[hkt]

We shouldn't be surprised when capital tries to eat its children.

It'd probably be best if we all learned some agriculture and opted for simpler lives, rebuilt our social capital (aka community) and learned to do leisure like sane people. The rat race has never thanked anyone for participating, not even software engineers.

[javajosh]

Opting-out isn't an option when capital becomes capable of deploying (robotic or human) cops and soldiers to any point on earth in 30 minutes. At that point, the real power rests with whoever (or whatever) decides how to allocate capital and those who've opted out live and die only at their whim. Note that legal and political frameworks only need to be neutralized, not eliminated, for this to be effective. One can neutralize the legal system by injecting complexity and pricing out ordinary people from using it, and share small amounts of capital with legal leadership. One can neutralize the political framework by spending considerable capital on manufacturing consent, and improving return on that investment with technology.

Of course, such a solution isn't impossible. It may be that such a village, if left alone by circumstance and/or because it has an insider champion, may create such psychologically healthy and intellectually talented people that they may eventually challenge the greater status quo. Sounds like the premise of a YA mild dystopia novel!