Post scarcity

[gorillafuck]

This is something that's been in my head for a little while. I've often heard that a communist economy would either have to be free of scarcity or very small and primitive, and I agree with that. But how do we figure that an all around post-scarcity economy can exist? Or in clearer terms, can someone demonstrate to me that there are enough resources in the world to create a post-scarcity economy in all aspects (so not just food, because I've seen that food on this planet could feed everyone, but in leisure items and all the other things that are proposed to be for free)?

[blake 3:17]

Or in clearer terms, can someone demonstrate to me that there are enough resources in the world to create a post-scarcity economy in all aspects (so not just food, because I've seen that food on this planet could feed everyone, but in leisure items and all the other things that are proposed to be for free)?

I'm unsure that this can be proved conclusively. I don't know how one would quantify this.


Abolishing imperial war, the democratic planning of production, a rapid redistribution of wealth on both local and global scales, and a more egalitarian organization of labour would promote human freedom and ecological sanity.

[The Idler]

There's enough food, clean water and decent housing and sanitation for everyone but not everyone will be driving a Hummer.

[gorillafuck]

Of course there is enough housing, water, and food for everyone on Earth. But I'm talking about a 100% gift economy. How do we know that we could create a post-scarcity society when it comes to things that are not essentials? I'm not expecting some sort of mathematical equation, I just want someone to really explain to me why it's likely that that will happen.

[The Idler]

Well like I say I don't think we live in a post-scarcity society or will do in the near future when it comes to resources like fossil fuels such as oil, coal or gas. But if Cuba can survive peak oil then perhaps they're non-essential resources and it doesn't matter that they're scarce.

[CartCollector]

But if Cuba can survive peak oil then perhaps they're non-essential resources and it doesn't matter that they're scarce.
They're non-essential but very, very helpful. Just look what happened to the US in the 1970s during the oil crisis: employment went down, inflation went up, and things only went back to normal once oil returned to its normal price. I for one can't imagine living without oil, without cheap gasoline and cheap power and cheap plastic. We might be able to live without it, but the world will definitely take a turn for the worse as it gets more and more scarce.