[extropy-chat] economics of scarcity to economics of plenty

[John B]

Ick. Post-scarcity. I get all itchy whenever this
comes up. *chuckle*

Assuming perfect post scarcity, there'll still be
things to compete over. 

Land - "Location, location, location!" still applies -
there's only so much Maui beachfront.

Mates, either sexual or whatever other form of mutual
exchange you care for (tiddlywinks? Ideas? Crafts?
Care?). Note that this also affects Land, as many such
relationships presupposes a close physical proximity.

There are potential technical limits to
'post-scarcity' as well - we've "only" got one
systems' matter to play with, for instance, and some
significant portion of that will be used up if we try
to do something significantly different than letting
it stay in its current orbits. Another include the
amount of heat that the Earth can handle without
damage (which is potentially conquerable with the
'right' tech mix, I admit)

The competition doesn't have to be economic. There
will probably be economics maintained - as a scoring
system, if for nothing else - for a good long while
after it's no longer needed. Power requires some form
of keeping score, and power sets the rules - so there
will continue to be 'tokens' of power, be that
currency or nanofac capacity or template bandwidth or
whatever the chits used are called.

All this is theory on my part, and IMO dissembling - I
don't think there can be such a thing as an 'economics
of plenty'. That's not economics! *chuckle*

Economics (to be a bit pedantic, sorry) is the study
of choices made under limitation. If there are no
limits, there is no economics. 

Dr Hanson, or other economic-savvy types out there -
am I correct in that? 

-John B

Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 18:33:30 +0000
From: BillK <pharos at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] economics of scarcity to
economics of plenty

But.....
All our machines will be doing the work. There won't
be competition
anymore. Humans will be permanently retired. That was
Spike's ideal
scenario.

It will be a future of hobbies, hairdressing,
painting, interior 
designing, etc.

BillK



	
		
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