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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
I would say this book was better at the descriptive than the prescriptive: it was good at identifying the major crises facing humanity (population aging, climate change, resource scarcity, population growth, and increasing automation of jobs) and the technologies of the future (and present) that may solve them, but was not so good at addressing the likely reality that these technologies will be used selfishly and maliciously by those who own them. Technological utopia requires strong political pressure to put tech into the service of the masses, but Bastani didn’t seem to have a coherent idea for how this might be done. I also did not think Bastani took the existing power of tech companies (and capital generally) seriously enough - writing to your senator and doing mutual aid means nothing to trillion dollar enterprises. For this reason - the lack of path to “FALC” instead of technocratic serfdom - I had trouble accepting Bastani’s redefining of “communism” in non-Marxian terms.
But to Bastani’s credit, not many writers are willing to be so optimistic about technology’s liberatory potential. It was refreshing to read this after years of consuming Fisher, *Desert*, Adam Curtis, William Gibson, etc.
But to Bastani’s credit, not many writers are willing to be so optimistic about technology’s liberatory potential. It was refreshing to read this after years of consuming Fisher, *Desert*, Adam Curtis, William Gibson, etc.
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
hopeful
medium-paced
Fully Automated Luxury Communism is something akin to solarpunk by way of Elon Musk hero-worship. The book is full of that characteristic techbro vagueness – a lot of statistics but not a lot of substance. There’s an admittedly rousing sense of optimism throughout but FALC itself is too ill-defined to be enticing and is based largely on hazy promises and platitudes.
Bastani references Mark Fisher’s concept of capitalist realism on multiple occasions yet he himself seems to be utterly taken in by it. He struggles to describe a post-capitalist future which doesn’t resemble, well, capitalism. He pulls a bait-and-switch with communism and socialism, and then he seems to conflate socialism with nationalisation. He doesn’t want to do away with nation states or electoralism or market economy. It’s unclear where exactly communism fits into his idea of FALC.
He’s excessively hung up on this idea that communism isn’t possible yet or wasn’t possible until very recently. The thing is, you need to make it possible. Sitting around waiting for communism to come to you is such a waste of time. I know it sounds harsh to call it counter-revolutionary but I don’t know how else to describe it.
He’s excessively hung up on this idea that communism isn’t possible yet or wasn’t possible until very recently. The thing is, you need to make it possible. Sitting around waiting for communism to come to you is such a waste of time. I know it sounds harsh to call it counter-revolutionary but I don’t know how else to describe it.
Bastani wants to create a post-scarcity world within a capitalist framework, seemingly not understanding that capitalism is what manufactures that scarcity (or the illusion of scarcity) in the first place. The world produces enough food, for example, to feed the entire population, it’s just that capitalism prohibits distribution which isn’t conducive to profiteering; capitalists would rather withhold or even destroy surplus stock than let it be handed out for free to those who need it. Bastani’s approach is completely backwards.
In general, he has a habit of disregarding anything which doesn’t fit his presupposed conclusions. Technological progress is always presented as fundamentally good – even when he does investigate logistical concerns, he refuses to consider ethics. How can you dedicate an entire chapter to the science of gene editing and not acknowledge the elephant in the room that is eugenics? His naivety would be quaint were it not so insidious.
To be clear, I am not accusing Bastani of pushing some hateful agenda, only highlighting the limitations of his writing. It seems to me as though he either hasn’t given these topics enough thought or he’s choosing not to address scepticism because it would dampen the confidence and cheer he’s trying to inspire. Either way, I’m not impressed.
Fully Automated Luxury Communism does not live up to its title. It’s accessible, I’ll give it that. It’s not the worst book I’ve ever read but, whether you’re a seasoned leftist or someone new to radical politics, it’s not really worth your time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Terminal illness, Excrement, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, War
Minor: Cursing, Racial slurs, Racism, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Dementia, Colonisation
discussion of climate catastrophe
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
What an interesting proposal! I was interested in reading this book ever since I read a short book review about it a few years back. I finally got the book during the Verso books sale and then when my professor mentioned the book in our class, I decided it was finally the time to read it.
The proposal can be summarized as: we live in a world of abundance that finally allows communism. But it would not be the communism as we know it since it could be luxurious, attending to everyone's basic needs with the technology we have now. We just need to have a political motivation to apply the technology correctly.
It reminded me of Jameson's "An American Utopia" a lot because he also emphasizes that we live in a post-scarcity world. Distribution is the key question that needs to be addressed in this world, not production. Unlike Jameson which focused primarily on the US, it seemed that Bastani attempted to include the entire world in his investigation.
As radical as the proposal was, I also found the book to be slightly disappointing because it spent so much time outlining future technology that makes abundance possibly and not enough time on proposing ways to make the political change possible. It seemed to me that even without relying on sci-fi-like innovations, many reading this book would be already convinced that the globe is producing enough. What I then would be curious about is how to make sure that we are distributing them effectively. I was not entirely sure whether his proposals to do that were as interesting and radical as his initial proposal of FALC.
Nevertheless, I imagine how wonderful would it be to look back in 10, 20 years and realize that Bastani's dream came true! I am skeptical about it, honestly, but at the same time, I think I can indulge in wishful thinking.
The proposal can be summarized as: we live in a world of abundance that finally allows communism. But it would not be the communism as we know it since it could be luxurious, attending to everyone's basic needs with the technology we have now. We just need to have a political motivation to apply the technology correctly.
It reminded me of Jameson's "An American Utopia" a lot because he also emphasizes that we live in a post-scarcity world. Distribution is the key question that needs to be addressed in this world, not production. Unlike Jameson which focused primarily on the US, it seemed that Bastani attempted to include the entire world in his investigation.
As radical as the proposal was, I also found the book to be slightly disappointing because it spent so much time outlining future technology that makes abundance possibly and not enough time on proposing ways to make the political change possible. It seemed to me that even without relying on sci-fi-like innovations, many reading this book would be already convinced that the globe is producing enough. What I then would be curious about is how to make sure that we are distributing them effectively. I was not entirely sure whether his proposals to do that were as interesting and radical as his initial proposal of FALC.
Nevertheless, I imagine how wonderful would it be to look back in 10, 20 years and realize that Bastani's dream came true! I am skeptical about it, honestly, but at the same time, I think I can indulge in wishful thinking.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced