Headscratchers / Star Trek The Next Generation S 7 E 14 Lower Decks

• This episode establishes that ensigns have to have roommates, while senior officers get quarters all to themselves. Lavelle is eager to get promoted so he'll have his own quarters. In the moneyless utopia of Starfleet, where people are said to work simply to "better themselves," it seems that increased creature comforts are still an incentive to advance your career.
  • Starships still only have limited space; even without money, they need to get enough resources to build them etc. Many people (Taurik, for example) don't mind sharing quarters with someone else, or at least consider that a reasonable trade-off for getting to explore space, even if they could also live in a comfortable apartment on their home planet.