MONEY IN STAR TREK. We all know Trek depicts a post scarcity utopian future without capitalism…

Or does it??

Well, in TOS anyway I would argue there are many examples implying it’s an essentially capitalist society with winners and losers…

1/ Take Federation space station K-7. Clearly there is some form of monetary exchange in the bar, and Cyrano Jones is said to be making a “marginal living engaging in the buying and selling of rare merchandise.” This implies he was just making ends meet working independently…

2/

GOOD GENES. Although Gene Roddenberry is still the name most associated with Star Trek, my sense is that Gene L. Coon has been gradually gaining recognition and, belatedly, the respect he deserves…

1/

While I have a particular fondness for early first season TOS, when Roddenberry was most involved, I think it’s generally the case that the period when Gene Coon was producer (mid season 1 to mid season 2, roughly) was the best stretch of the original series…

2/

EARLY SPOCK. How might TOS have developed had Spock remained the ambiguous, at times impish, character he is portrayed as early on? This clip shows that initially those traits we consider most Vulcan about him (his intelligence and discipline) were rather an emergent quality… 1/ … that arose from his trying to cope with his bifurcated being. In this conception, his repression is less his Vulcan side keeping down his human side, but his fundamental personality keeping *both* sides in check. /2