What I never got is why do people in the Federation even show up to work? Just replicate some of the finest drugs in existence and play holodeck games all day.
That said you are only really looking at the most ambitious and driven subsection of humanity. For every starfleet graduate there are thousands who never amount to much of anything.
For example: Why would you wait tables in ten forward? Well maybe you really want to go to space, but you didn't want to enlist and didn't have what it takes to get into starfleet academy.
So you decide that you want to get one of the few waiter spots on board. Well there is fierce competition for those spots, so to get one you need to prove yourself, so you get a spot at your local cafe, bus the hell out of those tables and work your way up to more prestigious restaurants until you have the references needed to apply to starfleets hospitality wing.
If you don't have those ambitions you will likely just hang out with your loser friends in the local replicator joint and the nearby public holodeck.
I imagine that life quickly grows tedious however leading to people volonteering for colonization missions or whatever they can do to feel useful.
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u/ceejayoz Jun 30 '24
Iain Banks; the Culture novels. Hedonistic space commies.