Hi there, I’m not trying to start a political argument or anything, I’m just curious what people here think about this often repeated claim that the Federation is a socialist or even communist utopia? I know Strange New Worlds did say in dialogue it is socialist but I was wondering if people here think that’s accurate? I’m not a communist or a marxist or anything like that, but I’ve had people who identify as such tell me the Federation basically is communist. So anyway, what’s your thoughts?
I would say kind of sort of. On one hand, the Federation controls many of the “still-scarce” resources (a.k.a dilithium, intellectual property, technology, large military wessels, etc.) which, while not technically worker-owned, seem to at least somewhat democratically controlled, which I would say is pretty darn close to a realistic(-ish) implementation of worked-owned socialism. There are liberties that allow free enterprise (like sips of Chateau Picard, freighting businesses, restaurants, and whatnot), but of course, the basic needs being fulfilled in the Federation means that it manifests in a different way than it does now.
However, as @LengAwaits@lemmy.world said in this comment, the Federation is just that: a federation. I think this allows for some ideological variation within the federal framework of planets, as seen in the membership process of reform-era Ferenginar in LD 4x06. Although Ferenginar did not become a federation member immediately in that episode, I feel like the offer even being made suggests that so long as the basic needs are provided for, some planets that are actually in the Federation may lean more towards a mixed market system than the Federation mainstream (presuming that “the mainstream” is Earth/Vulcan-style economics).