Who, Star Treks TNG, DS9 and VOY and about three-quarters of the films, Day of the Triffids, The Time Machine and Red Dwarf. Babylon 5 is a sci-fi treat I have yet to try.

Hmmm... give it a shot, it's looking its age these days, but the plots are good.

WorldbyStorm wrote:

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

WorldbyStorm wrote:

Babylon 5? No?

I've seen Star Wars(all six, have repressed memory of most recent trilogy), Stargate(film and series, series jumped shark about 2 years ago imo.), a bit of Doctor Who, Star Treks TNG, DS9 and VOY and about three-quarters of the films, Day of the Triffids, The Time Machine and Red Dwarf. Babylon 5 is a sci-fi treat I have yet to try.

Hmmm... give it a shot, it's looking its age these days, but the plots are good.

A fellow by the name of Sidewinder on P.ie and the Pin loves it, so I'd imagine the two of you would get on very well talking about Babylon 5.

I think I'll, ah, procure it on the web and come back with a report!

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Pax wrote:

I'm in argeement with ST's example. I was a major fan of the Next Generation as a kid (still am!).

Good to hear it. I'm glad I'm not the only Trekker in the Nation, it'd be sad if I was.

True. It's a perfect Tv show for this forum I feel....

And I think science fiction and a discussion on utopia go hand in hand for me. It's hard to not bring it in somehow. Even if it is seen as nerdish.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

Quote :

I've often wondered what the Stark Trek economy is though. Personally I don't think there'd be a market in anything!

I think it's somewhat Libertarian socialist, or Marx's view of a final utopia, or even a Parecon type economy.

Mir bin nichts sicher. What about the Ferengi? They're the epitome of laissez faire, capitalistic, corporate free-for-all, what about the Promenade on DS9? That was a thriving thoroughfare of private commerce. The resort planet of Risa can also hardly be a bastion of a Soviet UFP. I'm sure there's an equivalent of Budget Travel, Ryanair and Oceanico slugging it out in good old free market competition!

[...]

That relates to the Federation, the Federation ain't the whole galaxy, it ain't even the whole Alpha Quadrant!

Sorry, I meant The Federation as opposed to Star Trek. I'm sure there's various corporations outside it, or interactions on the border, but we certainly don't see them in the show afaicr.

As regards Risa, I don't see any quibbles with a resort like Risa and Libertarian socialism, Marx's communism or certainly, Parecon.

I think the Ferengi came to prominence after Roddenberry's death in DS9. They were more one-dimensional in TNG.

Ard-Taoiseach wrote:

I think I'll, ah, procure it on the web and come back with a report!

I've never checked Babylon 5 out either. But I fear you've stumbled into an, eh, acquisition problem there... You see, even if you've a stridently capitalistic society like the Ferengi, then any post-scarcity type technology like a replicator, would make property irrelevant due to a lack of excludability. Agreeing to continue with such an outdated system would be like us voting for feudalism! Or agreeing to pay for a multi-dvd boxset..

Pax wrote:

I've never checked Babylon 5 out either. But I fear you've stumbled into an, eh, acquisition problem there... You see, even if you've a stridently capitalistic society like the Ferengi, then any post-scarcity type technology like a replicator, would make property irrelevant due to a lack of excludability. Agreeing to continue with such an outdated system would be like us voting for feudalism! Or agreeing to pay for a multi-dvd boxset..

yeah, they do have slips, strips, bars and bricks of latinum which according to Memory Alpha cannot be replicated, ergo, an economy can be based around latinum since the quality of scarcity would still apply.

It really is the replicators which fecks up capitalism in Star Trek, isn't it? For example, how much does poor, impoverished Mr Twinings get every time Jean Luc orders tea, Earl Grey and hot from the computer? Unless there actually is a charging mechanism on some replicators, allowing a vestige of our current economic consensus to survive into the future.

I regularly wonder what it's like - the Star Trek economy on their earth. Money doesn't exist, people educate themselves all day, they must travel and god knows what - I must look at that link of yours one day Pax. Just read a bit of your post Ard and they drink tea do they? We must be on the right track so.

Although I'm not a trekkie - yet because I'm collecting the DVDs slowly and hope one day to sit down to a 500+ hour marathon space session and get up utterly metamorphosised into a trekkie. I've seen a lot of the New Generation on TV but didn't like DS9; I've seen upto 7 of stargate and the last one or two up to there were blech. After Daniel **** it's just not the same.

I'm also collecting Babylon 5 and I have 4 of them and I need #4. As you can see I'm not in a hurry.

On the subject of the thread I'd be embarrassed to say I had a gross ambition where I would make a generational impression on people's lives - I'd like to live a bit of a low-key buddhistic life overall but do plenty of travel and sail around the world and build stuff before I kick it. I'd like to learn lots of things - minor personal ambitions like learn Arabic or Chinese and live in another two or three countries before I finally croak. I'd like to be unafraid of croaking too if that can be counted an ambition - I detest the thought of death, it's so final and ultimate as I don't believe in God just lying under the ground with the grass growing up above you and things eating you and having no tomorrow and no yesterday and to be closer to the universe than I am now (to paraphrase Oscar Wilde)

I like that kiva site cookie - it would be great to make a difference to people's lives too.

Auditor #9 wrote:

I regularly wonder what it's like - the Star Trek economy on their earth. Money doesn't exist, people educate themselves all day, they must travel and god knows what - I must look at that link of yours one day Pax. Just read a bit of your post Ard and they drink tea do they? We must be on the right track so.

Yes, the certainly do drink tea, they're very civilised! They also have Romulan ale, though I wouldn't advise it. It's officially illegal and is about as strong as poitin, not for the faint-hearted.

I am a great fan of TNG and naturally think highly of the Firengi. I must again check what a libertarian socialist is because with the terminology here it is impossible. I believe in one of the movies Kirk was asked to recreate the kiss on Ohuru but when he had a look at her he volunteered to kiss Quark instead

God Almighty - the number of Trekkies here! - Im outta here before I'm done for association

I liked the Original Startrek series (used to be on before the brilliant "Battle of the Planets" on Saturday mornings when I were a chap) and the films - Wrath of Khan being my favourite - But the TNG and all the spinoffs have left me strangely unmoved - Ok I'd watch them before Emmerdale or Coronation Street - but I have found them very smug, self important and unfunny and the whole design and sets could have come from Office Depot. I always felt I was watching a particularly Californian Liberal brand of morality fairytales and fables - "First Contact" was the greatest load of bollix I have ever watched - so the inventor of the warpdrive was a Californian Hippie who designed manufactured and launched from a cave in the Sierra Nevadas - pull the other one lads - tho the Borg were cool.

If you are going to watch silly Sci-Fi - you might aswell go whole hog -being the smeghead that I am - I have the entire Red Dwarf collection on DVD - I also quite like Farscape - purely because it was that far out. Of the Films 2001 and 2010 have pride of place in the collection - "Outlands" and the first "Alien" are in there too - while I loved last years "Sunshine" -

maybe I quite like the fact that space is quite an unforgiving cold and airless place and I like that to be represented as closely as possible on screen -without warpdrives, replicators,particle transporters and the fact that on every planet you visit the atmosphere composition is exactly the same as on Earth and the natives without exception look like extras from "Up Pompeii"!

Have I unwittingly destroyed whatever credibility this website had?

The Borg were cool - most striking image of the dangers of the technological and sociological progress in fiction.

Zhou_Enlai wrote:

Have I unwittingly destroyed whatever credibility this website had?

The Borg were cool - most striking image of the dangers of the technological and sociological progress in fiction.

Just after the election last year with Bertie and the PDs and the Greens and the Independents on board I'm sure Fintan O'Toole, writing in the Irish Times the Saturday after all the deals were done, had nothing less than the assimilation-mad Borg in mind when he Openofficed that article.

If he isn't using Openoffice then he should be.

Zhou_Enlai wrote:

Have I unwittingly destroyed whatever credibility this website had?

No, Zhou_Enlai, you've enhanced it!

Quote :

The Borg were cool - most striking image of the dangers of the technological and sociological progress in fiction.

Oh yeah, the Borg were the best villains in Trek, followed closely by the Dominion in DS9. Here's a pic of their cubes, and these babies don't melt, they regenerate!



"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and power down your weapons. We will add your biological and technological significance to our own,. Resistance is futile"

Brilliant!