Quote Originally Posted by Kitten Champion View Post
That part makes sense though. The Federation still determines careers by merit, it's that you don't need to work to have that utopic standard of living that's the appeal. One clearly desires the status and responsibilities involved in more lucrative jobs, like being among the elite of Star Fleet.

Julian Bashir's father for instance - in the episode where Julian was revealed to be genetically augmented - you discover that his father washed out of numerous careers due to a mix of lack of ability and some key personality issues. He's never going to fall below a pretty extravagant standard of living as a Federation citizen - even when he's sent to jail - but he's not particularly happy with his station in life either since everything is relative to your own context and he'll likely never find success in anything to his own satisfaction.
Except his son.

His son was the only way for him to create something that mattered. That had an impact on society.