I appreciate the intellectual lineage here—Marx and Smith in the same conversation is always a lively mix—but this feels less like a forecast and more like a thought experiment drifting into wishful thinking.
The idea that eliminating labor automatically makes goods “free” overlooks a stubborn constant: ownership. As long as individuals or entities own assets—whether it’s housing, land, technology, or even a piano—there’s little incentive to give them away. Human nature, markets, and basic economics tend to resist that kind of generosity at scale.
If anything, history suggests that when production costs fall, new forms of pricing, scarcity, or control emerge rather than disappearing altogether. We’ve seen this with digital goods, which are nearly costless to reproduce yet rarely free in practice.
So while it’s an intriguing philosophical vision—perhaps even an appealing one—it seems far removed from how economic systems actually behave. I’d be surprised if we’re all listing our homes and cars under “free to a good home” anytime in this century.
Still, it makes for a good debate—just not, I think, a likely roadmap.
I appreciate the intellectual lineage here—Marx and Smith in the same conversation is always a lively mix—but this feels less like a forecast and more like a thought experiment drifting into wishful thinking.
The idea that eliminating labor automatically makes goods “free” overlooks a stubborn constant: ownership. As long as individuals or entities own assets—whether it’s housing, land, technology, or even a piano—there’s little incentive to give them away. Human nature, markets, and basic economics tend to resist that kind of generosity at scale.
If anything, history suggests that when production costs fall, new forms of pricing, scarcity, or control emerge rather than disappearing altogether. We’ve seen this with digital goods, which are nearly costless to reproduce yet rarely free in practice.
So while it’s an intriguing philosophical vision—perhaps even an appealing one—it seems far removed from how economic systems actually behave. I’d be surprised if we’re all listing our homes and cars under “free to a good home” anytime in this century.
Still, it makes for a good debate—just not, I think, a likely roadmap.
Sounds like science-fiction and hallucinations.