[mathieuh]

I admit I don't know much about Startrek, but from descriptions I've read of their society it sounds pretty good to me.

A society where basic needs are taken care of, and beyond that–as long as you aren't hurting anyone or infringing on anyone else's liberty–freedom to do what you believe is most valuable.

[monkeydust]

This was a decent attempt at trying to explain the economics around startrek if your interested. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trekonomics-Economics-Star-Manu-Saa...

A nice change from all the dystopian reading!

[mathieuh]

Thanks, I'll take a look!

[incomingpain]

>A society where basic needs are taken care of, and beyond that–as long as you aren't hurting anyone or infringing on anyone else's liberty–freedom to do what you believe is most valuable.

Only plausible due to high energy reactors and magical boxes which fabricate things instantly using only electricity aka replicators.

[rbanffy]

Not really. We don't need replicators to provide basic needs. Ordinary volume manufacturing can cover that nicely, and more sustainable approaches can be used when we cease to program obsolescence.

[incomingpain]

>Not really. We don't need replicators to provide basic needs.

The utopia in star trek depends upon all basic needs, all necessities, and all luxuries to be supplied at no resource cost. Anything short of this star trek's utopia does not exist.

Star trek themselves addresses this in many many episodes. It was a key issue in the Voyager -> Kazon conflict.

>Ordinary volume manufacturing can cover that nicely,

This happened 150 years ago. It's what anti-capitalists are fighting against. The industrial revolution happened immediately before karl marx was born. This is what created the possibility for Marx to exist. Yet today for whatever reason the communists fight against this very thing. Boggles the mind.

If I were a communist, the path to communism is full robotics and automation.

>and more sustainable approaches can be used when we cease to program obsolescence.

Yes, a more modern problem of foreign manufacturing sending intentionally poorly designed goods to harm the wealth of our nations. We should be seeing planned obsolescence as a national security risk and set tariffs so high these planned obsolescence stuff goes away.

[rbanffy]

> We should be seeing planned obsolescence as a national security risk and set tariffs so high these planned obsolescence stuff goes away.

The concept of antagonistic nations dividing a single planet is one of the things we could get rid off in order to make it easier to build an Utopian society.

[cauefcr]

>If I were a communist, the path to communism is full robotics and automation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Cybersyn

They know, if only the US would not murder and coup every socialist country maybe it'd be solved by now.

[incomingpain]

Thanks, never heard of this project before.

I agree with your sentiment of the USA needing to stop leaving their borders unless asked for help.

Overall I do find one this projects greatest successes was breaking a strike kind of not so great. Perhaps things could have been different if said machine were constructed today.

The thing with capitalism... it isn't a system with which was constructed. It derived organically over recorded history as a consequence of how humans operate. It's going to be impractical to replace capitalism.

[cauefcr]

Just stop financing and starting wars, please.

Edit: also embargoes, please let people trade in peace.