Does The Federation Have Currency?

In Star Trek: First Contact, Captain Picard implies that there is absolutely no form of currency in the world of Star Trek, and humans literally work for nothing, except to provide for their fellow man. He also implies that all greed and selfishness as been bred out of humanity. I find this, frankly to be absolute bullshit! There is no way that the human race could have changed its basic nature so drastically in such a relatively short time; greed and selfishness will always be a part of the humanity. Therefore, an economic system complety devoid of currency is not possible for humanity. History shows us that an economic system, similar to that which Captain Picard describes, was Communism. It did not work because of human nature, and it quickly became corrupt and collapsed. Fortunately, other episodes of Star Trek offer alternate explanations for the economics of Star Trek. Many episodes of Star Trek have mentioned the Federation Credit. It is possible that the Credit could be some form of electronic currency, meaning that there is indeed no form of bona fide “paper money” in the federation but there is a form of currency that is handled totally electronically. Generic references to currency in other episodes appear to corroborate this theory. This would also fit in with the fact that many non-federation people believe that the federation has no currency, because the federation credits are only theoretical numbers in computers and not equated with any form of valuable commodity. The credits only have relative value to citizens of the federation. However, it has also been mentioned in episodes, such as DS9’s In The Cards that humanity abandoned a currency-based economic system; in favor of a philosophy of self enlightment. This may be true in so far as most humans no longer let a quest for wealth consume them, as the Ferengi in Star Trek do. Because of human nature, having no form of currency in Star Trek is absurd. It is therefore logical to conclude that there is a form of theoretical, electronic currency, the Federation Credit, driving the economics of the Federation.