cesegor

Actually, it is a question that can be discussed rationally. For any Objectivists who may still exist in this forum and are interested in discussing my question further, my contact information is available through the links I provided in the opening topic. Objectivism is not a dogma, it is an active pursuit akin to Science, not religion.

I thought the point of a forum was to discuss ideas. I do not consider discussion of my question "absurd", even though you may. Remember, money is not an essential - it is only a tool.

I did not really say that the productivity of men would drop to zero, rather that it could be expressed differently (hobby, for instance). I think your assertion assumes an exponential extrapolation, that is, Man will always desire more and diversify the labor force more because He always has. This may be the case, but perhaps a point is reached when automation and "human competitive intelligence" render human production to "costly". Can technology have this effect? In most systems there is some property which can undergo a period of growth, but at some point a saturation level is reached where different phenomenon take over. Carl

Let's try some examples: All food is synthesized (not grown in a field or slaughtered), All waste is reclaimed for re-synthesis (including liquid, metals, organics etc), Any item you want, you could download into the synthesizer (along with a sufficient quantity of raw material), Many hobbyists would offer plans to download for free (like some very good software is today). It seems to me that an economy that becomes automated to a sufficient degree, becomes a nation of hobbyists (and on the negative side "entertainment" seekers). Money is a useful tool to replace a barter system, but is there a "system" post-money?

Hello, My name is Carl Segor and I'd like to pose a question to the forum. First, I am pro-Objectivist, in that I maintain that reason and understanding reality are a requirement of Man (reference: http://orbits.00space.com & http://freedomsfyre.00books.com ). However, I am not an economist. Now to the question: What happens to producers in an economy that becomes so efficient that a small percent of the population is all that is necessary to provide all goods and services? Here I am thinking of an economy that has reached such a high state of automation and Man's control over matter has become so versatile, that machines are able to supply virtually every want or desire. In this environment, machines provide nearly all of the value and there is no longer an exchange required (assuming the machines are not sentient, they would be self-replicating and available to everyone - My Dad gave me my first "bot-seed"). In this type of economy, would money lose its significance as everyone becomes self-sufficient? If so, what would be the consequences to producers when no one wants to buy a human created widget, when an automated widget generator does it for nothing (i.e. human competitive intelligence)? What happens during the transition to such an economy? Best Regards, Carl