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?
Sort of… Under Socialism workers control the means of production. That’s it, it can take a lot of forms. Communism, however, is a stateless, classless, moneyless society. There’s no need for a state to own everything anymore, or a need for a state at all, because there’s no class antagonisms any longer, and no need to secure the means of production on behalf of the workers. Communism is more of an aspirational mode of being in that sense, but there are socialist states that worked or are working towards those ends. The “tyranny” you’re referring to is more part of the transitional era where you need to have a strong state that can suppress and liquidate the bourgeoisie in order to keep control of the means of production.
I don’t think we know enough about the economics of the federation to say either way, but it certainly doesn’t appear that there are distinct classes of haves and have nots, making it basically a communist society.