Philosophically Speaking: Annals of the International Philosophy Grou Philosophical-Annals-II-2017 | Page 15

Of Mind and Money: Post-Scarcity Economics and Human Nature
species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction. Science Advances (2015) 1:5 e1400253.
Copyright © G. Ceballos, P. R. Ehrlich, A. D. Barnosky, A. García, R. M. Pringle, T. M.
Palmer. Creative Commons CC BY-NC 4.0 license. Courtesy: American Association for the
Advancement of Science and Gerardo Ceballos. 18
Specifically, they found that over the last century vertebrate species (that is, those having
backbones) have gone extinct at an average rate as high as to 114 times than the background,
or non-mass extinction, rate – a rate that would normally take place over as long as 10,000
years – and, critically, that this trend is caused by human activities including climate change,
pollution, deforestation, habitat loss, and overexploitation for economic gain – all of which,
the scientists note, are related to human population size and growth, which in turn increases
consumption (predominantly by the wealthy) and economic inequity. They caution that
“averting a d ramatic decay of biodiversity and the subsequent loss of ecosystem services is
still possible through intensified conservation efforts, but that window of opportunity is
rapidly closing.”
Post-Scarcity Economics: Beyond Capital
It should be noted that the term post-scarcity economics is sometimes described as being self-
contradictory, since most – but not all – definitions of economics are based the dynamic
between scarce resources and demand for goods, services and information based on or
incorporating these scarce resources, with capital as the foundation for all economic
transactions. On the other hand, a post-scarcity economy can operate without the need for
capital while still responding to supply-and-demand forces in determining the resources
needed to fulfill demand.
This post-scarcity vs. post-capital question can be resolved by reconceptualizing and
redefining economics – as has occurred repeatedly over the centuries – as the transformation
of resources into goods, services and information that are provided to individuals or groups
who demand and then acquire them. Given the technology-based labor-free structure of a