SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Anna North writes in the NY Times about Star Trek's "post-economic" system, in which money no longer exists and anything you want can be made in a replicator, essentially for free. According to Manu Saadia, the author of "Trekonomics," a forthcoming book about the economics of the Star Trek universe, when everything is free, objects will no longer be status symbols. Success will be measured in achievements, not in money: "Instead of working to become more wealthy, you work to increase your reputation," says Saadia. "You work to increase your prestige. You want to be the best captain or the best scientist in the entire galaxy. And many other people are working to do that, as well. It's very meritocratic"
In a time of rising inequality and stagnating wages, a world where everyone's needs are met and people only work if they feel like it seems pretty far away but a post-scarcity economy is actually far more within reach than the technological advances for which Star Trek is better known. If productivity growth continues, Saadia believes there will be much more wealth to go around in a few hundred years' time. In general, society might look more like present-day New Zealand, which he sees as less work-obsessed than the United States: "You work to live rather than the other way round." Wealthy retirees today also already live an essentially post-money existence, "traveling and exploring and deepening their understanding of the world and being generally happy." According to Saadia we're beginning to get a few hints of what the post-money, reputation-based economy might look like. "If you look at things like Instagram, Vine, places where people put a huge amount of work into basically just gaining a certain amount of reputation, it's fascinating to see. Or even Wikipedia, for that matter. The Internet has begun to give us a hint of how much people will work, for no money, just for reputation."
Original Submission
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 12 2015, @11:26PM
eat meat regularly
An increasing percentage of USAians are cutting meat consumption or even getting off it completely.
Synthetic Vitamin B-12 has been available in pill form for decades.
No one actually -needs- to eat animal products.
Advertising by Capitalists is a scourge on the planet.
drive a car
If you plan/build cities properly, personal cars aren't generally necessary either.
This has been demonstrated decades ago by the Brazilian city of Curitiba. [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [wikipedia.org]
I've previously mentioned [soylentnews.org] that Los Angeles County has an ever-improving system of light rail. [la-electric-travel.com]
You can cover large swaths of the county quickly then catch a bus for the final leg.
...and car|truck rental places and catching a ride from a friend have been a thing for eons.
Ridesharing and shared car use are another expanding sector.
I haven't had a need for a private vehicle for a long time.
even if you take it all from the rich minority and give it to the rest there's not enough to make all the current poor live like kings
Heh. Shades of Alvin Lee and Ten Years After circa 1971. [google.com]
...meanwhile, there is a group of fewer than 100 individuals [google.com] whose combined wealth is greater than the combined wealth of half the people on the planet.
That's more wealth than those greedy aristocrats could possibly spend.
I'm constantly reminded of a story with so much truth that Hollywood has filmed it over and over again. [google.com]
Your hyperbole is that of a privileged person looking down his nose at the majority of the plant's people.
Pretty sure those poorest of the poor would be contented with 3 squares and a warm, dry place to sleep.
A comment to a previous story mentioned how there are more empty living quarters in the USA than there are homeless USAians.
That's a case of greed over humanity.
All that's required to solve a huge number of the conditions on Earth is a bit more humanity and a bit more practicality.
There's clearly more than enough to go around.
The problem is USA-style Capitalism.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by TheLink on Monday July 13 2015, @01:47AM
No one actually -needs- to eat animal products.
Yeah nobody actually -needs- to earn more the USD2/day, we can survive on less hence that's fine for the poor right?
There is much scientific research and evidence showing that people do better on diets containing fish. Lower odds of depression and mental illness, better life expectancy etc. There's also plenty of evidence most fisheries are in trouble.
Your hyperbole is that of a privileged person looking down his nose at the majority of the plant's people. Pretty sure those poorest of the poor would be contented with 3 squares and a warm, dry place to sleep.
They have not much choice. So most make do with what they have.
See these happy people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEN4hcZutO0 [youtube.com]
Cocoa farmers who had never ever tasted chocolate before in their lives?
So we should stop looking down at them, just make sure they have 3 squares and a warm dry place to sleep? No need even for a bit of chocolate.
That's rich of you.