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K_Kelly
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27 Nov 2016, 9:27 am

I'm getting some mixed ideas about the future of society.

I have heard some propose that we will be in a society where competition doesn't exist. But that sounds depressing. Why?

Do you think competition will exist in the future of society? I think of dystopia whenever I think of the word future.



naturalplastic
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27 Nov 2016, 9:46 am

Not clear as to what you are talking about.

Its not obvious to me why anyone would think that there would be "no competition" in a near future, and even if there were "no competition" its not obvious why that would be bad. But it all depends upon what you mean by "competition" , and in what areas of life you're talking about having "competition".

The trend toward globalization increases economic competition.

Recent political shifts (like the Brexit vote, and the election of Trump) are largely about retreating from globalization. So might auger a new time of protectionism and decreased economic competition.



techstepgenr8tion
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27 Nov 2016, 10:12 am

Lack of competition is impossible. We're biological organisms vying for mating rights and we're never happy unless we've established some kind of pecking order where we've decided who's qualitatively at the top, whose at the bottom, and whose somewhere in the middle.

If we go to a society where our every material need is taken care of none of that will change and as usual we'd have to invent games to create in-groups and out-groups. Life in general would be richer if we used the new-found free time wisely but it could just as easily turn really sour if we can't come to grips with what we are and moderate our heirarchy-making tendencies in a healthy manner.

I think this is also one of the key areas where Marxists really got things terribly wrong - ie. they didn't pay any heed to what Darwin was saying.


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