Great essay. The article touches on one interesting rub about 'post-scarcity': despite the name, even in post-scarcity economies some elements remain absolutely

Great essay. The article touches on one interesting rub about 'post-scarcity': despite the name, even in post-scarcity economies some elements remain absolutely scarce (barring sci-fi tech outside of an obvious short term horizon, like a star-trek replicator). In particular, what he describes as 'people money' are artificially scarce goods due to the lack of automation implicit to them. As an example, consider cars (which would fall under machine money), which at least in the USA are not prohibitively expensive and largely obtainable to all functioning adult citizens. Contrast this with a Ferrari, which is artificially scarce. Interesting enough, the performance of any given Ferrari, while admittedly substantial, is by no means justifiable for its price. One could buy a Corvette, for instance, for a fraction of the price with very similar performance. Rather, the Ferrari has an artificial scarcity due to limited production values and strong branding. This largely falls in line with his reasoning in the essay. Human perception being what it is (often based on relative appraisals of one's well being) you can have a situation where everyone needs for nothing (in a traditional hierarchy of needs) but nevertheless feels as if they are 'behind'. I know I feel societal pressures (mostly self-inflicted) from my peer group to make more money, brag about expensive vacations, etc. My question is: how much of this is productive? Previously, these activities were necessary to ensure a functioning society, but increasingly they are turning a sort of consumption perpetual motion machine. While quality of life increases are still occurring (in the first world, the third world growth out of poverty are wonderful), they are likely diminishing seldom truly correlated with societal value. Hence why one sees sports stars and financial types making absurd returns, despite not obviously resulting in economic (or even cultural) growth. I would love to see a post-scarcity society where high functioning individuals could dedicate themselves to science, research, art, etc. I'm not convinced that these positions are increasingly per capita, nor that they will be even in a 'machine money' free society, as we appear to be headed. That is a pity, if true.