Fascinating bit of dialogue from “Star Trek: First Contact”:
Lily: How much did this [ship] cost?
Picard: The economics of the future are somewhat different. You see, money doesn’t exist in the 24th Century.
Lily: You mean you don’t get paid?
Picard: The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We work to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.
Yeah, right.
I can accept force fields, transporters, phasers and Tribbles, but no money? I don’t think so. I could accept it for the Federation crew – they’re essentially in the military, after all, and would be used to spartan quarters and comforts. But for the rest of humanity, I just don’t buy it (pun somewhat intended). No matter how filled with goodness people in the future will be, they’ll still want to buy a fancy car.