<p><BR/>Replying to:<BR/><DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>In all the series it has been mentioned that Earth has long since given up money and the greed associated with it. So how do they obtain the things they need as well as the things they want? Is everyone allowed to get their heart's desire regardless of job status? Even communist countries have a monetary system to distribute wealth according to social status and work performed. <br /> Posted by bdewoody</DIV></p><p>To be honest, this was one of the few things that Roddenberry did with Star Trek that got on my nerves. It was a little too naive for my tastes for the very reasons that you mentioned. Completely removing money from the equation adds certain logistical complications that were never really addressed. To a certain extent people are just plain greedy, it's actually a survival instinct. People are going to want things and if you give one person more than another, somebody's going to get jealous. How do you weed the greed instinct out of people without removing people's natural competitive drive that makes them perform so well. To reference a completely and totally different sci-fi show, it's like in the movie <span style="font-style:italic">Serenity</span> where they find the planet Miranda. The Alliance weeded out everyone's aggressive drive and because of that everyone just laid down and died. To quote Mal: "Let me show you a world without sin." That's why the whole thing about no money just never rang true with me, it just didn't seem plausible. Hell, even the Soviet Union used currency to pay their workers (occasionally). </p><p>You'll notice, however, that after he died all of that happy kumbaya stuff went out the window and the whole show took on a much darker, more realistic, tone. </p> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><em>So, again we are defeated. This victory belongs to the farmers, not us.</em></p><p><strong>-Kambei Shimada from the movie Seven Samurai</strong></p> </div>