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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
informative
I regard communism as the greatest evil of the modern world.
That said, I found this an optimistic, well thought out and fascinating glimpse into a better way of life, delivered by technology.
There are a out of problems with some of the political ideas - such as letting the private sector take all the risk and all the expense and then demanding seizure of the outcomes, but it’s a great indictment of our ability to invent our way into a better tomorrow.
That said, I found this an optimistic, well thought out and fascinating glimpse into a better way of life, delivered by technology.
There are a out of problems with some of the political ideas - such as letting the private sector take all the risk and all the expense and then demanding seizure of the outcomes, but it’s a great indictment of our ability to invent our way into a better tomorrow.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Bastani argues that technology is improving to the point that it makes scarcity a thing of the past. The author shows the technological progress of the past two centuries and argues that ot will render neoliberalism redudnant because of the abundance of energy, automation, and resources that drive prices to zero as value increases. Bastani has a lot of optimism but tempers it with calls that for this future quasi-utopia to exist, it will require a mass political movement and fundamental restructuring of the economy. Very Western focused, wish the author talked more about multigenerational family structures in his chapter on societal ageing and in non-Western diets and cultural practices in the section on agriculture.
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Technology might soon lead us to a post-scarcity world, in which work is superfluous. But we must fight so this world benefits all of us and not just an elite. And while I agree with the premise, the outlook on technology might be too optimistic for now.
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
In which Bastani lays out the nature of the next Great Global "disruption", the next massive shift in the fundamental operation of human society equivalent to that of the Industrial Revolution of 200 years ago or the Agricultural Revolution of 10,000 years ago. This is a fascinating idea. This is not something that can be claimed, explained and wrapped up with a bow in under 250 pages.
The premise of automation, computerization, renewable energy and synthetic food potentially realizing the old leftist ideal of a workless utopia is not exactly a piping-hot take, but Bostani does make a well argued and convincing case for it, all whilst intelligently avoiding falling into the pit of impenetrably dense, jargon-ridden analysis that is all too characteristic of leftist writing. I think I can very much say that I agree in principle with almost everything in this book.
But it has too be said that his case is more than a little simplified. Almost everything he says is from a very Western perspective, only making passing references to the "Global South" (a term so outdated I've seen it's flaws discussed in primary school geography classes) and he spends most of the book explaining things such as the revolutionary nature of renewable energy and genetic engineering, topics that are already fairly well-trodden ground in today's zeitgeist, and leaves his opportunity to genuinely break new ground - how the changing technologies of today could be harnessed to bridge or widen the gap between the wealthy and the poor, how 'FALC' could actually be achieved, what FALC would actually look like, mostly untouched.
Innumerable Sci-Fi novels, films and TV shows these days revolve around the premise of modern technology breeding mass unemployment and vastly exacerbated inequality (Bastani even directly references the movie 'Elysium' in this book), a certain fear of how advancements such as automation and gene editing could lead us down a dark path definitely occupies a large part of the public consciousness at the moment. Bastani even mentions that this technological revolution leading to the best possible outcome isn't inevitable, but he leaves the other scenario largely as the elephant in the room. This book presents itself as a Manifesto; Manifestos are meant to be convincing, and I think this book could've been far more ground-breaking if Bastani clearly laid out in each chapter how each and every one of these technologies could be incalculably beneficial, but could also only exacerbate inequality in the hands of market forces. I understand that he's trying to put an inspiring spin on things, but it really just comes off as a little naïve.
With all that said, if this book plays even a small role in bringing these sorts of discussions out of the circles of academia and nerdery and more into the general zeitgeist, I will be immensely grateful. Discussions of issues such as automation at the moment tend to either be quite one-note pessimistic, or hail something like Universal Basic Income as the silver bullet that will whisk us all away to paradise, or simply deny the issue altogether. And despite its flaws, this book may hopefully bring another, more valuable perspective to that discussion.
The premise of automation, computerization, renewable energy and synthetic food potentially realizing the old leftist ideal of a workless utopia is not exactly a piping-hot take, but Bostani does make a well argued and convincing case for it, all whilst intelligently avoiding falling into the pit of impenetrably dense, jargon-ridden analysis that is all too characteristic of leftist writing. I think I can very much say that I agree in principle with almost everything in this book.
But it has too be said that his case is more than a little simplified. Almost everything he says is from a very Western perspective, only making passing references to the "Global South" (a term so outdated I've seen it's flaws discussed in primary school geography classes) and he spends most of the book explaining things such as the revolutionary nature of renewable energy and genetic engineering, topics that are already fairly well-trodden ground in today's zeitgeist, and leaves his opportunity to genuinely break new ground - how the changing technologies of today could be harnessed to bridge or widen the gap between the wealthy and the poor, how 'FALC' could actually be achieved, what FALC would actually look like, mostly untouched.
Innumerable Sci-Fi novels, films and TV shows these days revolve around the premise of modern technology breeding mass unemployment and vastly exacerbated inequality (Bastani even directly references the movie 'Elysium' in this book), a certain fear of how advancements such as automation and gene editing could lead us down a dark path definitely occupies a large part of the public consciousness at the moment. Bastani even mentions that this technological revolution leading to the best possible outcome isn't inevitable, but he leaves the other scenario largely as the elephant in the room. This book presents itself as a Manifesto; Manifestos are meant to be convincing, and I think this book could've been far more ground-breaking if Bastani clearly laid out in each chapter how each and every one of these technologies could be incalculably beneficial, but could also only exacerbate inequality in the hands of market forces. I understand that he's trying to put an inspiring spin on things, but it really just comes off as a little naïve.
With all that said, if this book plays even a small role in bringing these sorts of discussions out of the circles of academia and nerdery and more into the general zeitgeist, I will be immensely grateful. Discussions of issues such as automation at the moment tend to either be quite one-note pessimistic, or hail something like Universal Basic Income as the silver bullet that will whisk us all away to paradise, or simply deny the issue altogether. And despite its flaws, this book may hopefully bring another, more valuable perspective to that discussion.
informative
lol guess it’s interesting #marxism #yassocialism
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Not a good book.
References are terrible (all secondary sources, some even just being "YouTube Video, titled abc" or similar) and makes zero points that would stand up to a second thought.
References are terrible (all secondary sources, some even just being "YouTube Video, titled abc" or similar) and makes zero points that would stand up to a second thought.
A book that gathers the evidence of technology inching society ever closer to utopia only being held back by the politics. Pairs well with Utopia for Realists- Rutger Bregman.
Bastani gives real world examples of modern technologies that mirror historical examples of technologies that changed society that he calls Disruptions. Technological advancement in computation and robotics is reaching a point where we're close to the biggest disruption yet, and our politics have to catch up.
The scary words 'Communism' and 'Manifesto' are in the title, so you can ignore the negative ratings by people that obviously haven't actually read the book.
Bastani gives real world examples of modern technologies that mirror historical examples of technologies that changed society that he calls Disruptions. Technological advancement in computation and robotics is reaching a point where we're close to the biggest disruption yet, and our politics have to catch up.
The scary words 'Communism' and 'Manifesto' are in the title, so you can ignore the negative ratings by people that obviously haven't actually read the book.
I am a fan of Bastani’s optimistic goal in the broader sense, but how he gets there is far from ideal.
I don’t typically quote other reviews, but this person said it better than I could have and echoes my feelings on the matter:
“While on the surface Bastani’s book reaches for a different horizon he clearly has no serious issue with capitalism and at no point takes issue with it as a mode of production; instead, he focuses more on the ‘challenges’ it has brought rather than seeing capitalism as the problem. Dedicating an entire chapter on the need to break with neoliberalism, he takes on social democratic solutions and negates any potentially revolutionary ones. The potential role of unions and politics outside of the electoral system in order to build the conditions in civil society for FALC is completely left out. Devoid of class struggle, Bastani’s Fully Automated Luxury Communism appears as misguided as Karl Kautsky’s Dictatorship of the Proletariat – as Lenin might have put it, Bastani has become ‘a mere sycophant of the bourgeoisie.’[6]” (Brant Roberts)
Basically, this book is not as revolutionary as it makes itself out to be. It is lacking in any kind of race or gender analysis to boot. Where is the acknowledgement that racism is coded into the technology that exists today? Where is the justice for those who would supposedly benefit from FALC the most? Not to mention that the practice of slavery is reduced to “an increase in economic productivity” on page 95. Yikes.
I also have an issue with his idealistic view on tech meat, which is not the answer to our consumption’s effect on climate. His example of “cellular agriculture” is Impossible Foods, which, as a booming, billion-dollar corporation is supposedly ideologically opposed to his project, but he does not frame it as such. Why not turn to locally-sourced food and more thoughtful consumption? It seems like Bastani took the easy way out with that particular chapter. (I recommend anything by Alicia Kennedy on this topic, particularly this article and her forthcoming book: https://inthesetimes.com/article/22309/corporate-fake-meat-wont-save-us-impossible-burger-beyond-meat-greenwashing)
I wanted to like this more than I actually did, but I couldn’t buy it the way it was delivered. Two stars for effort, I guess?
I don’t typically quote other reviews, but this person said it better than I could have and echoes my feelings on the matter:
“While on the surface Bastani’s book reaches for a different horizon he clearly has no serious issue with capitalism and at no point takes issue with it as a mode of production; instead, he focuses more on the ‘challenges’ it has brought rather than seeing capitalism as the problem. Dedicating an entire chapter on the need to break with neoliberalism, he takes on social democratic solutions and negates any potentially revolutionary ones. The potential role of unions and politics outside of the electoral system in order to build the conditions in civil society for FALC is completely left out. Devoid of class struggle, Bastani’s Fully Automated Luxury Communism appears as misguided as Karl Kautsky’s Dictatorship of the Proletariat – as Lenin might have put it, Bastani has become ‘a mere sycophant of the bourgeoisie.’[6]” (Brant Roberts)
Basically, this book is not as revolutionary as it makes itself out to be. It is lacking in any kind of race or gender analysis to boot. Where is the acknowledgement that racism is coded into the technology that exists today? Where is the justice for those who would supposedly benefit from FALC the most? Not to mention that the practice of slavery is reduced to “an increase in economic productivity” on page 95. Yikes.
I also have an issue with his idealistic view on tech meat, which is not the answer to our consumption’s effect on climate. His example of “cellular agriculture” is Impossible Foods, which, as a booming, billion-dollar corporation is supposedly ideologically opposed to his project, but he does not frame it as such. Why not turn to locally-sourced food and more thoughtful consumption? It seems like Bastani took the easy way out with that particular chapter. (I recommend anything by Alicia Kennedy on this topic, particularly this article and her forthcoming book: https://inthesetimes.com/article/22309/corporate-fake-meat-wont-save-us-impossible-burger-beyond-meat-greenwashing)
I wanted to like this more than I actually did, but I couldn’t buy it the way it was delivered. Two stars for effort, I guess?
hopeful
medium-paced