You'll own nothing and be happy
en.wikipedia.org
en.wikipedia.org
Edit: One thing I've noticed on HN is the dislike of 'Own nothing and be happy' while celebrating gig-economy companies that are essentially empowering this. Startups renting clothing or furniture in SF, at scale, combined with UBI (or benefits common in the part of Europe she's from) is what this article was thinking about.
She coulda beat people over the head with stuff like this more, but it's pretty clearly not a strictly utopian view there...
Even this, right:
> Environmental problems seem far away, since we only use clean energy and clean production methods.
and the later complaints about how there "used to be"
> lifestyle diseases, climate change, the refugee crisis, environmental degradation, completely congested cities, water pollution, air pollution, social unrest and unemployment
Like, we're clearly not actually solving all those problems by "free transportation of tools instead of buying them", we're just ignoring them.
https://m.facebook.com/worldeconomicforum/videos/8-predictio...
I mean, everything you write is a "thought experiment", that doesn't mean you are immune to the responses to the content.
For example, if you wrote something really racist and then got backlash, could you just claim it was a thought experiment to invoke discussions about race? Not successfully.
Does the semantics of "thought experiment" vs "prediction" really matter though? The point is it's a dystopian view being discussed at THE platform of world leaders... It doesn't look good at all.
Handwaving it away as some low level actor's wacky vision isn't really a good or original excuse.
I suspect that is two different groups expressing their opinions, although there probably is some overlap in the Venn diagram.
It's part and parcel of how very nearly everybody thinks they're one of "the good guys".
This _kind_ of used to be how appliances worked in some countries; many people rented a TV and VCR and so on. At a certain point, the cost structures changed, it was cheaper to buy, and the appliance rental places largely went out of business.
Arguably, this is a bit surprising, because equipment leasing for _companies_ is still big business. I assume someone will try the consumer version again sooner or later.
> "a provider that would also service and upgrade"
The "and upgrade" part is a pure fantasy, though. Never seen one of those give you the good stuff!
Dystopian fantasy, in my view. The trends of the software industry over the last several years have brought me to a place where "upgrading" is now a concept that fills me with dread.
I think owning things is basically the only way to fight rent seeking.
But superior to both is owning quality things.
Convincing people in cities to not own cars would be the biggest win any of these global orgs can achieve. It is still likely impossible. But, it is an easier sell.
Convincing people to use shared spaces instead of having their own lawns or shared parking instead of a garage is similarly a valuable goal. Both would be big steps in the 'own nothing' direction. It can easily be sold on its own. NYCers would choose an massive central park over a sq-ft each of private garden space any day.
But these people have to try selling the most dystopian framing of such policy decisions, and the baby gets thrown out with the bath water.
This brought to mind those who hold the opinion that "ideas are worthless".
Mainly because Auken's idea seems quite potent all by itself, without anyone ever really seeing the implementation.
The WEF, G7, G20, etc, are powers' playground. And "mainstream altruism" is almost always terrifying to me as an individual.
I don't consider myself a libertarian by any means, but I think modern society does need to give more credence to the individual.
> Auken later added an author's note to the story responding to critics, stating that it is not her "utopia or dream of the future", and that she intended for the essay to start discussions about technological development.
they aren't demanding it, and it will always be framed as a choice. like how usa health insurance is a choice
Instead we have a lot of ethereal players pushing policy that's affecting billions without any democratic process
Main problem is that current ruling class is mostly comprised of psychopaths and what they actually mean is that “We will own everything, you will own nothing, and you will be happy or else!”
I think “You will own nothing, and be happy” can be utopic but we will first need to eliminate genes that cause psychopathy first.
> Research found that housing cooperatives had residents rate themselves as having the highest quality of life and housing satisfaction of any housing organization in the city. ... Other research has found that housing cooperatives tended to have higher rates of building quality, building safety, feelings of security among residents, lower crime rates, stable access to housing and significantly lower costs compared to conventional housing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_cooperative#Research_o...
They exist all over Canada. They all start out lovey dovey, permaculture, etc and end up poverty stricken.
Canada's recent success in reducing poverty has been 100% shutting these down.