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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
meh? it really focused on what technology all can do, which is great and it is nice to see a more optimistic approach towards automation, but it really lacked any discussion of capitalism (and communism, for that matter) as a social relation, as a power dynamic
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
Some great ideas in here, including universal basic services, but asteroid mining probably isn't one of those great ideas. The deeper we slide into AI hell and climate collapse, the less appealing FALC becomes.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
For me this was used as a text for a class, and regardless of normative content was a fantastic vehicle for class discussion and - in my belief - a good first exposure for many regarding modern, young, analytical leftism.
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
there was something always something a bit icky to me about the thought of intentionally automating but bastani shows how today's technology makes now the prime time for communism.
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Although this book has not aged especially well in the last 5-8 years it remains a great view of what socialism should be as a promise: not a land of no bananas and self-inflicted poverty but instead a world where work is no longer necessary and we can focus on what makes human society great.
I enjoyed this books optimism and bright vision for what could be, although I think it falls flat on the manifesto position struggling to really attach its prescribed possible utopian vision for the future with a path of how to get there.
I enjoyed this books optimism and bright vision for what could be, although I think it falls flat on the manifesto position struggling to really attach its prescribed possible utopian vision for the future with a path of how to get there.
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
We have the technology, but, you know... yay capitalism.
I could not finish this, unfortunately. When I first got into reading, around the age of 18 or 19, I read all of these pop-science books like The Ascent of Man, A Short History of Nearly Everything, The Ancestor's Tale, Origin of Species, Brief History of Time, etc. etc. All of these books that championed scientism, glorified nature and the objective world and all that. These books to an extent, are okay. I did learn a lot and they did change my view on important things. But all of these books rely heavily on a language riddled by rationalism, subject-object duality, Man vs Nature and eternal scientific progress - and that gets boring. And it's precisely that which put me off this book. I mean, I do agree with a lot of what I read, and I do agree technology can offer a future beyond capitalism. But everytime I read Bastani rambling about humanity's three major disruptions I just sighed and skipped a few pages ahead. We get it, we learnt how to plant crops.
insanely cool book!! even though this is the sort of book that is prone to age very quickly it was super enjoyable and covered a really good range of technology that will get us closer to a post scarcity world. i had never heard of the concept of FALC before but i am absolutely fascinated; i have never read of the concept of communism and a traditional, argicultural kind of amish-core society being seperated before, theyve just always sort of gonr together. but this version of communism makes so much more sense and so much more realistic in a way and makes a post-capitalist society seem less like a fantasy. technology will of course be the thing that propells us foward and away from this capitalist hellscape potentially. what's ironic and delicious though is that the billionaires are the ones who are funding us to get there 😍