Federation credit
Encyclopedia
The Federation Credit is inferred to be the basic monetary unit of the United Federation of Planets
in the fictional Star Trek
series. Although the term has rarely been used on-screen and is thus considered non-canon. For the first 20 years of Star Trek, from 1965 until 1985, there was no indication that money was outmoded. The Original Series sometimes referenced the cost of services or objects in "credits".
It has been said in episodes like the Star Trek: The Next Generation
episode "The Neutral Zone
" and movies like Star Trek: First Contact
that the economy of the Federation is quite unlike the economics of the 20th and 21st centuries - almost unrecognizably so. It is a socialist post scarcity
society: There is no poverty and no hunger, and the accumulation of wealth
is not a driving force in society. According to Tom Paris
in the Star Trek: Voyager
episode "Dark Frontier", a "New World Economy" began to take hold on Earth and throughout the Federation in the late 22nd century, and eventually made money obsolete. He even mentions that in the 24th century, Fort Knox
is a museum, apparently to money and capitalism
.
In the United Federation of Planets, Replicator
s and other advanced technologies provide for virtually all basic material wants and needs equally and sufficiently to all. Every citizen of the Federation has plenty of food of virtually any type they want, clothes, shelter, recreational and luxury items, and has all their basic material needs easily met. A society based around self-improvement and collectively improving the human race instead of cutthroat competition, combined with heavy automation, means labor is essentially free, menial tasks are automated, and goods are made freely available to all citizens due to superabundance. As seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
episodes featuring Jake and Joseph Sisko, people are apparently not paid in credits for their work.
Furthermore, the Federation credit does not appear to serve the role of capital as money does in a capitalist economy: production is not based on the accumulation of capital for reinvestment of production; instead production is undertaken to satisfy human needs, and the Federation credit is likely more akin to a Labour voucher
- a means for distributing / rationing goods for individual consumption. Alternatively, the credit may serve as a means of quantifying energy.
It is unclear how citizens gain credits, since they are not paid directly for their work in credits. As there is no poverty, there is likely a highly egalitarian and fair method of distributing the wealth (output capacity) of the United Federation of Planets to its citizens, such as a basic income guarantee or social dividend
.
For the first 20 years of Star Trek, from 1965 until 1985, there was no indication that money was outmoded. The Original Series sometimes referenced the cost of services or objects in "credits". Earth society itself was never shown, but it was mentioned and implied to be peaceful and idyllic. Although some argue that Earth has peacefully achieved world communism
as imagined in Marxist philosophy
, in his writings at the time, Gene Roddenberry said he intentionally avoided talking about the political, social and economic structures of Earth, simply implying that it was far more advanced than the modern day.
The first mention of the Federation not having money in the modern sense was in 1986, in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
. Kirk expresses frustration at the use of money on 1986 Earth. However, he merely mentioned that money is still being used, which could be a reference to a physical currency, rather than the virtual "credit" currency of the Federation at that time.
Then, in early 1988 in "The Neutral Zone", the last episode of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Picard explains to a banker from the 20th century that economics are quite different and the pursuit of money is no longer a part of human existence, however earlier in that season in "Encounter at Farpoint", Beverly Crusher
purchased a bolt of fabric, while asking for it to be billed to her account on the USS Enterprise. This would appear to suggest that Federation citizens (and the Federation government) use money for transactions with "outsiders" (non-Federation citizens), but not amongst themselves. Indeed, while money is shown to be used in interactions with non-Federation species, it is not shown to be used among inhabitants of the Federation. In this way, there is no contradiction, and the apparent parodox is easily resolved.
Later in TNG, and especially in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it was repeatedly stated that the Federation did not use money, and that the pursuit of money was generally abhorrent to humans, especially as a counterpoint to the highly capitalist Ferengi
(although the Federation citizens on Deep Space Nine did purchase drinks and merchandise from Ferengi, and were no stranger to obtaining and using money, even if they didn't explicitly need any). In Star Trek: Voyager, the episode "Dark Frontier" has Tom Paris
explaining that money began to fade from use when the "New World Economy" arose in the late 22nd century (notably after the 2161 founding date of the Federation), meaning even by later explanations, money was in use in the early history of the Federation. In Star Trek: Enterprise
, set in the 2150s, the issue was never brought up directly, however in the episode "These Are the Voyages...
" (the series finale) the holographic Charles 'Trip' Tucker does mention money, in reference to types of trust, however this may have just been an example he made to make his point understandable, and not proof of the economics of the time.
Perhaps most famously, Captain Jean-Luc Picard states in the film Star Trek: First Contact
that
This was echoed almost word for word by Jake Sisko in the DS9 episode "In the Cards", in an exchange with the Ferengi Nog:
It appears therefore that money ceased to be used within the Federation at some point prior to the 24th century (TNG). The concept of a moneyless society, in which each person contributes freely and willingly to the good of the whole, is not unique to Star Trek, and is a theme developed in Utopian socialist theory and writings - such as William Morris
' News From Nowhere
, published in 1890 in the United Kingdom
. The economics of the Federation may be compared closely with Utopian philosophy and literature.
However, episodes such as "The Gift", where Janeway relates how she and Tuvok purchased a meditation lamp from a Vulcan, who ups the price upon seeing their Starfleet uniforms, paint a different picture:
KES: Come in, Captain.
JANEWAY: You wanted to see me. Ah, Tuvok's meditation lamp. I was with him when he got it six years ago from a Vulcan master, at double the price when he saw our Starfleet insignias.
So Vulcans, even apparently Kolinar masters use money. Vulcan also interestingly enough have a merchant fleet as seen on a readout display in "Unification, Part 1". Thus a vide variety of interstellar commerce takes place, which in turn suggests money or a means of barter. The Bolians, who are also Federation members, still use money, as Bolias had a bank that was used by many interstellar nations for a wide variety of transactions (DS9: "Honor Among Thieves"). Among those users were the Ferengi. The dialog from "In the Cards" is also species-specific. Neither Nog nor Jake say that the Federation as a whole doesn't use money, just Humans. Thus Vulcans and the Federation in general may use some form of currency, the credit in this case, but Humanity has chosen an economy that foregoes its use in its own sovereign societal day-to-day use.
Furthermore, in TNG's "Conspiracy", we have evidence that large-scale corporations are still in place as stated in this dialog:
PICARD: Data, are you familiar with Dytallix B?
DATA: Dytallix B is one of seven uninhabited planets mined for the Federation by the Dytallix Mining Company. It is in the nearby Mira system.
Then there are humans, like Harry Mudd, Cyrano Jones, Kasidy Yates, and Vash who go about the galaxy and the Federation buying, selling, transporting cargo in typical free-trade, capitalistic fashion. And yet no one blinks an eye at that, except when those people do something that is ethically or legally questionable or obviously dangerous to others.
Other commerce and the ability to buy are perfectly normal as this dialog from the end of "We'll Always Have Paris" shows:
PICARD: Then set course for Sarona Eight. As I remember we were on our way for some much needed shore leave.
LAFORGE: Course set and laid in, sir.
PICARD: Warp five. Engage.
RIKER: I've only been there once, but they've got this great club. I don't remember the name of it. They serve these blue concoctions
TROI: It's across the square from the Zanza Men's Dance Palace.
PICARD: It's called the Blue Parrot Cafe, (to Troi) and you're buying.
Picard might only be joking, but the possibility remains that they really are going to spend some money there, and Picard is really expecting Troi to pick up the tab.
Then there is TNG's "Captain's Holiday" where we learn that Vash had to spend money to get there via a transport vessel of some kind. Since Riza is in the Federation, and if the Federation had no money, it seems peculiar that Vash would need money to buy her way there.
So by this evidence one can easily conclude that money still used within the Federation, and it seems that some individual member worlds still make use of their own currencies.
In the Star Trek RPG made by FASA from 1982 to 1989, it presented the Federation Credit in a method quite similar to modern currency, including pay rates for Starfleet members. Since the most of the products of this Star Trek book line were established before the apparent retcon
of the Federation not using money in the modern sense was established, this was done in good faith to be consistent with Star Trek as they knew it at the time.
The Star Trek RPG made by Last Unicorn Games in 1998 through 2000 used the Federation Credit in it, as well as other units of currency mentioned in Star Trek canon, such as gold-pressed latinum, the Bajoran Lita, and the Klingon Darsek. In accord with the ideas put forth later in TNG and in DS9, money was heavily de-emphasized (especially for Federation characters), and it is explained that Federation Credits are only used for purchasing luxury goods which could not be replicated or for special services, since Federation Citizens don't need money to live.
In the Prime Directive
game set in the Star Fleet Universe
alternate universe of Star Trek, the Federation credit is the basic monetary unit of the Federation, and is used in a method highly like modern currencies.
The Federation Credit also appears quite frequently in licensed, but non-canon, Star Trek novels, especially when the main characters are no longer a part of Starfleet and must tend with life beyond the core worlds of the Federation, such as "The Lost Years" by J.M. Dillard where Leonard McCoy
, having recently quit Starfleet (set circa 2270, during the gap between TOS and Star Trek: The Motion Picture
), is stranded on a distant planet and attempts to radio the Federation from help and to warn them about a crisis that is emerging, only to find that interstellar communications are difficult and very expensive for civilians, or in "Prime Directive" by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens where Hikaru Sulu
, and Pavel Chekov
, recently dishonorably discharged from Starfleet and publicly disgraced, can only find work with the Orion Syndicate to raise money to be able to clear their names, for which they are paid in Federation Credits.
The Starship Designer games used the credit as a ration of available resources, as mentioned in the discussion on the nature of credits. Ships, their components, and their crew would cost the player character
admiral a number of credits, based on their quality--a faster engine would cost more than a slower one.
United Federation of Planets
The United Federation of Planets, also known as "The Federation" is a fictional interplanetary federal republic depicted in the Star Trek television series and motion pictures...
in the fictional Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
series. Although the term has rarely been used on-screen and is thus considered non-canon. For the first 20 years of Star Trek, from 1965 until 1985, there was no indication that money was outmoded. The Original Series sometimes referenced the cost of services or objects in "credits".
It has been said in episodes like the Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
episode "The Neutral Zone
The Neutral Zone (TNG episode)
"The Neutral Zone" is the 26th episode of the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.-Overview:A derelict ancient Earth satellite is found with cryonically frozen humans aboard as the USS Enterprise is sent to investigate the destruction of outposts near Romulan space.-Plot:While Captain...
" and movies like Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
that the economy of the Federation is quite unlike the economics of the 20th and 21st centuries - almost unrecognizably so. It is a socialist post scarcity
Post scarcity
Post scarcity is a hypothetical form of economy or society, in which things such as goods, services and information are free, or practically free...
society: There is no poverty and no hunger, and the accumulation of wealth
Capital accumulation
The accumulation of capital refers to the gathering or amassing of objects of value; the increase in wealth through concentration; or the creation of wealth. Capital is money or a financial asset invested for the purpose of making more money...
is not a driving force in society. According to Tom Paris
Tom Paris
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Paris serves as the chief helmsman and an auxiliary medic aboard the USS Voyager...
in the Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
episode "Dark Frontier", a "New World Economy" began to take hold on Earth and throughout the Federation in the late 22nd century, and eventually made money obsolete. He even mentions that in the 24th century, Fort Knox
United States Bullion Depository
The United States Bullion Depository, often known as Fort Knox, is a fortified vault building located adjacent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, used to store a large portion of United States official gold reserves and occasionally other precious items belonging or entrusted to the federal government.The...
is a museum, apparently to money and capitalism
Capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
.
In the United Federation of Planets, Replicator
Replicator (Star Trek)
In Star Trek a replicator is a machine capable of creating objects. Replicators were originally seen used to synthesize meals on demand, but in later series they took on many other uses.-Origins and limitations:...
s and other advanced technologies provide for virtually all basic material wants and needs equally and sufficiently to all. Every citizen of the Federation has plenty of food of virtually any type they want, clothes, shelter, recreational and luxury items, and has all their basic material needs easily met. A society based around self-improvement and collectively improving the human race instead of cutthroat competition, combined with heavy automation, means labor is essentially free, menial tasks are automated, and goods are made freely available to all citizens due to superabundance. As seen in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
episodes featuring Jake and Joseph Sisko, people are apparently not paid in credits for their work.
Roles of currency
When forms of currency are mentioned, it is in one of two capacities:- A means of internal budget allocation in the United Federation of Planets, such as in the Star Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry, produced by Desilu Productions . Star Trek was telecast on NBC from September 8, 1966, through June 3, 1969...
episode "Errand of Mercy". While it has almost unlimited resources, they have been shown to be finite (such as having limited numbers of starships), and thus some method of allocating Federation and Starfleet resources must be used.
- A way for Federation citizens to barter for objects that cannot be replicated, such as live animals, such as in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "The Trouble with Tribbles", or for services that are far too costly to be given away freely, such as hiring the services of an entire starship (Star Trek III: The Search for SpockStar Trek III: The Search for SpockStar Trek III: The Search for Spock is a 1984 motion picture released by Paramount Pictures. The film is the third feature based on the Star Trek science fiction franchise and is the center of a three-film story arc that begins with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and concludes with Star Trek IV:...
), or for the use of facilities (such as public transporters) that are in high demand and must have a method of rationing their access, such as in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "ExplorersExplorers (DS9 episode)"Explorers" is an episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the 22nd episode of the third season. It is rated 4.3/5 on the official Star Trek Website.-Plot:...
".
Furthermore, the Federation credit does not appear to serve the role of capital as money does in a capitalist economy: production is not based on the accumulation of capital for reinvestment of production; instead production is undertaken to satisfy human needs, and the Federation credit is likely more akin to a Labour voucher
Labour voucher
Labour vouchers are a device proposed to govern demand for goods in some models of socialism, much as money does under capitalism.-Outline:...
- a means for distributing / rationing goods for individual consumption. Alternatively, the credit may serve as a means of quantifying energy.
It is unclear how citizens gain credits, since they are not paid directly for their work in credits. As there is no poverty, there is likely a highly egalitarian and fair method of distributing the wealth (output capacity) of the United Federation of Planets to its citizens, such as a basic income guarantee or social dividend
Social dividend
A social dividend is a proposal for allocating surplus value, or economic profits, generated by publicly-owned enterprises in a socialist economic system...
.
Controversy of the Credit
The Federation Credit has been a subject of controversy among fans and, at first glance, seemingly conflicting accounts in the source material.For the first 20 years of Star Trek, from 1965 until 1985, there was no indication that money was outmoded. The Original Series sometimes referenced the cost of services or objects in "credits". Earth society itself was never shown, but it was mentioned and implied to be peaceful and idyllic. Although some argue that Earth has peacefully achieved world communism
World communism
World communism, also known as international communism or global communism, is the terminal stage of development of the history of communism in Marxist theory. It has also usually been equated to the Comintern . This is the meaning that typically and historically has been meant by opponents of...
as imagined in Marxist philosophy
Marxist philosophy
Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are terms that cover work in philosophy that is strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory or that is written by Marxists...
, in his writings at the time, Gene Roddenberry said he intentionally avoided talking about the political, social and economic structures of Earth, simply implying that it was far more advanced than the modern day.
The first mention of the Federation not having money in the modern sense was in 1986, in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is a 1986 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the fourth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series and completes the story arc begun in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III: The...
. Kirk expresses frustration at the use of money on 1986 Earth. However, he merely mentioned that money is still being used, which could be a reference to a physical currency, rather than the virtual "credit" currency of the Federation at that time.
Then, in early 1988 in "The Neutral Zone", the last episode of the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Picard explains to a banker from the 20th century that economics are quite different and the pursuit of money is no longer a part of human existence, however earlier in that season in "Encounter at Farpoint", Beverly Crusher
Beverly Crusher
Commander Beverly Crusher, M.D. , played by actress Gates McFadden, is a fictional character on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and its subsequent spinoff films...
purchased a bolt of fabric, while asking for it to be billed to her account on the USS Enterprise. This would appear to suggest that Federation citizens (and the Federation government) use money for transactions with "outsiders" (non-Federation citizens), but not amongst themselves. Indeed, while money is shown to be used in interactions with non-Federation species, it is not shown to be used among inhabitants of the Federation. In this way, there is no contradiction, and the apparent parodox is easily resolved.
Later in TNG, and especially in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it was repeatedly stated that the Federation did not use money, and that the pursuit of money was generally abhorrent to humans, especially as a counterpoint to the highly capitalist Ferengi
Ferengi
The Ferengi are a fictitious extraterrestrial race from the Star Trek universe. They first appeared in "The Last Outpost", the fifth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, during which they made first contact with the United Federation of Planets in 2364 on the planet Delphi Ardu,...
(although the Federation citizens on Deep Space Nine did purchase drinks and merchandise from Ferengi, and were no stranger to obtaining and using money, even if they didn't explicitly need any). In Star Trek: Voyager, the episode "Dark Frontier" has Tom Paris
Tom Paris
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill, is a character in the television series Star Trek: Voyager. Paris serves as the chief helmsman and an auxiliary medic aboard the USS Voyager...
explaining that money began to fade from use when the "New World Economy" arose in the late 22nd century (notably after the 2161 founding date of the Federation), meaning even by later explanations, money was in use in the early history of the Federation. In Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise
Star Trek: Enterprise is a science fiction television series. It follows the adventures of humanity's first warp 5 starship, the Enterprise, ten years before the United Federation of Planets shown in previous Star Trek series was formed.Enterprise premiered on September 26, 2001...
, set in the 2150s, the issue was never brought up directly, however in the episode "These Are the Voyages...
These Are the Voyages... (Enterprise episode)
"These Are the Voyages..." is the series finale of the UPN television show Star Trek: Enterprise. The 22nd episode of the fourth season and the 98th of the series overall, it first aired on May 13, 2005, in the United States...
" (the series finale) the holographic Charles 'Trip' Tucker does mention money, in reference to types of trust, however this may have just been an example he made to make his point understandable, and not proof of the economics of the time.
Perhaps most famously, Captain Jean-Luc Picard states in the film Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact
Star Trek: First Contact is the eighth feature film in the Star Trek science fiction franchise, released in November 1996, by Paramount Pictures. First Contact is the first film in the franchise to feature no cast members from the original Star Trek television series of the 1960s...
that
- "The economics of the future is somewhat different. You see, money doesn't exist in the 24th century. The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity."
This was echoed almost word for word by Jake Sisko in the DS9 episode "In the Cards", in an exchange with the Ferengi Nog:
- Jake: "I'm Human, I don't have any money."
- Nog: "It's not my fault that your species decided to abandon currency-based economics in favor of some philosophy of self-enhancement."
- Jake: "Hey, watch it. There's nothing wrong with our philosophy. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity."
- Nog: "What does that mean?"
- Jake: "It means we don't need money!"
It appears therefore that money ceased to be used within the Federation at some point prior to the 24th century (TNG). The concept of a moneyless society, in which each person contributes freely and willingly to the good of the whole, is not unique to Star Trek, and is a theme developed in Utopian socialist theory and writings - such as William Morris
William Morris
William Morris 24 March 18343 October 1896 was an English textile designer, artist, writer, and socialist associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and the English Arts and Crafts Movement...
' News From Nowhere
News from Nowhere
News from Nowhere is a classic work combining utopian socialism and soft science fiction written by the artist, designer and socialist pioneer William Morris...
, published in 1890 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The economics of the Federation may be compared closely with Utopian philosophy and literature.
However, episodes such as "The Gift", where Janeway relates how she and Tuvok purchased a meditation lamp from a Vulcan, who ups the price upon seeing their Starfleet uniforms, paint a different picture:
KES: Come in, Captain.
JANEWAY: You wanted to see me. Ah, Tuvok's meditation lamp. I was with him when he got it six years ago from a Vulcan master, at double the price when he saw our Starfleet insignias.
So Vulcans, even apparently Kolinar masters use money. Vulcan also interestingly enough have a merchant fleet as seen on a readout display in "Unification, Part 1". Thus a vide variety of interstellar commerce takes place, which in turn suggests money or a means of barter. The Bolians, who are also Federation members, still use money, as Bolias had a bank that was used by many interstellar nations for a wide variety of transactions (DS9: "Honor Among Thieves"). Among those users were the Ferengi. The dialog from "In the Cards" is also species-specific. Neither Nog nor Jake say that the Federation as a whole doesn't use money, just Humans. Thus Vulcans and the Federation in general may use some form of currency, the credit in this case, but Humanity has chosen an economy that foregoes its use in its own sovereign societal day-to-day use.
Furthermore, in TNG's "Conspiracy", we have evidence that large-scale corporations are still in place as stated in this dialog:
PICARD: Data, are you familiar with Dytallix B?
DATA: Dytallix B is one of seven uninhabited planets mined for the Federation by the Dytallix Mining Company. It is in the nearby Mira system.
Then there are humans, like Harry Mudd, Cyrano Jones, Kasidy Yates, and Vash who go about the galaxy and the Federation buying, selling, transporting cargo in typical free-trade, capitalistic fashion. And yet no one blinks an eye at that, except when those people do something that is ethically or legally questionable or obviously dangerous to others.
Other commerce and the ability to buy are perfectly normal as this dialog from the end of "We'll Always Have Paris" shows:
PICARD: Then set course for Sarona Eight. As I remember we were on our way for some much needed shore leave.
LAFORGE: Course set and laid in, sir.
PICARD: Warp five. Engage.
RIKER: I've only been there once, but they've got this great club. I don't remember the name of it. They serve these blue concoctions
TROI: It's across the square from the Zanza Men's Dance Palace.
PICARD: It's called the Blue Parrot Cafe, (to Troi) and you're buying.
Picard might only be joking, but the possibility remains that they really are going to spend some money there, and Picard is really expecting Troi to pick up the tab.
Then there is TNG's "Captain's Holiday" where we learn that Vash had to spend money to get there via a transport vessel of some kind. Since Riza is in the Federation, and if the Federation had no money, it seems peculiar that Vash would need money to buy her way there.
So by this evidence one can easily conclude that money still used within the Federation, and it seems that some individual member worlds still make use of their own currencies.
The Federation Credit in non-canon works
The Federation Credit appears in many alternate canons and non-canon but licensed works about Star Trek, generally basing their reference off of the appearances of the Federation Credit in the Original Series, and reinforced by their occasional reference in later works.In the Star Trek RPG made by FASA from 1982 to 1989, it presented the Federation Credit in a method quite similar to modern currency, including pay rates for Starfleet members. Since the most of the products of this Star Trek book line were established before the apparent retcon
Retcon
Retroactive continuity is the alteration of previously established facts in a fictional work. Retcons are done for many reasons, including the accommodation of sequels or further derivative works in a series, wherein newer authors or creators want to revise the in-story history to allow a course...
of the Federation not using money in the modern sense was established, this was done in good faith to be consistent with Star Trek as they knew it at the time.
The Star Trek RPG made by Last Unicorn Games in 1998 through 2000 used the Federation Credit in it, as well as other units of currency mentioned in Star Trek canon, such as gold-pressed latinum, the Bajoran Lita, and the Klingon Darsek. In accord with the ideas put forth later in TNG and in DS9, money was heavily de-emphasized (especially for Federation characters), and it is explained that Federation Credits are only used for purchasing luxury goods which could not be replicated or for special services, since Federation Citizens don't need money to live.
In the Prime Directive
Prime Directive (role-playing game)
Prime Directive is a role-playing game set in the Star Trek-derived Star Fleet Universe. The game has gone through two different incarnations.-Prime Directive RPG:...
game set in the Star Fleet Universe
Star Fleet Universe
The Star Fleet Universe is the variant of the Star Trek fictional universe detailed in the series of Star Fleet Battles games from Amarillo Design Bureau Inc. and used as reference for the Starfleet Command series of computer games...
alternate universe of Star Trek, the Federation credit is the basic monetary unit of the Federation, and is used in a method highly like modern currencies.
The Federation Credit also appears quite frequently in licensed, but non-canon, Star Trek novels, especially when the main characters are no longer a part of Starfleet and must tend with life beyond the core worlds of the Federation, such as "The Lost Years" by J.M. Dillard where Leonard McCoy
Leonard McCoy
Leonard "Bones" McCoy is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by DeForest Kelley in the original Star Trek series, McCoy also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, and in numerous books,...
, having recently quit Starfleet (set circa 2270, during the gap between TOS and Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a 1979 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the first film based on the Star Trek television series. The film is set in the twenty-third century, when a mysterious and immensely powerful alien cloud called V'Ger approaches the Earth,...
), is stranded on a distant planet and attempts to radio the Federation from help and to warn them about a crisis that is emerging, only to find that interstellar communications are difficult and very expensive for civilians, or in "Prime Directive" by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens where Hikaru Sulu
Hikaru Sulu
Hikaru Sulu is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by George Takei in the original Star Trek series, Sulu also appears in the animated Star Trek series, the first six Star Trek movies, one episode of Star Trek: Voyager, and in numerous books, comics, and video games...
, and Pavel Chekov
Pavel Chekov
Pavel Andreievich Chekov is a Russian Starfleet officer in the Star Trek fictional universe. Walter Koenig portrayed Chekov in the original Star Trek series and first seven Star Trek films; Anton Yelchin portrayed the character in the 2009 film Star Trek.-Origin:Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry...
, recently dishonorably discharged from Starfleet and publicly disgraced, can only find work with the Orion Syndicate to raise money to be able to clear their names, for which they are paid in Federation Credits.
The Starship Designer games used the credit as a ration of available resources, as mentioned in the discussion on the nature of credits. Ships, their components, and their crew would cost the player character
Player character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
admiral a number of credits, based on their quality--a faster engine would cost more than a slower one.
See also
- Credits (science fiction)
- Electronic moneyElectronic moneyElectronic money is money or scrip that is only exchanged electronically. Typically, this involves the use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems...
- Post-capitalismPost-capitalismPost-capitalism refers to any hypothetical future economic system that is to supersede capitalism as the dominant form of economic organization.-Post-capitalist systems:There have been a number of proposals for a new economic system to replace capitalism...
- Post scarcityPost scarcityPost scarcity is a hypothetical form of economy or society, in which things such as goods, services and information are free, or practically free...
- The Venus ProjectThe Venus ProjectThe Venus Project is an organization that advocates the futurist visions of the American Jacque Fresco, with the aim of improving society with a global sustainable social design that it calls a "resource-based economy"...