Re:US indictments of piracy group members throw top-tier pir...
by ryandrake on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @03:36PM
(#24286352)
Something tells me that if the fictional Star Trek "replicator" would suddenly be invented today, with the ability to copy any physical item, we'd see a similar story. Imagine, the removal of goods scarcity. Feed everyone on earth. Everyone could have anything they want just constructed out of thin air for them! It would be a utopia. But the same people would make the same argument against that utopia: "What about jobs? You can't just copy someone's hard work without paying for it!" They'd get the government to ban replicators and criminalize their use. Or, they'd only allow certain, licensed companies to use replicators, maintaining an artificial scarcity so that things could still be sold. We'd toss away world-changing technology in order to maintain the status quo where people had to work and pay for scarce goods.
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Re:US indictments of piracy group members throw top-tier pir...
by stallmanite on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @08:09PM
(#24288778)
I think you’re right but I’d love to see them try to argue that pro-scarcity point to its conclusion. Why would we need jobs if the point of jobs is to get money and the point of money is to get scarce goods. The replicator would make the whole system obsolete unless the pro-scarcity side straight up admits they just want inequality for its own sake.
Re:US indictments of piracy group members throw top-tier pir...
by matheusmoreira on Wednesday August 26, 2020 @04:00PM
(#24286624)
Funny, I just mentioned Star Trek replicators in another post: