Iain Banks makes a compelling argument that the answer is a "yes, but with...curious complications", through his exploration of the issues brought up in his fic

Iain Banks makes a compelling argument that the answer is a "yes, but with...curious complications", through his exploration of the issues brought up in his fictional universe of The Culture [1], in his series of novels [2] set in that universe. Note that he explores the margins of his universe; for the 99.999999% of the denizens of his universe, "Fully Automated Luxury Communism" totally works swell for their entire lifespans (hundreds of years). There are some key technical linchpins that make that universe possible, and commensurately unlikely for us in yours and my lifetimes. 1. Near-free, externality-free, near-Kardashev Type II-scale energy ("The Grid" in his universe). 2. Strong AI, replete with emotions and benevolent AI sapients (even though they eclipse human intelligence by far). 3. FTL, anti-gravity, matter manipulation (molecular level at inter-stellar distances) physics we simply can't even begin to prod at. 4. Nanotech. But that is one heck of a nice universe to strive for and toss the pebbles of our lives into moving towards however infinitesimal, nicht wahr? [1] http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm [2] http://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_11?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=iain+banks+culture+series&sprefix=iain+banks+culture+series%2Caps%2C224 http://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_11?url=search-ali...