In TNG, Picard says that the Federation has evolved past a need for money. Indeed, we never see any.
In DS9 though, Quark talks a lot about bar tabs and costs. Surely OāBrien and Bashir donāt get free drinks, so how do they pay? Iād assume that any Ferengi worth his lobes wonāt accept anything that can be replicated, so do Federation officers get a stipend of tradeable āvalueā when interacting with cultures that still expect payment?
I think thereās also a reference to Quark paying rent to Sisko for running the bar. Presumably thatās denominated in latinum. I wonder where it goes? Maybe the secret āGarak black opsā fund.
I always assumed the rent went to the Bajorans. After all, itās their station, Sisko just runs it for them.
As for the bar tabs, I donāt think they ever really explained how starfleet officers paid for stuff on DS9. I always just assumed they had some kind of credit account through Starfleet or something when they were posted there.
Iām 99% certain quark wasnāt paying rent after the federation took over? Wasnāt there some point where he started getting pissy about something and Sisko threatened to start charging rent?
That happened at least once, when Quarkās employees formed a union and went on strike. I believe Sisko went to that well a number of times when Quark crossed a line or refused to do something important.
Really, it makes sense. Quark is profiting hugely from the Federationās willingness to not only give him a bunch of business but also not collect on some key expenses. Thatās a great business arrangement, but also gives the Federation leverage over someone they wouldnāt otherwise have any trust in.
Yes! Thats it! Sisko put is foot down over that strike and said he could start demanded rent if he wanted too.
They probably do, since the Federation deals with civilisations that use money on the regular. They likely have an allowance/stipend specifically for that.
āFarpoint Stationā has Dr Crusher ask for some cloth to be put on her tab on the Enterprise, so DS9 isnāt the only station using a similar system, which might be the same system, itās just that Quarkās is a Ferengi business on a Bajoran station, so the issue comes up more often compared to someone who might be living on a starship, or on Earth Spacedock.