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So all its gonna take to end capitalism is matter replicators, FTL travel, interstellar colonization, and unifying under a one world government after a decade o

So all its gonna take to end capitalism is matter replicators, FTL travel, interstellar colonization, and unifying under a one world government after a decade of horrifying eugenics wars fought between genetically enhanced supermen- And after all that Picard gets to live on a nice vineyard in France while thousands of voyager doctor clones toil away in the dilithium mines

nilamo 1y ago
Dang, you're so right, a post-scarcity society is obviously not feasible without renacting a fictional story. Y'all took the example, and dove right onto the wackiest parts of that example, huh? We also haven't met a continuum of godlike sycophants, so I guess space travel isn't possible for us at all yet lmao
- krapp 1y ago
  If you're going to present Star Trek as a plausible example of what a post-scarcity, post-capitalist society looks like, it's fair to point out all of the BS behind Star Trek's portrayal. In the real world, we can't have free energy. In the real world, we can't have warp drives or replicators that can instantly and perfectly assemble anything from nothing. And I think it's fair to point out that every vision of utopia necessarily comes at a high cost in blood and violence because you have to do something about the people who don't agree with the vision. Star Trek handwaves this away by saying humanity just "evolved" beyond their base desires and flaws and fully voluntarist socialism just works. But without the Treknobabble and magitech, what's does the end of capitalism actually look like in a world where there are no easy solutions, and no benevolent space-elves descending from the heavens to save us from ourselves?
- nradov 1y ago
  It's hilarious how anyone would consider a series of cheesy scifi stories by a collection of hack writers as a basis for discussion of economic systems. Regardless of technology, a post-scarcity is obviously not feasible. Sure we can make staple foods and mass manufactured products incrementally cheaper through automation. But the things that people really want as signaling mechanisms for social status will always be scarce. For example, prime real estate in geographically favorable areas.

nilamo 1y ago

Dang, you're so right, a post-scarcity society is obviously not feasible without renacting a fictional story. Y'all took the example, and dove right onto the wackiest parts of that example, huh? We also haven't met a continuum of godlike sycophants, so I guess space travel isn't possible for us at all yet lmao

krapp 1y ago
If you're going to present Star Trek as a plausible example of what a post-scarcity, post-capitalist society looks like, it's fair to point out all of the BS behind Star Trek's portrayal. In the real world, we can't have free energy. In the real world, we can't have warp drives or replicators that can instantly and perfectly assemble anything from nothing. And I think it's fair to point out that every vision of utopia necessarily comes at a high cost in blood and violence because you have to do something about the people who don't agree with the vision. Star Trek handwaves this away by saying humanity just "evolved" beyond their base desires and flaws and fully voluntarist socialism just works. But without the Treknobabble and magitech, what's does the end of capitalism actually look like in a world where there are no easy solutions, and no benevolent space-elves descending from the heavens to save us from ourselves?
nradov 1y ago
It's hilarious how anyone would consider a series of cheesy scifi stories by a collection of hack writers as a basis for discussion of economic systems. Regardless of technology, a post-scarcity is obviously not feasible. Sure we can make staple foods and mass manufactured products incrementally cheaper through automation. But the things that people really want as signaling mechanisms for social status will always be scarce. For example, prime real estate in geographically favorable areas.