know what you were aiming at, Robert. As for "present baggage", which one/s?

* Yes, I know what you meant, or I have an idea. Let me clarify and see if we can be in sync here. By excess baggage, you mean getting rid of the devides... generally speaking. It's a gradual process, but I think we'll get there and are getting there. I may have leaned towards the materialistic side of it. Personally, I hate Kitsch. :) Presently, it's a byproduct of Capitalism and it is non-existant in a ST universe. Maybe that's because they have a Holodeck. lol

"the only debate in today's world is over degrees of capitalism." Yes. "Does it even need defending given its succes in today's world?" Yes, capitalism in a free society needs to be defended because of the likes of extreemists like al-Quaeda, Castro (those that came before them). Yet, we need some tough sentencing for corrupt CEOs. "What in the world is all this paranoid circling-the-wagons about?" I don't know how I have given you that idea.

Back to what you said here: "Productivity devalues labor. It's not a matter of the "fashion" of "putting a number" on it, it's just cold hard math. It's interesting that the system you describe of workers earning "credits" implies that it's as artificial as I'm saying it is. In a universe of true abundance in which no human labor is required to produce goods, labor is valueless; and so these "credits" must be arbitrarily assigned to maintain a fiction of worth. It's still a game."

Yes, and humans will still be involved, they can either make the system better or break it. That's when that personal sense of responsibility and integrity comes in... value. I was only addressing the human issue.

(I hope I didn't make it worse now. Darn it, Robert, I'm not perfect yet. lol)

Keep in mind that what's garbáge for you may not be for some. Imho, ST's success was in having us watch in awe at a human race that was highly civilized and where personal responsibility and respect was the individual's and community's goal. Makes it easier to protect and enhance the freedoms, science and technological breakthroughs that way.