A solarpunk Star Trek would be amazing! Tell the story of civilians living in a post-scarcity economy, building a colony, farming, and running restaurants. The "Articles of the Federation" idea of "The West Wing in Space" made my heart skip a beat.
I want to see more of Federation life, through a lens other than the military!
Exactly what I was thinking about. Though I think if you wanted to do a series, you'd probably want a little more conflict than a paradise planet could offer.
Absolutely. Star Trek writers are in no way immune to capitalist realism themselves, especially when they're beholden to studio execs and budgets.
I didn't make it more than a few episodes into Picard before giving up in disgust, and this only validates my choice there. It's not just Picard though. Strange New Worlds is generally quite good, but the colony shown in the most recent episode was explicitly modeled on a mid 20th century American small town, a place Federation citizens should know better than to emulate.
Are there any novels or fanfics you'd recommend that do an actual good job of portraying a properly post scarcity Federation culture?
They are excellent negotiators and traders. If you need something like an ionized plasma channel or even a prototype phase cloak, the Ferengi can find it for you.
@A_Chilean_Cyborg@ValueSubtracted You might be interested in Ursula K. LeGuin’s book THE DISPOSSESSED. In one scene, the character from the anarchist planet explains to a character from the capitalist planet how they get people to do the dirty or dangerous jobs.
@ValueSubtracted I don't think so, the canon has a lot links to possible stories without starfleet. i would find stories about living under the Dominion interesting.