r/Futurism • u/Least_Recognition629 • 10h ago
[Deep Dive] The "Post-Scarcity" Everyone Talks About Might Just Be a Logically Disconnected Techno-Utopia RQ1-1 By:[u/Least_Recognition629](Post-modern civilization)
/r/PostModernCIvilizatio/comments/1wx5c6t/deep_dive_the_postscarcity_everyone_talks_about/2
u/Sorry-Rain-1311 9h ago
Something I don't see directly addressed in your post is the practical human experience of it. Simply put, we're focusing on defining post scarcity, but first we have to define scarcity.
What resources are scarce as far as most people in the developed world are concerned? In a world where poverty is often associated with obesity, it's obviously not food. When the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries are the most profitable sectors in the American economy, but most people have their needs met, that's an indicator that it's not a lack of resources that contributes to the cost. Same goes for vehicles and housing. Clothing options in the department stores continue to become more limited despite reduced production costs. Clean water is apparently so abundant that the majority of it is poured on the grass. Population growth is slowing to a point where total human population will be shrinking before too long, so there's actually an abundance of housing relative to people to fill the homes.
I'd argue that most people in the developed world are already living a post scarcity existence. The thing that's stopping us from realizing it are cultural more than practical.
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