Chapter 95: Civilization Turning Point

As time slowly passed, everything aboard the ship proceeded in an orderly manner. That was, until a sudden problem began to trouble Jason.

“Are people just saving more and more money?” Jason muttered to himself, rubbing his temples.

As the Noah’s production capacity increased, the government naturally needed to raise the citizens’ standard of living. Under the current prosperous conditions, it was no longer necessary for people to continue living so frugally.

The simplest way to improve their lives was to lower prices. The cost of basic necessities had begun to steadily decline; a meal that used to cost 10 Federation Credits might now only cost 5. Even the prices of luxury goods had started to drop, making them highly affordable.

In other words, a single Credit now had much higher purchasing power.

Jason’s original intention in lowering prices was to stimulate consumption, improve the overall quality of life, and make everyone feel wealthier. However, he hadn’t anticipated that the majority of the population would simply continue living exactly as they had before. They commuted daily between their offices, the cafeterias, and their dormitories, leading highly repetitive routines. They generally felt they were doing quite well and saw no need to buy extra things to “improve” their lives.

Workaholics. They were all workaholics!

Many of them rarely spent money on entertainment or luxury, yet they worked like absolute madmen. While this phenomenon was generally a good thing for productivity, it revealed a strange underlying issue in the economy.

Because their monthly expenses were so low, people were saving massive amounts of money each month. Saving money wasn’t inherently a problem, but the Federation simply didn’t have any high-priced luxury goods to sell them! The most expensive thing a citizen could buy was a private residence, which cost tens of thousands of Credits. There was literally nothing more expensive than that to strive for.

What should he do? Should the government start manufacturing and selling luxury cars? The residential sectors were highly compact, and an excellent public transportation system already existed, so cars were completely unnecessary.

After much thought, Jason still couldn’t come up with a better high-end product to introduce to the market.

This led to a serious dilemma: once people bought a house, they realized that even though they had plenty of money, there was nothing left worth buying. What were they supposed to do, hoard excessive amounts of food in their living rooms?

As a result, Jason’s carefully designed economic system had hit a wall. After purchasing their homes, people had no further financial ambitions, which meant they theoretically had no motivation to keep earning money.

Although society hadn’t quite reached a breaking point yet, Jason’s leadership style was to address potential crises early before they exploded.

Suppose a citizen had saved up 10,000 Credits. At the current low price levels, they could easily quit their job and live comfortably for several years just eating, drinking, and relaxing. This was a dangerous warning sign. Human nature dictated that without financial pressure, people’s motivation to work would eventually plummet.

Jason frowned deeply, trying to brainstorm a solution. “We either need to invent more expensive products, or…”

Standing beside him holding a large stack of documents, Professor Sean listened to his concerns and chuckled. “Director Jason, you can’t look at the situation like that. You are still viewing our society through the lens of traditional capitalism. You believe that people only work for material gain, and that without a financial carrot to chase, their drive will disappear.”

“From a capitalist perspective, that is certainly true. But from the perspective of a post-scarcity society, this is merely the first transitional phase toward ultimate utopian wealth. It is a hurdle we inevitably have to cross!”

Jason looked up in surprise. “What exactly do you mean by that?”

Professor Sean paused for a moment to organize his thoughts. He was currently the head of the Department of Public Relations, but he was also slated to oversee the Department of Education in the future. When it came to understanding and guiding public psychology aboard the Noah, Professor Sean was the absolute best man for the job.

“The public’s current mindset is actually incredibly healthy,” Professor Sean began. “Our people are transitioning into a phase where they are ’working for a purpose.’ Right now, this is mostly driven by the unique external pressures of our survival. However, we need to find a way to solidify this mindset and make it a permanent cultural pillar!”

The Federation’s current public relations strategy did not rely on aggressive, forceful political propaganda. Instead, it used gentle, subtle encouragement.

For example, the weekly digital newspaper always highlighted the progress and achievements of various engineering projects. This gave the citizens a profound sense of participation and pride.

There were only 50,000 people on the Noah. Many of the crucial jobs were performed by the citizens themselves. The deep sense of accomplishment they felt from pushing human civilization forward acted like adrenaline, making them eager to throw themselves into their work.

Secondly, the strict merit-based promotion system fully mobilized everyone’s enthusiasm.

Those who were capable were promoted, and those who were incompetent were demoted. This created a pure “hard work pays off” environment, completely eliminating the toxic, unspoken rules of corporate politics. Motivated by this fair system, many people spent their free time studying intensely to upgrade their skills.

Thirdly, the brilliant scientists and engineers, who were highly respected for both their intellect and their moral character set a powerful example through their own fervent work ethics.

Under these combined influences, the ideology of the entire civilization was subtly shifting toward something more noble. People’s motivations were becoming purer, and their desire for superficial material wealth had faded.

Another factor Jason hadn’t fully realized was his own psychological influence. His natural, radiant leadership aura subtly inspired the people around him, making them more positive, proactive, and passionate. This likely played a massive role in the current social climate.

Professor Sean continued his explanation. “Whenever a civilization reaches a state of extreme technological wealth, material resources inevitably become abundant. People will naturally have more money than they can ever spend. This is perfectly normal. After all, if they were constantly struggling to afford things, how could we call our society wealthy?”

“At this pivotal stage, the automated productivity of the civilization far exceeds the population’s demand. When everyone has more than enough, the traditional monetary system simply loses its purpose.”

Jason pondered this deeply. “So you’re saying we are at a critical turning point? If the citizens become lazy because they are financially secure, our entire system collapses?”

His mind raced, and a cold sweat broke out on his back. The Federation was facing an invisible bottleneck. If they failed to pass this societal test, his Credit-based economy would crash, and the Noah would be thrown into chaos.

Professor Sean’s expression turned serious. “Exactly. This is the crucial test for our civilization as we enter an era of extreme abundance. Right now, morale is incredibly high, and people are enthusiastic about their work. We must capture this momentum and make it permanent! That is the only way we will succeed.”

“This requires careful guidance, which is exactly what my department has been working on. We need to continuously elevate the citizens’ sense of honor, social responsibility, and historical participation. At the same time, we need to intentionally phase out the importance of the Federation Credit, eventually retiring the monetary system altogether.”

“But honestly, there’s no need to panic,” Professor Sean added thoughtfully. “The people on this ship already possess strong ideals. Many are driven by a burning passion to work spontaneously for the greater good. This is a beautiful phenomenon. Human laziness is naturally being bred out of our culture.”

Jason digested this information. He realized that the accumulation of personal wealth was just a natural byproduct of their current technological stage. Since people couldn’t possibly spend their salaries on basic living expenses, their bank accounts naturally swelled.

He didn’t need to invent ways to force people to spend money. Instead, he needed to figure out how to safely phase out the Credit system so that people would no longer associate work with a “salary.” Eventually, money itself would be eliminated!

As automation advanced, the cost of daily necessities would drop to zero, meaning no one would need money to live comfortably anyway.

If people could maintain their current work ethic and passion for learning even when all their material needs were freely met, the Federation would permanently transition into a society driven by purpose. They would achieve a true post-scarcity utopia!

Thinking this through, Jason finally felt a weight lift off his chest. If they could maintain this cultural atmosphere long enough, it would become a permanent, self-sustaining habit. It wouldn’t just vanish overnight.

When everyone around you is working hard for the betterment of humanity, even those who feel lazy will unconsciously feel the peer pressure to contribute.

Currently, the work culture on the Noah was blazing with enthusiasm. Countless citizens voluntarily worked unpaid overtime every single day simply because they loved the sense of accomplishment, never once asking for extra wages.

If this state of mind became the permanent human baseline, laziness would be eradicated, and money truly would be useless.

When that day came, everything could be provided for free. People would contribute based on their skills and passions, and take whatever they needed to live happily.

Jason’s eyes lit up. This was the ultimate dream for their civilization, and for the first time, he saw a realistic path to achieving it!

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