[josephcsible]

> That Star Trek depicts a communist society, without of course calling it that, is crystal clear.

No, it depicts a post-scarcity society.

[Terr_]

We should also be careful to analyze Starfleet separately from the Federation in general. The quasi-military part isn't going to necessarily be the same as the whole.

Kind of like how in real-world US military is a socialist system, encased inside a larger economy and political landscape which is much less so.