Three Guiding Images of After Capitalism

Three major themes came through as central to images of After Capitalism: environmental; social and political; and technological factors. The process of characterizing these themes took several iterations, but ultimately three major clusters emerged and became the basis of the three guiding mages: Circular Commons (environmentally driven), Non-Workers Paradise (socially and politically driven), and Tech-Led Abundance (technologically driven). They are briefly summarized below:

• Circular Commons. Expands the concept of sustainability to embrace circular principles as part of a social, political, and economic commons.
• Non-Workers Paradise. A play on the attributed-to-Marxist idea of a worker’s paradise, but in the After Capitalism world we are not working in paid jobs as a means of sustenance.
• Tech-Led Abundance. Technological progress drives and leads to an abundance of wealth that fixes the core distribution problem of capitalism.

To be more specific, for Circular Commons, the key environmental issue is climate change and carrying capacity. The solutions take on the growth question. How growth is addressed guides the various proposed approaches. There was no support among the AC Concepts for growth on its current trajectory, and the question boils down to achieving a steady state or more actively pursuing degrowth.

For Non-Workers Paradise, the socio-political focus centers primarily on workers and the role of work and jobs, with political and economic participation a key aspect of that. Here the question can be boiled down to whether work will be needed with abundance and how to manage the transition. There are a few AC Concepts that maintain the idea of right-to-work.

For Tech-Led Abundance, the authors are generally certain that technology will deliver abundance. Where it gets interesting is how humans might keep up. To some degree the authors of these AC Concepts suggest people will be moving toward augmentation and some suggest it essentially leads to a reinvention or a new human species.

It is hoped that the different guiding images, each with a different emphasis, will appeal to different groups and broaden the appeal of After Capitalism. Environmentalists are likely to endorse Circular Commons, social and political activists are likely to be drawn to Non-Workers Paradise, and techies are likely to be drawn to Tech-Led Abundance. – Andy Hines

PS: The book is out! See the video of the recent book launch.