01-06-2023, 03:15 AM
We face the prospect of an economic world in which (barring global warming that messes up the food supply or a new Ice Age) we have not only the potential, but also the reality of productivity so high that scarcity no longer exists. OK, desirable real estate: with eight billion people, landlords will be able to extract their desired pounds of flesh out of tenants. We will harness the sun and the winds to the extent that we can power everything important. With a huge supply of material from the public domain we will have no shortage of material for entertainment and culture.
The "telescreens" from science fiction may offer us images of whatever location we desire, whether of an automobile graveyard (yeah, sure) to some scenic wonder. Maybe even a feed from a space telescope. Horsehead Nebula, anyone? Or would it be (this would obviously be premium) a seat in Microsoft Stadium (formerly known as Yankee Stadium) to watch a live Yankees game? Or the Philharmonie in Berlin to witness Bruckner's Eighth Symphony... live? Obviously this would appear with excellent sound quality for a live concert of any kind.
For those who have prospered due to scarcity such brings an end to one obvious means of exploitation. Economic power of employers over employees may die. Brutal styles of management may become irrelevant as people have meaningful choices irrespective of their job skills. It may not be Marxian socialism, but it might be just as fearsome to the economic elites that many of us have feared all our lives.
Our work will be slight. Maybe in our youth we will mostly be obliged to do the heavy lifting, the food-picking and packing, the assembly-line work, and the construction and maintenance. In return we will live without commodity fetishes and status symbols. Having to do real work will break narcissism.
The "telescreens" from science fiction may offer us images of whatever location we desire, whether of an automobile graveyard (yeah, sure) to some scenic wonder. Maybe even a feed from a space telescope. Horsehead Nebula, anyone? Or would it be (this would obviously be premium) a seat in Microsoft Stadium (formerly known as Yankee Stadium) to watch a live Yankees game? Or the Philharmonie in Berlin to witness Bruckner's Eighth Symphony... live? Obviously this would appear with excellent sound quality for a live concert of any kind.
For those who have prospered due to scarcity such brings an end to one obvious means of exploitation. Economic power of employers over employees may die. Brutal styles of management may become irrelevant as people have meaningful choices irrespective of their job skills. It may not be Marxian socialism, but it might be just as fearsome to the economic elites that many of us have feared all our lives.
Our work will be slight. Maybe in our youth we will mostly be obliged to do the heavy lifting, the food-picking and packing, the assembly-line work, and the construction and maintenance. In return we will live without commodity fetishes and status symbols. Having to do real work will break narcissism.
The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated Communist but instead the people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists -- Hannah Arendt.