The Great Material Continuum

I know I am tired, but sometimes DS9 (and, G-d bless 'em, the Ferengi) come up with some fascinating ideas.  Which the GOP could perhaps do well to study.  Aherem.

There are millions upon millions of worlds in the universe.  Each one filled with too much of one thing, and not enough of another.  And the Great Continuum flows through them all, like a mighty river, from Have to Want, and back again.  And f we navigate the Continuum with skill and grace, our ship will be filled with everything our hearts desire.    --Nog 

It's the grace part, here, which pries my brain a little bit open.

Leaving aside the finer points of ecological balance:  when looked at via the metaphorical lens of Trek-ery, in which "world" may be read as a community or an individual, there is something to be said for this brand of balance.  Interestingly, considering the acquisitiveness of this particular race (which in fact gets a very nice reconsideration in DS9, revealing what began as a somewhat anti-Semitic caricature as a noble people with a rich culture and fascinating history) ... the idea of the Continuum could be interpreted Socialistically.