I wanna talk to a Ferengi about capitalism
Ferengi society, to my eyes, isn't really capitalism, though no less exploitative. Capitalism would imply some kind of investor class, a formalized system of stocks and assets. The Ferengi are merchants, and their philosophy surrounds the movement of goods as well as money. When a Ferengi invests in something, they're investing in a single clear business opportunity to move goods from a prospective seller or owner to a profitable buyer. I feel some almost mercantalist vibes coming from them, especially sticking to a commodity currency like GPL, plus the vicious competition of a criminal cartel
What would they think about the excesses of our age? Would they admire a class of people who profit immensely with practically no effort, able to mostly ignore moving goods? Would they see it as a perversion of the Rules of Aquisition, a bunch of hew-mons with no lobes for business reaping rewards on the raw inertia of their wealth? Would they admire the ruthlessness or see it as more hew-mon barbarism? Would they marvel at synthesizing value from ownership, money that exists backed by nothing but collective agreement and labor, or would they see it as worthless paper and tokens, baffled that the hew-mons treated such stuff as profit, killed and died and fought for it?
Unrelated but I'd love to drop Nwabuduke Morgan from Alpha Centauri into the Star Trek universe and see how quickly he becomes the Ferengi's favorite (or least favorite!) hew-mon!
