Star Trek wasn't a communist society, it was a democracy with private property (Picard's brother owned a vineyard), a currency, religion (Bajor), individual rights and the captains had better quarters and facilities than the crew.
There was also no serious show of religion (among the main cast anyway) until DS9. And individual rights (aside from property rights) have nothing to do with communism vs. capitalism.
As to how Picard's brother "owned" his vineyard, it was never clear. How a citizen was supposed to purchase or sell land without any form of currency in a communal society was never explained. Perhaps he just inherited it and got grandfathered in before land ownership became communal. More likely, the writers were just too lazy to ever explain it.
The star trek fantasy is exactly that - a fantasy.
It always cracked me up that Star Trek, at the height of the Cold War, was able to portray a future with a communist social system right under the noses of the American public. Just because James Kirk would make the occasional speech about freedom and shit, I guess people missed that there was no religion, no money, and that everyone worked together for the common good. This was especially obvious on TNG, where the Ferengi were some of the initial bad guys on the show and Picard openly mocked their capitalism and bragged about how the Federation no longer needed such crass things as money. DS9 was the only Star Trek series with a more realistic take on human behavior and a more sympathetic view of capitalism.
My conservative friends assure me that raising the minimum wage to $15/hr will cause an apocalypse of Mad Max proportions. So Seatlle should become a wasteland any day now, suitable only for those with shoulderpads, mohawks, and dunebuggies.
Last time I checked, their business model was to offer a valuable service that people really like in exchange for money. That's not what I would call a "scam."
When you're a smart, well-educated person, it's always easy to forget that the vast majority of people out there aren't. When you leave your downtown yuppie zone or university dorm once and a while and head out into the small towns, you'll find a different world. It wouldn't surprise me if most people think that we have a permanent base on the moon and have no idea that the U.S. doesn't even have the capacity to send humans into LEO anymore (you would have to start by explaining to them that you don't mean Leo DiCaprio). You could tell them that we landed a man on Mars years ago and they would probably just nod like idiots. Just look at all the popular movies where:
a) The Space Shuttle program still exists b) The Space Shuttle can go ANYWHERE (including to and from the moon, landing and taking off from asteroids, etc.) c) Human landings and bases on Mars are a fucking breeze.
We need to establish a fantasy grand jury to get to the bottom of this immediately! If anyone is breaking the law, they need to be doing hard time in fantasy prison!
Forget warp drive, just get me my promised "Mr. Fusion" for my electric car and I'll be good-to-go. October 21st is just a few days away, so we've got to get moving on this!
VR is sort of like 3D movies and TV. Every generation or so it pops up again, everyone gets all excited about it, products are released that either disappoint or don't sell well, it never really catches on, and then it goes back to hibernation for another generation or so.
Don't get me wrong, I *hope* it succeeds this time. But if it's going to, companies need to get some actual consumer products on the shelves. And they need to be:
1) Consumer priced (not over $1,000 total) 2) Relatively easy to use 3) On mainstream store shelves 4) Available with demos so people can actually see for themselves what all the hype is about
So far, there has been years of hype, but only one actual consumer product (the Samsung Gear). And even the gear requires a wonky paired cellphone (a very particular cellphone) setup, and it's far from the shelves of most Walmarts and Best Buys. I'm not even sure it's on the shelves at most cellphone stores.
Slashdot Mirror
Star Trek wasn't a communist society, it was a democracy with private property (Picard's brother owned a vineyard), a currency, religion (Bajor), individual rights and the captains had better quarters and facilities than the crew.
No, there was no currency in the future:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
There was also no serious show of religion (among the main cast anyway) until DS9. And individual rights (aside from property rights) have nothing to do with communism vs. capitalism.
As to how Picard's brother "owned" his vineyard, it was never clear. How a citizen was supposed to purchase or sell land without any form of currency in a communal society was never explained. Perhaps he just inherited it and got grandfathered in before land ownership became communal. More likely, the writers were just too lazy to ever explain it.
The star trek fantasy is exactly that - a fantasy.
It always cracked me up that Star Trek, at the height of the Cold War, was able to portray a future with a communist social system right under the noses of the American public. Just because James Kirk would make the occasional speech about freedom and shit, I guess people missed that there was no religion, no money, and that everyone worked together for the common good. This was especially obvious on TNG, where the Ferengi were some of the initial bad guys on the show and Picard openly mocked their capitalism and bragged about how the Federation no longer needed such crass things as money. DS9 was the only Star Trek series with a more realistic take on human behavior and a more sympathetic view of capitalism.
nuff said
My conservative friends assure me that raising the minimum wage to $15/hr will cause an apocalypse of Mad Max proportions. So Seatlle should become a wasteland any day now, suitable only for those with shoulderpads, mohawks, and dunebuggies.
"Why weren't you in class today?"
"I was. I logged on and no one was there."
"No, I mean why weren't you in CLASS?"
"I went to the website."
"Did you go to the CLASSROOM?"
"What's a classroom? You mean the chatroom?"
a scam as their business model
Last time I checked, their business model was to offer a valuable service that people really like in exchange for money. That's not what I would call a "scam."
Shocking! Harumph!
I said PROPERLY!
When you're a smart, well-educated person, it's always easy to forget that the vast majority of people out there aren't. When you leave your downtown yuppie zone or university dorm once and a while and head out into the small towns, you'll find a different world. It wouldn't surprise me if most people think that we have a permanent base on the moon and have no idea that the U.S. doesn't even have the capacity to send humans into LEO anymore (you would have to start by explaining to them that you don't mean Leo DiCaprio). You could tell them that we landed a man on Mars years ago and they would probably just nod like idiots. Just look at all the popular movies where:
a) The Space Shuttle program still exists
b) The Space Shuttle can go ANYWHERE (including to and from the moon, landing and taking off from asteroids, etc.)
c) Human landings and bases on Mars are a fucking breeze.
"I nominate everyone currently on a TLC or E! reality show to be launched in a rocket!"
"To space?"
"To anywhere where they wouldn't come back."
Jewish physics, as opposed to gentile physics.
Perhaps Yale needs to have some Harvard alum come and show them how to properly run a web server.
We need to establish a fantasy grand jury to get to the bottom of this immediately! If anyone is breaking the law, they need to be doing hard time in fantasy prison!
Forget warp drive, just get me my promised "Mr. Fusion" for my electric car and I'll be good-to-go. October 21st is just a few days away, so we've got to get moving on this!
The last probe we sent spotted a whale just laying out on the surface! That's free gold for the taking if we send whalers there!
Corporations aren't yet allowed to go door to door with guns to take your money
Patience. Give President Trump some time.
I always assumed they were just held down by use of their Kiwi magic.
Oh, and I forgot to add, of course:
5) They need to have SOFTWARE. A VR headset isn't very useful if no one is making games or apps for it.
VR is sort of like 3D movies and TV. Every generation or so it pops up again, everyone gets all excited about it, products are released that either disappoint or don't sell well, it never really catches on, and then it goes back to hibernation for another generation or so.
Don't get me wrong, I *hope* it succeeds this time. But if it's going to, companies need to get some actual consumer products on the shelves. And they need to be:
1) Consumer priced (not over $1,000 total)
2) Relatively easy to use
3) On mainstream store shelves
4) Available with demos so people can actually see for themselves what all the hype is about
So far, there has been years of hype, but only one actual consumer product (the Samsung Gear). And even the gear requires a wonky paired cellphone (a very particular cellphone) setup, and it's far from the shelves of most Walmarts and Best Buys. I'm not even sure it's on the shelves at most cellphone stores.
Every ex-GF is about to have a fucking field day.
Three chicken wings + as much broccoli as you like...
aka 3 chicken wings
Most of the kind of "veggies" they're probably talking about wouldn't help a starving kid. They need real protein and carbohydrates.
I wonder how teachers like having kids coming back to the classroom who couldn't get a decent meal.
Knowing the system, working the system
Aka "Learning" and "working hard."
using that social capital
Aka "going to school every day."
Ford found that both Hispanic and black students are underrepresented in gifted programs and that black students are missing out the most.
That is NOT the same as saying the program is "biased against Hispanic and black students" or discriminatory.