Subj : Re: Most memorable modern
To : poindexter FORTRAN
From : Arelor
Date : Wed May 14 2025 08:19 am
Re: Re: Most memorable modern
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Boraxman on Fri May 09 2025 06:49 am
> They never really show what it's like to be a civilian in a Star Trek
> universe. Some books discuss it, but they're not canon. Imagine a world
> where power no longer requires the exploitation of resources or people -
> you could set up a matter/antimatter reactor and power a city without
> waste products. How would that change economies when there's no more
> scarcity? Want a diamond? With enough energy, you could turn charcoal
> briquets into a necklace. Need to create fresh water? Done, no more
> territorial conflicts over a brackish river border. Food? Done. take a
> CHON matrix and turn it into whatever food you want.
>
> The part they do talk about in Star Trek is that abandoning accumulating
> wealth allows people to free their time to work for the betterment of
> mankind.
Something that these shows fail to address when they deal with "post scarcity" economies is that removing scarcity of natural resources and manufactured goods does not actually cause the end of scarcity.
See, in a world in which you can manufacture anything at zero cost, you still need manpower to fight the Klingons. Humans still need time to be "manufactured". Good luck putting your unlimited arsenal to use with a limited number of capable officers and soldiers.
It gets better: I might be filthy rich (because "somebody" produces all the stuff I want at zero cost) except I might be a short, ugly fuck with no charisma. Since human females are in a limited supply that means I don't get a girlfriend, no emotional support nor nothing, therefore I end up blowing my brains out with a blaster because I am lonely and the next day they find my corpse laying on a mound of gold and diamonds and other no-cost stuff. Heck, in a material post- scarcity scenario loneliness would get really bad because at that point you can't rent a hooker nor possess material wealth to talk about because everybody is on the same footing.
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