I’m often at a loss to describe my politics.  I used to refer to myself as a Social Democrat and a Capitalist, but that was just a way to make my views more palatable and ensure they went down easy in a crowd — I was a Socialist and afraid to admit it.  Since then, my views on capitalism and currency have grown more complex.  The term “Socialist” doesn’t fit the bill because there’s a technological and predictive dimension to my politics.  I don’t hate capitalism — I just see it as a failed social technology; or, at least, tech that is rapidly outliving its usefulness.

A friend of mine suggested “Futurist” for this viewpoint, but a) that word has come to mean something entirely different, re: a hobby or occupation, and b) it sounds pretty douchey.  It all sounds douchey, to be honest — far flung speculation about what the future might look like when real people are suffering in the present.  If there’s a paramount rule of science-fiction, it’s that humans are terrible at predicting what the future is going to look like and science-fiction writers more terrible than most.

But we’re good at telling you what we’re afraid of — and the things we’re afraid of can’t help but shape our politics.

Mine have mostly to do with post-scarcity and automation.  I think the gradual dissolution of capitalism is the goal.  I think a suite of social programs are needed to combat the rise of a robotic labor force: free healthcare, free housing, Universal Basic Income (or some equivalent workaround).  I think post-scarcity is closer than we think and maybe it’s already here.  (To a Victorian, we’re already post-scarcity with our abundant food and efficient distribution networks.)  I think ignoring these ideas will ensure the destruction of our social institutions and way of life.

What the hell do you call that… ?  Pre-post scarcity-ism?

Suggestions welcome.