Post-scarcity
From AdCiv
 Post-scarcity has already happened for information. Information is given away freely, there is a vast public pool of it from which all of humanity can drink deeply until they're satisfied without ever fearing that they will deplete it. It is one of the themes of this wiki to investigate how to extend this abundance to all the needs of Man. Many fictional visions of post scarcity involve as yet undeveloped technologies but the reality is that global material abundance can be produced with current technologies. Food is one example, where there is more than enough produced for everyone on the planet [1], but politics, economics and logistics prevent a more egalitarian distribution. The bottom line is that in the fundamental resources of this planet there exists many orders of magnitude more energy, raw material and biological resources than humanity requires, it is a matter of developing systems that use and distribute them more efficiently. By employing open collaborative design and advanced automation in combination, everything we need should be trivial to fabricate and distribute — from the basics like clean water, good quality food, medicine and suitable housing, to increasingly essential material goods such as vehicles, computers and mobile phones – all the way up to purely luxury items. Decentralizing production of these things will also allow more equal access to them and sidestep many of the issues involved in distributing them. These methods could overcome nearly all significant scarcity that persists due to the economic framework we have inherited from previous eras. This isn't to say what is proposed here will happen, but that it could happen – it is feasible from a physical and technological viewpoint. It is a matter of spreading the knowledge that these things are possible and enough people choosing to work towards it.
Civilisation boils down to four fundamentals: material, energy, information and intelligence – none of which are in short supply. It is the current inefficient methods of use (and re-use) and perceived economic restrictions that make it appear that there are significant limitations to these resources. Specifically, using currently existing technology...
How do we create an infrastructure advanced enough to provide all of this? See the open collaborative design and advanced automation pages. In a sentence: by increasing the amount and quality of physical goods and information available openly until it makes no sense for anyone to rely on anything else. Imagine a world where you can grow all your own food in a small greenhouse, in a largely automated system. Your water falls freely from the sky or wells up from the earth and is filtered and cleaned automatically. Any time you want a new gizmo, you can find a design online and make it without difficulty. The kids have access to the best education ever conceived, for free. You have abundant free energy from the sky. What need have to you engage with the monetary economy? The situation sketched above is not a vision of the future at all; it is possible now. All these things are already available for free, but few people are aware of it, fewer are doing it and it takes too much work and requires too many compromises. Right now, open-source hardware is, in some cases, of lower quality than commercial hardware, but is is early days. Manufacturing currently is too costly, labour-intensive and inflexible as well as requiring too much complex machinery and expertise. Wonderful open educational resources are out there, but are not properly organized into a comprehensive, easy-to-navigate curriculum. And you can grow all your own food, but it's tough work. Easier, then, to work for a living and perpetuate the money-system that synthesizes scarcity. The way to bring about a global post-scarcity economy and to make it the only game in town is simply to add to the commonly-held resources of mankind until they become indisputably better than, or as good as, commercial resources. Learn how to grow your own food and give the seeds and the exact method of growing away for free on the Internet. Contribute to open-source educational materials. If you can program, contribute to open-source software projects. If you have any idea about engineering, contribute to open-source hardware projects. Use open resources yourself, note whatever problems you have with them, and correct them or else bring them to the attention of an expert who can correct them. Bring open projects to the attention of architects, researchers, engineers and programmers. Print fliers about an open-source project like Fab Labs and RepLab and drop them in university engineering lecture halls. Get involved in open-source robotics By adding to this pool of resources, you make it easier for people to build their own abundance. And the easier it becomes to live a life of abundance and leisure without any need for the monetary economy, the more people will do it. Thousands of people have dropped out of the monetary economy onto organic farms, but that simple, pastoral lifestyle is not to everyone's taste. Post-scarcity will not come about until it is possible to live a life of abundance and leisure outside of the economic system without making sacrifices in their quality of life. Lead by example. Use the information available to you to find a solution to your needs of water and energy and food and shelter. Once you have solved your basic needs without reliance on the monetary system, move it up a notch and solve your wants of clothes and furniture and electronics without reliance on the monetary system. And always contribute, contribute. Of course, like some strange tribe, you will need to come to an agreement to trade with the civilized men around you and co-exist with them. You will need money at first, but as you work things out you will become more and more independent, more and more resilient. And keep contributing, contributing, making it easier for others to follow your trail. Don't do all this alone; do it with your friends. It's much more fun that way. Social change doesn't come by decree from the politicians' halls. It always comes from the bottom up, from the young vibrant minds who see clearly and say, "I can see a better way to do things". That is how post-scarcity must come about: from the kids. What if a million or ten million kids around the world dropped out of the monetary system and started living their own lives, able to make for themselves all the things to fulfil their usual needs, and passing around, among a global network, the things to fulfil their unusual needs. And what if the kids still in the monetary system started to see that the drop-outs were better-educated, healthier, had all this leisure and free time and spent it making rhythms and forging art and were having so much more fun than anyone could in a rat-race scene? Many grass-roots and open-source type projects are making a real difference in the world right now, so join an existing one or inspire others and start your own. It could provide the resources for bringing a high quality of life to those that are not currently fortunate enough to have the amenities and services of 'developed' nations. Worthy projects that really ought to happen, can happen – and in fact this applies just as much to advanced nations where there is still plenty of inequality and missed opportunities. It will not only provide everyone with the basic necessities for a decent life but give maximum opportunity for people and societies to live and prosper how they might like to. This means different things to different people. For some it enables a life enhanced by advanced technology, able to do new things they have never been able to before, and for others it means almost the exact opposite - allowing them to lead a more basic rural life perhaps with a smallholding Post-scarcity almost by definition implies 'post-economic' as economics is based on scarcity. A post-scarcity society means that the basic necessities of living (and plenty more) will be available for everyone who requires it. There may well still be markets for certain items that have purposefully not been made publicly available or are rare, but for many people this will be irrelevant. It will be a choice and not a necessity to enter that market. The important point here is that for the first time the general population will be able to live comfortably without having to owe anyone else their time. People will not have to suffer drudgery and what amounts to wage slavery during the best years of their lives. Unfortunately a large proportion of people today in both white and blue collar jobs would really rather be doing something else than the jobs they are employed to do. They feel perhaps that what they are doing is not directly relevant to their lives or is not particularly interesting and feel they are simply a cog with little control in a larger machine. Currently they have to do it to afford food, shelter and goods. A post-scarcity society enables them to have the time and space to work on things that are important to them, and to learn the skills needed to reach their goals and have room to be more creative. One scarce resource today for people is time. In a post-scarcity culture, not having to spend the best part of the day working for a living also frees people up to spend more time with each other - something that is vital for a proper community. Both for friendship and mentoring the next generation. However some people feel that increasing automation is a threat. A threat to their livelihoods, a threat to humanity's pride even. The reality is that automation is likely to provide in scenarios where people would prefer not to do that job. It leaves people free to be creative and industrious in activities that they want to be part of and allows for greater variety than the average working life offers today. Open design will enable people to be involved in the creation or customisation of the goods they want in a way not seen before and reverses the trend of people simply being passive consumers. Creativity is something that can give huge satisfaction to people but if not fulfilled can cause great frustration and dissatisfaction. It enables an individual to have more control over their environment and life.
“At the beginning of World War II the U.S. had a mere 600 or so first-class fighting aircraft. We rapidly overcame this short supply by turning out more than 90,000 planes a year. The question at the start of World War II was: Do we have enough funds to produce the required implements of war? The answer was No, we did not have enough money, nor did we have enough gold; but we did have more than enough resources. It was the available resources that enabled the US to achieve the high production and efficiency required to win the war. Unfortunately this is only considered in times of war.”
“It is now highly feasible to take care of everybody on Earth at a 'higher standard of living than any have ever known.' It no longer has to be you or me. Selfishness is unnecessary and henceforth unrationalizable as mandated by survival.” The Buckminster Fuller Institute runs the Buckminster Fuller challenge, an annual contest to find a practical idea to change the world for the better using good design. A $100,000 grant is given to the winner. The Index of entries is a fascinating testament to human ingenuity and altruism.
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