The Rules of Acquisition, in the fiction

Fiction

Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...

al Star Trek

Star Trek

Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...

 universe, are a set of guidelines intended to ensure the profitability of businesses owned by the ultra-capitalist

Capitalism

Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...

 alien race known as Ferengi

Ferengi

The Ferengi are a fictitious extraterrestrial race from the Star Trek universe. They first appeared in "The Last Outpost", the fifth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1987, during which they made first contact with the United Federation of Planets in 2364 on the planet Delphi Ardu,...

.

Background

The first rule was made by Gint, the first Grand Nagus of the Ferengi Alliance, a role with political, economic, and even quasi-religious duties. The title of "Rules of Acquisition" was chosen as a clever marketing ploy (since the rules are merely guidelines) and Gint numbered his first rule as #162, in order to create a demand for the other 161 Rules that had yet to be written. The Rules were said to be divinely inspired and sacred (thus furthering the original marketing ploy).

Although it has been stated within Star Trek that there are 285 rules, not all of them have been stated in canon. Most of the rules were written by Ira Steven Behr

Ira Steven Behr

Ira Steven Behr born 23 October 1953, in New York City, New York, USA is an American television producer and screenwriter, most known for his work on Star Trek, especially Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, on which he served as showrunner and executive producer...

 and he published many of them in a book The Ferengi Rules of Acquisition (ISBN 0-671-52936-6), the cover of which credits authorship as being "By Quark as told to Ira Steven Behr." Additional rules were published in Legends of the Ferengi (ISBN 0-671-00728-9), by Behr and Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Robert Hewitt Wolfe

Robert Hewitt Wolfe is an American television producer and screenwriter. He is mostly known for his work as a writer on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and for developing and producing the series Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda...

. Behr and Wolfe were both writers for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...

with Behr being the Executive Producer

Executive producer

An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...

 of the series.

Examples

The Rules of Acquisition take the form of short aphorisms such as the first rule "Once you have their money, you never give it back," the twenty-first rule "Never place friendship above profit," the thirty-fourth rule "War is good for business," followed by the thirty-fifth rule "Peace is good for business."

Stages of Acquisition

In addition to the Rules, Ferengi recognize five Stages of Acquisition:

1. Infatuation
   Limerence
   Limerence is a term coined c. 1977 by the psychologist Dorothy Tennov to describe an involuntary state of mind which seems to result from a romantic attraction to another person combined with an overwhelming, obsessive need to have one's feelings reciprocated...
   
   : An unreasoning love or attraction … "I want it."
2. Justification
   Justification
   Justification may refer to:*Theory of justification, a part of epistemology that attempts to understand the justification of propositions and beliefs*Justification , defence in a prosecution for a criminal offense...
   
   : Moral excuse used to explain … "I must have it!"
3. Appropriation
   Appropriation
   Appropriation is the act of taking possession of or assigning purpose to properties or ideas. The word appropriation was first used by a Russian theorist named Bakhtin to describe a holistic language theory. The Russian word for appropriation is prisvoenie, which directly translated means ‘to make...
   
   : To take to one's self in exclusion of others … "IT'S MINE AT LAST!"
4. Obsession
   Fixation (psychology)
   Fixation: 'concept originated by Sigmund Freud to denote the persistence of anachronistic sexual traits'. Subsequently '"Fixation" acquired a broader connotation...
   
   : A compulsive or irrational preoccupation … "My Precious
   One Ring
   The One Ring is a fictional artifact that appears as the central plot element in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy novels. It is described in an earlier story, The Hobbit , as a magic ring of invisibility. The sequel The Lord of the Rings describes its powers as being more encompassing than...
   
   !"
5. Resale
   Sales
   A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
   
   : The action of selling something previously bought … "Make me an offer."

External links