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Small-Scale Question Sunday for January 18, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I have already said in the past here that my head canon ends with Voyager. Even in that universe, they have to deal with backtracking on the crime and poverty front of a Roddenberry utopia.

They do have crime, at least at the frontier. For example, in DS9 the Orion Syndicate is treated extensively. In “Prodigal Daughter,” they are dealing with a Federation species (Tril), but I think it is implied the law enforcement there is not Starfleet.

They also do have scarcity, and credits are mentioned in canon. They also have private property, e.g., Château Picard. In Voyager, being limited on energy, the ship has rationing, and therefore, for some reason, a cook? Beta canon suggests that normally there is some sort of replicator energy–equivalent UBI in credits, so there is effectively no poverty when there is no scarcity. My favorite part of DS9 is during the Dominion War, when the Federation rediscovers scarcity in “Treachery, Faith and the Great River.” Nog, coming from a society that still values money, demonstrates that efficient markets, or the “Great Material Continuum” in canon, can help reduce scarcity.

Of course, I do not expect Paramount to respect any established canon New Trek, thus my head canon ending.