Trekonomics Quotes

“Work in the Federation is not a matter of compulsion or survival. Federation citizens need not perform tasks or exercise professions that do not suit their inclinations just so that they can afford to put food on the table and enjoy the respect of their peers. … What makes the Federation so appealing … It is the nature and meaning of work. It is almost a paradox to state it this way, but in a society where nothing is scarce and consequently where work is no longer a prerequisite for survival, finding good reasons to work becomes paramount, the defining existential question that everyone has to ask themselves. Why work at all if it’s not necessary? Because learning, making, and sharing is what makes life in the Federation worth living. Work, no longer a necessary burden, is the glue that holds the Federation together. It is the social bond and the social contract that impart substance and significance to life.”
― Manu Saadia, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek

“It is a refinement of Jeremy Bentham’s formulation of utilitarianism, the idea that all humans tend to gravitate toward what make them happy, and to stay away from what hurts them. On that account, trekonomics could be seen as the highest form of utilitarianism. The Federation is organized in such a way that every one of its citizens gets a chance to maximize his or her own utility. Since almost nothing is scarce, the necessity to make choices on budgeting and spending is removed from everyday life. The only thing that one really needs to decide upon is how to balance the goal of bettering oneself vis-à-vis the injunction to better humanity. In other words, the biggest challenge for every Federation citizen resides in how to allocate his or her talents, time, and capacity for empathy, and how to best contribute to the common wealth.”
― Manu Saadia, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek

“Our fictions are, collectively, the dream-work of humanity. We dream these dreams to amuse ourselves, but also so that we will be more sane when we awake.”
― Manu Saadia, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek

“Everyone chatters about their imaginary friends. Some are ascribing agency, motivation, and intelligence to patterns of societal forces that are the emergent properties of distributed interactions. Others are writing—or filming—fiction.”
― Manu Saadia, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek

“Roddenberry’s dreams, Star Trek’s dreams, help us to think through what it would be like to have a society of abundance, of logic and reason, and of inclusion.”
― Manu Saadia, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek

“The accumulation of minuscule slights is quite an education. It warps you as surely as direct, frontal assaults of bigotry. From”
― Manu Saadia, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek

“Live long and prosper” thus alludes to another kind of prosperity, the kind that arises from the cultivation of the mind rather than from greed, that antiquated and vulgar practice. … The work and challenge to go on living and to prosper are never concluded.”
― Manu Saadia, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek

“Above all, we will need more public goods and more positive externalities. Star Trek teaches us that humanity’s wondrous inventions do not fully realize their potential until they are freely shared.”
― Manu Saadia, Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek