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Hopefully, the newly popular Techno-Capitalism will quietly fade away. But we know that hope is not a strategy and we may have to gear up to fight this. Our After Capitalism version is Tech-Led Abundance with the core argument being the move from a scarcity to an abundance mindset and redistribution of that abundance. Technology is the key enabler of this shift away from scarcity, which is a fundamental guiding assumption of capitalism. The critical point is that capitalism is a system that in essence encourages growth to improve the conditions of scarcity. It then allocates those scarce resources in a way that inevitably leads to inequality. If you take away scarcity, what do you need capitalism for?
Of the three After Capitalism images (Circular Commons and Non-Workers Paradise are the other two) Tech-Led Abundance has always worried me the most. It is the closest to the existing capitalist order and could indeed detour into something like Techno-Capitalism.
What’s the problem with Techno-Capitalism? Wikipedia refers to it as “a contemporary economic and social system characterized by the dominance of technology-driven capital, where technological innovation becomes a central component of economic growth and wealth accumulation.”
Arguably the worst feature of capitalism is that it inevitably creates a small number of winners and mostly losers. We already see how the Tech Bros have unbelievably massive amounts of wealth and power. Techno-Capitalism will pour accelerant on this fire.
In Imagining After Capitalism I sketched out Collapse scenarios. Rogue AI is a future in which the need to win the high-tech competition at all costs leads to a lack of concern for tech ethics, which in turn leads to a situations in which AI/Algorithms start nudging us for their purposes, not ours. The Tech Bros will have their money and the rest of us are left to fend for ourselves in this nightmare. Unfortunately, there are plenty of variations of a Tech-Driven Collapse, mostly fueled by the greed at the center of capitalism and its variant Techno-Capitalism. It’s Tech-Led Abundance we want!– Andy Hines
you would not have wanted me in any of your classes…
“…Technology is the key enabler of this shift away from scarcity, which is a fundamental guiding assumption of capitalism…”
THE fundamental guiding assumption of ECONOMICS is “every moment, every person, is pursing their most desirable outcome, using their LIMITED RESOURCES”.
While “scarcity” may be a “fundamental assumption of capitalism”. it is THE fundamental reality of life. We must all deal with scarcity. we all have limited time, actions, and resources are all limited.
> time – 24 hours in a day, and we must sleep. life comes with death (how many years do you get?)
> actions – you can’t be in two places at one time…
> resources – there is only one hope diamond…
sure, technology can make some things broadly available, but it can only reduce the scarcity of some things (tangible or intangible) – reality