thoughts on currency

Shaka refers to salaries in "Take the Celestra" and it got me wondering about how the economics work in the fleet. It's a digression, so I thought it warranted it's own post. He says that his crew will get promotions with pay raises. Now, where are all these cubits coming from? These are the last surviving people in the system (outside of a few outposts). Whatever wealth they have left must be floating around between ships. We know that the agro-ships grow food. It doesn't seem anyone pays for the food; it's all socialistically distributed. So what good is money anyway? Is it just something to have so you can bet big playing Pyramid?

I'm not sure I understand how they could possibly be obtaining regular salaries. There must be a limited amount of money. Where does the ship get the money to pay these salaries? Are they taxing the people of the fleet? The only possible explanation I can think of is that the fleet skims a large percentage from the gambling that goes on. Whatever the house wins is redistributed as salary. But most gambling seems to be in poker-type games where there is no "house" to win. Maybe the money just somehow bounces from ship to ship to give the illusion of regular salary. Even if a regular salary were possible, any raise in that salary would cause crippling inflation, wouldn't it?

This is not even to mention times Starbuck is seen gambling his money on other planets. If you lose money there, are you not in essence stealing from the fleet? But then, what does the fleet need money for anyway?? Have they ever obtained more cubits from dealings on other planets? Does the Cylon empire use them? Cubits do seem to be a prevalent currency throught the star system. But even so, once they pass the star system, there's no point to it.

I guess the best I can come up with is that the fleet itself becomes a small, functioning Capitalist economy and there must be some goods or services you can trade your cubits for (socialators, perhaps?). We know Starbuck was able to bribe people with them in "The Long Patrol". This all leads me back to the question of salaries though. What about the people who don't have regular jobs? Do they get money? Or the fact that all those refugees took on jobs (like pilots and med-techs) and the fleet now has to pay their salaries too! I can't see this working in any way without taxation, but taxing poor refugees seems in bad taste. Maybe they just accept it, since the money goes right back in their pockets eventually.