The abundance of the modern day is staggering. Food alone is now requiring few man hours and producing vast amounts of product. In about 25 years the personal computer has gone from a relatively cutting edge office device to a ubiquitous handheld one. The amazing advances in technology will only cascade into more, and these will bring amazing blessings, conveniences, and boons to humankind. These are gifts we should be prepared to freely receive, but like a gift of chocolate that will make us sick if eaten to quickly or heavy book that will require much reading and concentration we need to be receive these with caution and adroitness.
Let's go back to food. One of the interesting points of contention between my brothers, me, and our grandmother is our approach and mentalities surrounding food. Our grandma, growing up in a family that suffered through and being born shortly after the great depression, views food as a precious and scarce resource. She often views food in terms of availability, enjoying buffets and inexpensive diners and being anxious over throwing away uneaten scraps or spoiling produce. My brothers, and even my parents, live in the modern age and see food as abundant. We don't like to waste food, but recognize that when the bread gets moldy it should be thrown out because it only costs a dollar or two (ten minutes of work at minimum wage) to get another loaf. We live devoid of the "clean your plate" ethic so common in past generations.
Thank heavens for that too, as obesity and overeating are a greater health risk to us than malnutrition (though I am skeptical of the magnitude of this risk). It's actually odd to think about health risks arising because nourishment is so easy to obtain. Taking anatomy and physiology I've learned hundreds of ways in which a deficiency of calcium, iodine, glucose, iron, or any other number of dietary intakes cause problems. It's bizarre to think of problems coming about simply because we have so much of those things we need and love that we run out places to put it and spend so much time and energy to keeping it all together.
Food is only the beginning of this, though. Technology is more and more in in the reach of anyone who'd like it. Entertainment and education is more available than ever with the internet. And these are just the commodities being made abundant with modern technology. Go even slightly futuristic and we have productive capabilities exploding via robotics, precious metals or gems having their scarcity destroyed by advanced chemical and materials engineering techniques, and even thought or creativity flooding the market in ways never before seen thanks to better distribution systems, or even AI and other futuristic computing creating new art.
The challenges presented by this can be staggering though. The central one is likely motivation. Survival and status have been the principle motivators of a person in the past. That might have meant being the mightiest hunter in the tribe that's always well fed or the most influential business magnate on wall street who always had some opportunity waiting, but the principles been the same. Many of us have said something like, "I really don't want to go to work today but they won't pay me if I don't so I guess I had better," and we've probably even said that with some frequency. If we reach post scarcity we theoretically won't ever need to get paid, so what will keep us getting out of bed in the morning and off the streets? I'll be investigating this and other ideas of a post-scarcity society and economy in part 2.
