Timeline for Could inequality and class warfare still exist in a post-scarcity society?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
13 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 10, 2017 at 17:27 | comment | added | ebhh2001 | @slebetman - I guess we need to decide what we want: a post-scarcity Utopia that deals with an occasional Borg or the current system where people like the Kochs are in charge. | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 17:13 | comment | added | slebetman | @ebhh2001 It's kind of like Star Trek - you can create the perfect post scarcity world and it all works perfectly until the Borg appears | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 17:11 | comment | added | slebetman | @ebhh2001 Post scarcity only solves the mob problem. It does not solve the ruthless competitor problem. One can always want more then one's neighbour and if you have two such people in the world it becomes the "I'm better than you times infinity plus one" problem. | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 17:06 | comment | added | ebhh2001 | @slebetman - yeah, the Koch's needs are more than met, but in our system, even people like them are not free of fear of scarcity. There is always the danger that a capitalist more ruthless than they or a mob of poor people shows up at their door steps and takes away their wealth and privilege. | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 16:45 | comment | added | slebetman | @ebhh2001 What additional reasonable needs does the Koch brothers have that is not met that they would deliberately fight to retain their ability to destroy the environment? Needs are always reasonable. Wants are not. | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 16:26 | comment | added | ebhh2001 | @slebetman - do you think people would be as greedy as they seem to be now if their "reasonable" needs were met? It seems that greed is a result of scarcity or of a fear of scarcity. Once you eliminate scarcity and people feel confident their "reasonable" needs will always be met, what would be the point of greed? | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 16:06 | comment | added | slebetman | @Trilarion That's the problem with humans: "feel". I feel oppressed. There will always be people who want more. Post scarcity is not a problem with resource because we currently ALREADY generate more resources than we need (for example, the world generates at least 300% more food than it needs). It's a problem of greed. You can't have post scarcity until the human race is driven to extinction. | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 10:51 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | "The thing about post scarcity is: the Earth doesn't get any bigger" Then we are not really in post-scarcity yet and probably won't be for a long time (until we can colonize more planets or reduce population) or your definition of post-scarcity is radically different from mine. I would see an overcrowded planet as very much scarcity constrained (of inhabitable space). | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 10:49 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | @slebetman And how exactly do you feel oppressed if you cannot have that? Not only are your examples quite absurd, I think, they also don't tell much about human nature. | |
| Mar 10, 2017 at 8:46 | comment | added | slebetman | @Trilarion: Big enough does not mean as big as you want. I want a house 50 miles long and 2 miles wide and land that is half the size of the continental United States as my back yard. If others can have that too then I want a house inside a hollowed out planet with me owning that planet and twenty seven galaxies as my back yard. If others can have that too then I want half the universe, let the other 99.999% live in the other half of the universe. | |
| Mar 9, 2017 at 18:37 | comment | added | ShadoCat | The thing about post scarcity is: the Earth doesn't get any bigger. Can you build UP? Sure. anyone can have as much space as they want in a sky rise. Those who can afford it will have a house in the woods. There will be a limited number of those. Post scarcity means that needs are taken care of, not wants. There will always be people who never have enough or who want what their neighbor has (not a copy of it). | |
| Mar 9, 2017 at 12:16 | comment | added | NoDataDumpNoContribution | "Also, can everyone have as big of a house as they want?" I guess this is one of the premises of the question, so yes. Post-scarcity must mean something like big-enough houses for most, otherwise there would be a scarcity (of big houses). - "...a show of wealth would be to have human maids/butlers" The question would be if anyone would be willing to do such work in a post-scarcity society. I wouldn't. | |
| Mar 8, 2017 at 19:14 | history | answered | ShadoCat | CC BY-SA 3.0 |