Can someone own a ship in Star Trek?

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Space is a reality with no law really, so the idea of whether humans can have starships to be out in space is about as expected as it pertains to leaving the country in modern times by whatever means you can. I recognize the highly institutional implications of space travel on a general level as what is typically depicted in the show, but you have to expect that Earth probably doesn't have a "no personal ships" policy as it might have to coordinate with people traveling in space by happenstance.

Star Trek Picard gives us probably the most updated economic condition that is depicted by Trek, and I haven't really smelled any kind of discrepancy on a canon basis. Rios has his own ship, and he doesn't seem particularly estranged from Earth on a legal basis, so along with all the other cited examples in this thread, I'm pretty sure you can.

[Nobody700]

See, Sisko's dad wanting a resturant, I can buy. But WHO wants to be the WAITER?! No, you have to EARN that shit. To me, the Federation has no money but you earn 'credits' for jobs done. Like favors. Pure merit stuff, and while Picard has his huge vineyard, he clearly has to produce to keep it and not bank on old money but day to day work. Raffi... is a useless bum so she gets no favors from the Federation for milking them while she sits around spreading racist shit on 44Chan (The future version of 4Chan), getting drunk, and complaining about how her family sucks and also how all the women she dates sucks.

[Madner Kami]

See, Sisko's dad wanting a resturant, I can buy. But WHO wants to be the WAITER?! No, you have to EARN that shit.

99% of jobs suck because either the customers treat you like shit or because your employer treats you like shit. In both cases, such behaviour is "tolerated" because you need the money. If you do not have to tolerate such behaviour due to economic pressure of needing money to have a roof over your head and food on your table, such behaviour will go away quickly, because asshole customers get the boot and asshole employers get no employees. I can perfectly see someone wanting to be a waiter. Heck, I originally stayed with my part-time job from university-times (going fulltime rather than following up on my academical degree), because I enjoyed being on the move and being able to interact with people and make their day a little bit brighter with my service and I work in a fucking supermarket. The only reason why I would stop doing that work, if I won in a lottery, are the idiots among the customers that my bosses keep siding with because they need their money and my idiotic bosses, not the physically and (maybe quite surprisingly) mentally demanding job.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Yeah I'm with Madner Kami on this one.

[stryke]

So the Haves are born into being a Have and everybody else remains a Havenot unless they get lucky. Doesn't sound utopic to me. Sounds more like today.

Given the HaveNots get entirely free accomodation, food, medical care, education, never have to think about taking a shit job like call centre work that will destroy their mental health so they can make rent, and hey there's even the chance to go out into space I'd say it's not that like today. Sure some people have more thanks to inheritence but Earth is still paradice in the Federation even if you don't have a wine mansion like Picard does.

[Madner Kami]

Given the HaveNots get entirely free accomodation, food, medical care, education, never have to think about taking a shit job like call centre work that will destroy their mental health so they can make rent, ...

Tell me, you're an US-American without telling me you're an US-American. You just described most social-democracies of Europe.

[Nealithi]

See, Sisko's dad wanting a resturant, I can buy. But WHO wants to be the WAITER?! No, you have to EARN that shit. To me, the Federation has no money but you earn 'credits' for jobs done. Like favors. Pure merit stuff, and while Picard has his huge vineyard, he clearly has to produce to keep it and not bank on old money but day to day work. Raffi... is a useless bum so she gets no favors from the Federation for milking them while she sits around spreading racist shit on 44Chan (The future version of 4Chan), getting drunk, and complaining about how her family sucks and also how all the women she dates sucks.

I also agree with Madner on this. My mother and I love going to our local diner. The food is good and we like just chatting with the wait staff. In may ways it is like how Sisko's father greeted his guests. He treated them like they were friends coming for a nice time.

[CharlesPhipps]

Private property exists not money.

Which, sure, currency hasn't always been the major guiding point of the world's trade.

[McAvoy]

I think also has to be some sort of series of regulations/laws to own a ship with a warp drive. This isn't just like someone building a 50 ft ship in their backyard. But a 50 ft ship with a reactor that could explode like a nuke if it's not handled right.

Actually it woukd be just like someone the know how to build a nuclear reactor in their house and all they need is the fissible (spl?) material to get the thing started up.

[clearspira]

I think also has to be some sort of series of regulations/laws to own a ship with a warp drive. This isn't just like someone building a 50 ft ship in their backyard. But a 50 ft ship with a reactor that could explode like a nuke if it's not handled right.

Actually it woukd be just like someone the know how to build a nuclear reactor in their house and all they need is the fissible (spl?) material to get the thing started up.

It also seems to be implied that every Federation citizen is bound by the Prime Directive not just Starfleet. I guess there must be some test that you have to take.