Delete comment from: Captain Capitalism
Several things glossed over in this -- the influence of the underlying nomad-pastoralist culture from which the oil princes emerged; the presence of massive wealth inequality that would be erased by ubiquitous Trek-style replicators; and the notion of satiability (see David Brin's musings on that topic).
If everyone was as functionally wealthy as the examples cited above, material scarcity abolished, the ability to command others out of your pocket change would evaporate. In a trek-like world, even the notion of waste would vanish -- only take one bite of a pizza? The matter can be recompiled into something else just as good later on, no problem.
The scarcity would move to intangibles, like relationships with other people, and ultimately to ones own finite lifespan.
Jul 9, 2013, 9:20:30 AM
Posted to Why Scarcity is a Good Thing