Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!oakhill!paco
From: paco@oakhill.UUCP (Paco)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Societies in _Voyage_from_Yesteryear_, etc.
Message-ID: <3038@devsys.oakhill.UUCP>
Date: 2 Mar 90 16:27:06 GMT
References: <578.25e206c1@uoft02.utoledo.edu> <1362@dgbt.uucp>
Organization: There
Lines: 29

In article <1362@dgbt.uucp>, warren@dgbt.uucp (Warren Baird DGBT/DBR) writes:
> 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 ...

Here's an idea...   Some factors could rapidly alter the conceptions of 
wealth, and appear to be doing so.  Global telecommunications, increased 
trade, global monetary systems, ie. the shift away from localized sovereignty 
in general.

Not too many years ago a person in Austin would have to pay homage to the
"good ol' boy" network in order to do well in business, because local
sovereignty kept control over any real wealth.  Recently a friend here 
setup a five-person shop doing multi-million dollar engineering business 
with a sister company in Taiwan.  I doubt that the concept of "good ol' 
boys" even crossed their minds because they completely bypassed the local 
powerbase.

The concept of wealth is changing too rapidly for even those with relative
power to keep track.

paco.
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"Where do you fit into the Food Chain?"