GAVE THIS AMAZING NEWSLETTER to an SOTA-LLM and asked to read aloud the vibe-summary.
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You can think of *Star Trek* and *Star Wars* as two opposing visions of how technology and power shape society — and that tension explains a lot about the AI moment we’re living through.
*Star Trek* imagines technology as an equalizer — a world where progress is shared, scarcity is gone, and cooperation across nations and species drives discovery. It’s the UN-meets-Silicon Valley dream: innovation guided by ethics and collective benefit.
*Star Wars*, on the other hand, sees technology as a weapon — power concentrated in empires and dynasties, where control, not collaboration, defines progress. It’s messy, commercial, unequal — but also dynamic and real.
Right now, AI feels closer to *Star Wars* than *Star Trek*. It’s driven by competition, massive data empires, and the race for dominance. Yet the dream of *Star Trek* — tech that uplifts everyone — still calls to us. The question is whether we can steer AI toward exploration over exploitation.
May the Force — and the Federation — both be with us.
I have to disagree with your "Star Trek has no money" theory.
Since you seem a sci-fi head I am sure you heard of "Gold-Pressed Latinum", and you know every Trekkie's favorite Ferengi (Quark, of DS:9 infamy probably, he supposedly is super rich ;-) - they love the stuff. Can't get enough of it. Cardassians are also pretty monetary in that universe. So usually they see the holier-than-thou Federation members as "goody two-shoes".
And even though the Federation does not abide by the old mercantilist rules (money for goods) they do have pensioners - Old Captain Picard can probably sing a song about it, but he'd probably play the flute instead? They never dealt with the issues that creates - or rather, how to support your elders, assuming it would be just others taking care of their needs - and somehow, this Picard fellow has a legacy that seems to encompass a big wine chalet acres over acres, as depicted in "Picard", the Series - so it seems also "inheritance" exists in this non-monetary universe.
That is to say: while the Federation does not have "currency", they do still trade. And they do still have money, since when dealing with other species, the Core Federation still has to come up with the moolah. Granted, it's magically "replicated" in that universe - with them owning a literal money printer, so to speak.
And smuggling is rampant in Star Trek, as well. The Cardassians will tell you.
I do agree though, that Star Wars is the typical "Dark Vibes/Sci-Fi" fare - I mean if you have PC screens that still look like a mix of C64/Amiga UI but you somehow have the Lightspeed Drive (Jump Drives for them) - it makes you wonder if they got their priorities straight. And if you invent Light Sabers, why not spring a few bucks in "UX" engineers and give that old Death Star a new user interface...
Hey, no worries - I still find you‘re right about the general direction of the world in general - comes close to my thinking (as written in my current Series on my Sub).
Keep on keeping on!
Your posting actually gave me that very same idea you suggested - but I have to admit it‘s hard going. The Star Trek creators were all huge physics/astro physics people… they really nailed the „science“ part of the fiction, so to say… it‘s fascinating to see how they utilized Einstein‘s relativity theory to come to the conclusion of „Warp Drive Theory“ for example.
What they really lacked, imho, was a clear grasp of economic depth - they left a whole lot in the air on how their ideal utopia would really work.
I‘ll have a go at a draft for sure, since I still find that topic fascinating in their „lore“ - and wouldn‘t it be great if humanity could at least take a leaf out of their book?
I can confirm to you that the economy of Star Wars is way more „fleshed out“ when I think about the two „lore universes“ - probably by coincidence is my guess - and the motivations of the Empire are purely Machiavellian, including getting control of all the major resources… remind you of anyone in our world?
When I opened the email, mentioning star wars and global macro at the same time reminded me of Tom Luongo's work. Nice to see people are using fiction as a means to describe macro. Or as Bad Religion says- Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.
Star Wars depict a world where energy is essentially free, which is why there’s no money. When energy is free, there is less existential threat, because resources are essentially unlimited. Star Ward depict a world resources are _still_ limited. Hence the imperative to compete for resources.
"Star Wars and Star Trek for me represent the fundamental disconnect in human nature. We all know that we as a species achieve more when we work together, but we also know we get more when we stand out from others."
What this does is demonstrate the flaw in Randian logic. The rational selfish hedonist cheats whenever it is in his favor. He free-rides. He ignores or skirts rules when they provide inconvenient at the moment and at the same time, screams to high heaven when he wants his rights to be vindicated.
GAVE THIS AMAZING NEWSLETTER to an SOTA-LLM and asked to read aloud the vibe-summary.
---
You can think of *Star Trek* and *Star Wars* as two opposing visions of how technology and power shape society — and that tension explains a lot about the AI moment we’re living through.
*Star Trek* imagines technology as an equalizer — a world where progress is shared, scarcity is gone, and cooperation across nations and species drives discovery. It’s the UN-meets-Silicon Valley dream: innovation guided by ethics and collective benefit.
*Star Wars*, on the other hand, sees technology as a weapon — power concentrated in empires and dynasties, where control, not collaboration, defines progress. It’s messy, commercial, unequal — but also dynamic and real.
Right now, AI feels closer to *Star Wars* than *Star Trek*. It’s driven by competition, massive data empires, and the race for dominance. Yet the dream of *Star Trek* — tech that uplifts everyone — still calls to us. The question is whether we can steer AI toward exploration over exploitation.
May the Force — and the Federation — both be with us.
Its very good... thank god my jokes are still better than AI!
That is one ace Hannibal Lecter costume!
I have to disagree with your "Star Trek has no money" theory.
Since you seem a sci-fi head I am sure you heard of "Gold-Pressed Latinum", and you know every Trekkie's favorite Ferengi (Quark, of DS:9 infamy probably, he supposedly is super rich ;-) - they love the stuff. Can't get enough of it. Cardassians are also pretty monetary in that universe. So usually they see the holier-than-thou Federation members as "goody two-shoes".
And even though the Federation does not abide by the old mercantilist rules (money for goods) they do have pensioners - Old Captain Picard can probably sing a song about it, but he'd probably play the flute instead? They never dealt with the issues that creates - or rather, how to support your elders, assuming it would be just others taking care of their needs - and somehow, this Picard fellow has a legacy that seems to encompass a big wine chalet acres over acres, as depicted in "Picard", the Series - so it seems also "inheritance" exists in this non-monetary universe.
That is to say: while the Federation does not have "currency", they do still trade. And they do still have money, since when dealing with other species, the Core Federation still has to come up with the moolah. Granted, it's magically "replicated" in that universe - with them owning a literal money printer, so to speak.
And smuggling is rampant in Star Trek, as well. The Cardassians will tell you.
I do agree though, that Star Wars is the typical "Dark Vibes/Sci-Fi" fare - I mean if you have PC screens that still look like a mix of C64/Amiga UI but you somehow have the Lightspeed Drive (Jump Drives for them) - it makes you wonder if they got their priorities straight. And if you invent Light Sabers, why not spring a few bucks in "UX" engineers and give that old Death Star a new user interface...
I should have run this past my Trekkie friend before posting - apologies.
But broadly speaking, money is less important to the Federation than the Empire - or would seem that way to me.
I would enjoy a post that fully explained the economic and monetary diffrences between these two universes if you had time...
Hey, no worries - I still find you‘re right about the general direction of the world in general - comes close to my thinking (as written in my current Series on my Sub).
Keep on keeping on!
Your posting actually gave me that very same idea you suggested - but I have to admit it‘s hard going. The Star Trek creators were all huge physics/astro physics people… they really nailed the „science“ part of the fiction, so to say… it‘s fascinating to see how they utilized Einstein‘s relativity theory to come to the conclusion of „Warp Drive Theory“ for example.
What they really lacked, imho, was a clear grasp of economic depth - they left a whole lot in the air on how their ideal utopia would really work.
I‘ll have a go at a draft for sure, since I still find that topic fascinating in their „lore“ - and wouldn‘t it be great if humanity could at least take a leaf out of their book?
I can confirm to you that the economy of Star Wars is way more „fleshed out“ when I think about the two „lore universes“ - probably by coincidence is my guess - and the motivations of the Empire are purely Machiavellian, including getting control of all the major resources… remind you of anyone in our world?
When I opened the email, mentioning star wars and global macro at the same time reminded me of Tom Luongo's work. Nice to see people are using fiction as a means to describe macro. Or as Bad Religion says- Sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.
“while I waited for liver to be cooked (I was having a friend for dinner)” i like how you slipped that in with the hannibal lecter costume
Sadly the youth of today no longer recognise Hannibal Lecter...
Star Wars depict a world where energy is essentially free, which is why there’s no money. When energy is free, there is less existential threat, because resources are essentially unlimited. Star Ward depict a world resources are _still_ limited. Hence the imperative to compete for resources.
Good observation. The replicator really does change everything
"Star Wars and Star Trek for me represent the fundamental disconnect in human nature. We all know that we as a species achieve more when we work together, but we also know we get more when we stand out from others."
What this does is demonstrate the flaw in Randian logic. The rational selfish hedonist cheats whenever it is in his favor. He free-rides. He ignores or skirts rules when they provide inconvenient at the moment and at the same time, screams to high heaven when he wants his rights to be vindicated.