The Star Trek Economy

The ship was the source of the energy and canon suggests that as long as the systems were working properly there was an over-abundance of energy available for use. Granted it wouldn't be a good idea to ask for a cup of tea while the ship had full shields engaged with constant phasers firing during a battle. But during normal warp hops there shouldn't be a problem. If the power system was having problems then it stands to reason that going to warp wouldn't work as it required an immense amount of energy to accomplish. Which is the reason for the massive power system in the first place.

It couldn't be a shortage of base material because just about anything could be used and the ships took advantage of a massive recycling effort that almost everything discarded was transformed back into the base material that was stored on the ship. It would be easy to replace if need be so it had to be an energy shortage of some type.

I always felt the replicator rationing was just a writer's way to excuse Neelix suddenly becoming a cook on the ship for additional storylines. It didn't make sense to me. So, what was the rationale behind the replicator rationing? Did it even make sense?

To be fair, I had lots of problems with Voyager which is apparently why I never cared for it. I probably just couldn't get into the spirit of things to enjoy the show as envisioned.

I also have the will, and we definitely have the capacity right now.

Think of it this way: have you ever wanted to go to the store to buy food, and the store has been out of food? Have you ever been to the computer store to buy a computer and the store has been out of computers? Have you ever been to the doctor's (as scheduled) and the office has been out of medicine? What about housing?

We're already past the technological-industrial barriers required for post-scarcity, just not post-work (yet). What doesn't exist is the general public's will to make this a reality, even though it would certainly benefit them.

Yes, but they're not enemies like Nazi Germany was an enemy, or like Al Qaeda was an enemy, or even like Bonnie and Clyde were enemies. They're enemies like a hornet's nest is an enemy. (If you're really cynical, they're enemies like the Protoss are an enemy, seen from the perspective of an American playing Starcraft. They exist to make your universe more fun.)

Think of how far ahead of the Klingon Empire the Federation is. They routinely have a single man with delusions of grandeur outwit the entire Klingon race and nobody thinks this is odd. We know that in the logic of the Trek universe if it's the entire Klingon High Command personally at the helm of 100 warbirds versus Wesley Crusher and his high school science project that Wesley is destined to win, right? You don't even need to see the universe from the outside to come to that conclusion. Ask a Ferengi to handicap that contest. He'd tell you "Rules of Acquisition #47: never, ever, ever bet against the humans. There's no profit in it. Ever."

Think of some power multiplier, X, for demonstrating the geometric mean between civilization's level of ability to effect their wishes on the cosmos. Multiplying the Aztecs by Xs gets you the colonial Spaniards. Multiplying the Spaniards by X gets you the US. Multiplying the US by X gets you the lowest starship captain ever depicted in the series. Multiplying them by X gets you to the Klingons. The Federation is still several powers of X beyond them.

This implies that the Federation could probably wipe out everybody else with a for loop, and probably consider that low-intensity conflict resolution. But that wouldn't be fun. Why hit the Borg with the Lance of Judgment when there are still so many stories to tell about how Picard proved that passion and ingenuity beat raw technological dominance? The Federation loves such stories as only a technological superpower can.