In his famous book of the 1950s, The Affluent Society, John Kenneth Galbraith presented a Utopian view of the longer term during which the necessity to figure would be reduced to four hours each day and wealth would be far more equally shared between those that chose to figure and people who opted for a lifetime of leisure. Now Paul Mason has produced an overview of the method by which this could be realised. Extrapolating from current trends, notably the growing abundance of 'free stuff' on the web , and taking full account of the approaching crises of global climate change , increase and increasing longevity, he explains how capitalism, just like the proverbial old soldier, won't die but merely dissolve .
Galbraith drew upon the work of anthropologists who estimated that primitive man, living as a hunter gatherer, needed to spend about four hours each day in search of food. within the modern age, with increasing use of automation, Galbraith foresaw a future during which man would once more expend only four hours in search of his daily bread. Now, after the explosive growth in personal computing and therefore the internet, Paul Mason can see more clearly how this transformation might happen . the primary step within the process is that the universal availability of free knowledge through websites like Wikipedia. Knowledge which has cost much to supply can now be obtained by all who need it at zero additional cost.
Mason sees a trend by which more and more information, services and products become abundant to the purpose where their end cost reduces to zero. this is often described as a economy that grows alongside a diminishing free enterprise . Large enterprises that are supported cheap labour would be forced by legislation to become 'high-wage, high growth, technology economic models.' And if this sounds too radical, Mason points to business models which are outlawed within the past like those based upon slavery and child labour.
Mason warns against the danger of capitalists creating monopolies as a defense mechanism against postcapitalism. The creation of monopolies must be resisted and rules against price fixing strictly enforced. Where a monopoly could also be essential, like during a industry , it should be taken into public ownership. He argues that providing services like water, energy, housing, transport, healthcare, telecoms infrastructure and education, at cost price, socially, would be a strategic act of redistribution vastly simpler than raising real wages.
Mason follows Galbraith in advocating that everybody should be paid a basic income, although he's relatively less generous to the unemployed. Galbraith proposed that those that prefer to remain unemployed should receive about 90 percent of the income of these working, while Mason advocates a universal basic income of only one-third of the wage . So, although Mason plots a useful course towards Utopia, Galbraith might feel that there was still how to travel .
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