I’m going to be honest, I always liked how Quark kept to Ferengi values at the end of DS9. He had a bit of a shift, hard-earned, but ultimately he was committed to his values, just as Kira was in the one where the Bajoran caste system is re-instituted. I think it’s an important part of the story, that there are belief systems where the adherents suffer “nobly” (i.e. Winn, Opaka, and Bariel in the Occupation), but there are also those who suffer in ways we consider “ignoble” (Quark, who gives up what he personally desires–usually really rad ladies). It invites you to explore why you might have contempt for one but not the other, or why one “irrational belief” passes muster in your personal assessment whereas another might not. I thought it was bold to keep a lot of these powerful parallels in the narrative. this is my quark opinion thank you
Oh and, don’t forget, Quark’s beliefs are explicitly presented in a religious framework. The Divine Treasury. The Vault of Eternal Destitution. Blessed Exchequer. Celestial Auctioneers. He’s not capitalistic in a modern Earth sense, it has concrete religious foundations for him. So it’s interesting that Kira’s adherence to a caste system is presented as legitimately conflicted, but Quark’s desire for profit is fairly unilaterally condemned. Even though only one system gets a man murdered on, like, day 2 of its re-implementation.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a gripe, it’s an interesting contrast in how cultures are perceived by primarily Federation-aligned individuals in that timeframe. And without it, you get, “Well here’s the good religion that’s sticking around, and here’s the bad one we’ll gradually extinguish.”
