Pittsburgh and the International Federation of Planets

Just one more thing (about the "creative class" thesis). I'm also reminded of a point made some time back by a friend of mine (Julie) about an interesting corollary to the Star Trek thesis (that it's wonderful and civilizing boldly to go where no one has gone before). On the television shows and in the films, we see the crew of the Enterprise, diverse and accepting and (mostly) harmonious. They're the "creative class" that inspires us (or at least that inspires the fans of the series). What we don't see are all of the people who aren't flying around in starships, the people who are working for a living on the planet(s) below, creating the wealth that produces the ships and the uniforms (and the weapons) and all of the resources that Kirk and Picard and Janeway, etc. rely on. That's a creative class, too, right?