[ExI] Post-scarcity & positional goods.

Tom Nowell nebathenemi at yahoo.co.uk
Fri Jul 23 10:12:31 UTC 2010


We often talk of future technologies delivering a world of "post-scarcity", especially molecular nanotech assembly. Some academics use the term post-scarcity to refer to western societies where peoples basic needs are cheaply and easily covered (or welfare is available to cover) and the majority of economic activity is centred on meeting desires rather than the lower steps of Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

I've been reading up on various critiques of consumer society, plus the Canadian riposte "The Rebel Sell" which shows how the counter-culture is in fact all about consumers distinguishing themselves by consuming different goods to the mainstream. Sooner or later these discussions always come round to positional goods - things that define status by you having a higher status item than others, or are necessarily restricted in number. When you can get a perfect copy of any other physical item, how are people going to choose their positional goods?

There will probably still be some positional things in the physical world - property has always been about "location, location, location" and despite the presence of telecommuting people still want to physically locate themselves close to services they value or in a community surrounded by people of similar status. Positional experience - or just how exclusive a holiday you had, or exclusive a golf club you're playing at - will remain scarce in the physical world. Virtual worlds may have less of a problem with these, although I've heard that property values in Second Life can be affected by location.

I'll stop here before my post becomes so long everyone skips over it - but how are people going to fulfil their status-seeking/hierarchical behaviour when everyone can have any item possible? Will we be able to reduce human desire for such goods? I'm just wondering how we get from "Here" (21st century consumers) to "there" (future versions of ourselves in a world of 3D printers for all)

Tom


      




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