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Did somone read the book #Trekonomics: The #Economics of #StarTrek (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trekonomics). Do you consider it interesting from an #anarchist #economies point of view?
It looks like no one here read #Trekonomics.
Here is what I found so far:
* A good podcast about the book https://www.wired.com/2016/05/geeks-guide-star-trek-economics/ with the author #ManuSaadia.
* I get the impression that the author is not an #anarchist but advocating for moneyless fulfillment of basic needs and meritocracy.
* I'm more skeptical about post-scarcity due to the climate crisis.
* I still want to read it eventually. (You can find it at http://libgen.rs/)
I finally read #Trekonomics by Manu Saadia. 4/5 stars IMO. It's readable even if you are not a #StarTrek geek. I enjoyed the anecdotes from history, #jewish culture, and the author's life. I would have wished for some more learnings about #economics. If you already know about the potential benefits of automation, the advantages of open access to knowledge and other freely available goods, and the arguments for universal basic income (UBI) there is not a lot more to learn. But still entertaining.
Some quotes:
"So the Federation does the only thing it can in the present: it hopes that by modeling good, science-based behavior, it will somehow sway the more selfish governments or shame them into doing the right thing." (on preserving the galactic commons)
"Star Trek's and science fiction's role in the world is certainly to entertain and amaze and inspire, but it might also very well be to corrupt and change us, the real-life Ferengis."
"Technological progress and economic growth cannot bring us to #utopia on their own. Inventions do not arise in a vacuum. They are artifacts of society, they respond to people's needs and, sometimes, demands. We cannot ask machines to distribute economic resources equally on our behalf."
"The mutualization of most goods and services is Star Trek's solution to the contradiction of workless overabundance."
From an #anarchist perspective, I'm a bit disappointed Star Trek just replaces the competition for material wealth with the competition for reputation, which results in power over others, and the author of #Trekonomics does not seem to be very critical of this. So while the book is promoting UBI, it is sadly also open to neoliberal meritocracy.
or how Marie Goldsmith criticized the idea of meritocracy in 1919: "To give each proportionally to their work is, if you wish, a fair principle; but it is a lower type of justice, like the idea of rewarding merit or punishing vice."
#anarchism