system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Star Trek:TNG] Why the hell are the Ferengi tolerated at all?

 They never do anything but loot and plunder. With the extreme rare exception of a single scientist in the entire series of TNG every time they see a federation ship or any ship for that matter all the see is dollar signs. Or just simply fire and assume the worst. They steal, enslave, blackmail, extort, spin information for a profit and plainly not give a fuck about anything. They are government sponsored space pirates nothing more.
gpt
The federations ethics are very rigid and that undermines their ability to do business with certain cultures.  The ferengi work as intermediaries in those situations.  For a small nominal fee, if course.