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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
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 đ
reflective
This book discussed how technologyâparticularly renewable energyâis getting so good and so un-scarce that we can almost make everything we need (and want) for basically free and environmentally sustainably.
This book was all about the âcouldâ: we could get enough solar energy to power the whole world for a year in less than 90min, recharging EVs and public transportation could be free, we could have global universal health care, we could sustainably feed a world population even higher than our own, we could eat meat (from cell cultures) or meat alternatives and end animal suffering at the same time etc etc.
But this book lacked an analysis of power. Because, yes sustainable things have gotten cheaper to produce and will continue to do so. But they havenât gotten cheaper to buy at the same rate. And the worldâs richest people have pocketed that difference, which they use to undermine everything this book dreams about.
And yet, I appreciate how angry this book made me. Because a better world is possible, the only thing stopping us is capitalism.
This book was all about the âcouldâ: we could get enough solar energy to power the whole world for a year in less than 90min, recharging EVs and public transportation could be free, we could have global universal health care, we could sustainably feed a world population even higher than our own, we could eat meat (from cell cultures) or meat alternatives and end animal suffering at the same time etc etc.
But this book lacked an analysis of power. Because, yes sustainable things have gotten cheaper to produce and will continue to do so. But they havenât gotten cheaper to buy at the same rate. And the worldâs richest people have pocketed that difference, which they use to undermine everything this book dreams about.
And yet, I appreciate how angry this book made me. Because a better world is possible, the only thing stopping us is capitalism.
No, AI, space mining and synthetic meat will not magically solve all of society's problems.
Bastani does not even mention that AI and big data will need exponentially more energy. Also, racial and social bias in AI models is not event mentioned in passing. And green energy isn't just jolly green, but wastes lots of energy in production as well.
It sometimes feels like an advertising magazine for the companies he is uncritically praising throughout the book.
I get it that positive outlooks are sometimes needed. But this kind of technocratic socialist perspective, praising unfettered growth will hardly solve problems of overconsumption.
Bastani does not even mention that AI and big data will need exponentially more energy. Also, racial and social bias in AI models is not event mentioned in passing. And green energy isn't just jolly green, but wastes lots of energy in production as well.
It sometimes feels like an advertising magazine for the companies he is uncritically praising throughout the book.
I get it that positive outlooks are sometimes needed. But this kind of technocratic socialist perspective, praising unfettered growth will hardly solve problems of overconsumption.
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 didnât 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 âFALCâ instead of technocratic serfdom - I had trouble accepting Bastaniâs redefining of âcommunismâ in non-Marxian terms.
But to Bastaniâs credit, not many writers are willing to be so optimistic about technologyâs liberatory potential. It was refreshing to read this after years of consuming Fisher, *Desert*, Adam Curtis, William Gibson, etc.
But to Bastaniâs credit, not many writers are willing to be so optimistic about technologyâs liberatory potential. It was refreshing to read this after years of consuming Fisher, *Desert*, Adam Curtis, William Gibson, etc.
A manifesto that can be accurately summarised by a quotation in its final pages: "All history is relevant, but the history of technology is the most relevant." (Kranzberg). Just as the first two 'disurptions' (the rise of agriculture and of industry) led to transformation changes in society and the development of new modes of production, it's posited here that the third disruption taking place presently with the development of new digital technologies (including AI) will lead to similar transformational changes.
The first two-thirds focus almost exclusively on the form this disruption takes and what these changes could look like (with varying degrees of detail and inquiry), but it the latter half that piques the interest the most, where discussion is around how these changes might be achieved. The importance of populism in the age of mass communication, as well as local politics in the vein of the Preston Model, is placed front-and-centre. The suggestion that communism is only possible in a post-scarcity world will likely be controversial.
Overall an interesting read, though one likely to be subject to debate in areas to many!
The first two-thirds focus almost exclusively on the form this disruption takes and what these changes could look like (with varying degrees of detail and inquiry), but it the latter half that piques the interest the most, where discussion is around how these changes might be achieved. The importance of populism in the age of mass communication, as well as local politics in the vein of the Preston Model, is placed front-and-centre. The suggestion that communism is only possible in a post-scarcity world will likely be controversial.
Overall an interesting read, though one likely to be subject to debate in areas to many!
This book disappointed me, which is a shame because I think the subject is the most important one for the contemporary left to tackle - that is the developing trends in modern society and economy which suggest that a significant change is on the horizon, with the possibility that capitalism itself may be about to be transformed into something.... else.
I am being a little unfair. Bastani does a reasonable job of outlining the key challenges: the growing automation of production with the possibility that what is at present a tendency could become a tidal wave of change in the near future; the urgency of climate change and the need to move to sustainable energy; developments in preventative healthcare. As Bastani suggests these all point to a world where the resources we need to live are no longer scarce. In a world of abundance, there's a strong argument that the rules of the capitalist market will no longer work as they do at the moment.
So far so good, although the treatment is quite light touch. The significant omission is an analysis of agency. To Marx change was going to be delivered by the development of the working class as the subject of history with class struggle as the driving motor. Bastani outlines the challenges and jumps straight to the outcome without explaining how we get from A to B. As Peter Frase memorably pointed out in Four Futures ( [b:Four Futures: Life After Capitalism|22551901|Four Futures Life After Capitalism|Peter Frase|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1474751383l/22551901._SY75_.jpg|42009582] ) the transition to a happy future of fully automated luxury communism is only one of a number of possible outcomes to these trends. Simplistically, who grabs control of the productivity improvements offered by radical automation is going to determine much of the how the future plays out.
I think it is significant that this book was written after Labour's near miss in the 2017 election but before it's catastrophic failure in the 2019 election. A number of Bastani's ideas for what the future will look like chime with elements of the Labour manifesto in 2019 (for example the offer of free broadband). His work feels in tune with the policy positioning of the Corbyn Labour Party. In the 2019 election Labour seemed to be missing a clear idea of how to build the electoral coalition that would deliver power to a party offering this policy platform, just as Bastani doesn't describe who will support his analysis and make it happen. Labour's failure was therefore theoretical and strategic, not just tactical. Identifying trends isn't enough, the left needs to figure out how to make progressive change happen too.
You can also find this review on my blog here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2020/01/03/review-fully-automated-luxury-communism
Along with my "future left" reading list: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/a-short-future-left-reading-list
I am being a little unfair. Bastani does a reasonable job of outlining the key challenges: the growing automation of production with the possibility that what is at present a tendency could become a tidal wave of change in the near future; the urgency of climate change and the need to move to sustainable energy; developments in preventative healthcare. As Bastani suggests these all point to a world where the resources we need to live are no longer scarce. In a world of abundance, there's a strong argument that the rules of the capitalist market will no longer work as they do at the moment.
So far so good, although the treatment is quite light touch. The significant omission is an analysis of agency. To Marx change was going to be delivered by the development of the working class as the subject of history with class struggle as the driving motor. Bastani outlines the challenges and jumps straight to the outcome without explaining how we get from A to B. As Peter Frase memorably pointed out in Four Futures ( [b:Four Futures: Life After Capitalism|22551901|Four Futures Life After Capitalism|Peter Frase|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1474751383l/22551901._SY75_.jpg|42009582] ) the transition to a happy future of fully automated luxury communism is only one of a number of possible outcomes to these trends. Simplistically, who grabs control of the productivity improvements offered by radical automation is going to determine much of the how the future plays out.
I think it is significant that this book was written after Labour's near miss in the 2017 election but before it's catastrophic failure in the 2019 election. A number of Bastani's ideas for what the future will look like chime with elements of the Labour manifesto in 2019 (for example the offer of free broadband). His work feels in tune with the policy positioning of the Corbyn Labour Party. In the 2019 election Labour seemed to be missing a clear idea of how to build the electoral coalition that would deliver power to a party offering this policy platform, just as Bastani doesn't describe who will support his analysis and make it happen. Labour's failure was therefore theoretical and strategic, not just tactical. Identifying trends isn't enough, the left needs to figure out how to make progressive change happen too.
You can also find this review on my blog here: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2020/01/03/review-fully-automated-luxury-communism
Along with my "future left" reading list: https://marxadventure.wordpress.com/2016/10/30/a-short-future-left-reading-list
Hay libros que hacen soñar con mundos mejores, este lo hace con un futuro mejor.
Bastani nos presenta el dilema de capitalismo moderno impulsado por la sociedad de consumo: el abaratamiento infinito de los productos. Nos encontramos en un momento Ășnico de la humanidad en la que la capacidad tecnolĂłgica tiene la capacidad de surtir a toda la poblaciĂłn con bienes bĂĄsicos, pero choca frontalmente con un sistema econĂłmico que basa su rentabilidad en la (falsa actualmente) escasez de recursos.
El libro hace un repaso de cĂłmo las tecnologĂas actuales y futuras podrĂĄn garantizar que todo el mundo tenga cubiertas sus necesidades. Y no solo las bĂĄsica, el de lujo es por algo, se tiene y se puede lograr una abundancia nunca antes vista en la historia.
Pese al aparente enfoque cientifista el texto hace tambiĂ©n un llamamiento a la reforma social, a que solo mediante con una nueva ordenaciĂłn se podrĂĄn aplicar las polĂticas necesarias para una transiciĂłn hacia una sociedad sin trabajo.
De obligatoria lectura. Hay un futuro ahĂ fuera y debe ser nuestro.
Bastani nos presenta el dilema de capitalismo moderno impulsado por la sociedad de consumo: el abaratamiento infinito de los productos. Nos encontramos en un momento Ășnico de la humanidad en la que la capacidad tecnolĂłgica tiene la capacidad de surtir a toda la poblaciĂłn con bienes bĂĄsicos, pero choca frontalmente con un sistema econĂłmico que basa su rentabilidad en la (falsa actualmente) escasez de recursos.
El libro hace un repaso de cĂłmo las tecnologĂas actuales y futuras podrĂĄn garantizar que todo el mundo tenga cubiertas sus necesidades. Y no solo las bĂĄsica, el de lujo es por algo, se tiene y se puede lograr una abundancia nunca antes vista en la historia.
Pese al aparente enfoque cientifista el texto hace tambiĂ©n un llamamiento a la reforma social, a que solo mediante con una nueva ordenaciĂłn se podrĂĄn aplicar las polĂticas necesarias para una transiciĂłn hacia una sociedad sin trabajo.
De obligatoria lectura. Hay un futuro ahĂ fuera y debe ser nuestro.
If youâre a socialist, you should probably read this book
adventurous
medium-paced
This book was really quite annoying to me. I expected critical theory but really it was a lot of ranting without much back up (which I suppose I shouldâve known give the subtitle of âa manifestoâ). There is a real need for someone to accurately describe the economics of a post-scarcity communist society but this is not that book. We also need a good fiction of what that world looks like (ala Star Trek) but this is not that book. There is duck-riding of tech companies and lots of shit that I just could not get behind. Someone please recommend to me a better lefty book.