Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!dgbt!warren
From: warren@dgbt.uucp (Warren Baird DGBT/DBR)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Societies in _Voyage_from_Yesteryear_, etc.
Message-ID: <1362@dgbt.uucp>
Date: 26 Feb 90 19:23:15 GMT
References: <578.25e206c1@uoft02.utoledo.edu>
Reply-To: warren@dgbt.crc.dnd.ca (Warren Baird DGBT/DBR)
Organization: The Communications Research Centre, Ottawa, CANADA
Lines: 29

In article <578.25e206c1@uoft02.utoledo.edu> grx1042@uoft02.utoledo.edu (Steve Snodgrass) writes:
>This is kind of an off-the-wall question, and perhaps it belongs in another
>conference, but this one seemed to have as much right as any.  Anyway, has
>anyone other than myself read James P. Hogan's "Voyage from Yesteryear" or
>perhaps "Mirror Maze?"  If so, what do you think about the possibilities for
>the future (distant or otherwise) societies described in those works? 
>

I haven't read _Mirror Maze_, but I read _Voyage from Yesteryear_
about a month ago.  I found some of the concepts that he put accross very
interesting.  I don't think that a society with that much freedom will exist
in the near future.  Humanity is too set in it's conceptions of wealth
and material goods to easily accept a world where almost everything
you'd ever need is free.  Even if there is a cheap method of producing the
materials, (say cold fusion or something :-) ) a lot of people (owners
of manufacturing companies, etc) would not take kindly to anyone
providing the same services that they do, but for free.  It would have
to be a very gradual thing, phased in over many years (decades) for it
to be accepted, or even possible, IMHO.

How ever, I would much prefer living in a world where I was able to do
the things I want to do, rather than having to find a job to keep food
on the table.  I don't expect it to happen in my lifetime though, or
my children's, for that matter.

-- 
      Warren Baird                      warren@dgbt.crc.dnd.ca
            ...utzoo!bnr-vpa!bnr-rsc!dgbt!warren
         Doing a Co-op term at the Communication Canada, Ottawa