Understanding Post-scarcity 
Autor: Luiz Pagano | Publicado: 2013-04-30T14:40:00-07:00

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Thirsty Romildo (fictional character) by the 'sororoca'



Romildo, an engineer
at the service of an oil company was sailing in a boat that sank while
investigating the leak of contaminants in the Solimões River, in the middle of
the Amazon rainforest.


leia este artigo em Português


Romildo did not drink
water afraid that the water was poisoned, and after three days, when the
rescuers arrived realized that Romildo was almost dead, leaning on a
phenakospermum guianensis, commonly known by locals as 'Sororoca'.



Romildo had no idea
that the plant that served as a shelter during the whole time he was thirstily living in a hot rainforest was a perfect source of clean water. The leaves of the sororoca,
supported by long and strong petioles, arranged in the form of an array of fans
accumulate and purify water, forming a perfect natural filter and reservoir.



The surviving history
of Romildo makes us understand what are the mechanisms of 'post-scarcity':



- 1st stage of
'post-scarcity', the basics - If Romildo had the knowledge of an experienced
woodsman, he could have been benefited from water, plants and insects that were
around him, and could have come out the situation perfectly hydrated and
nourished;



- 2nd stage of
'post-scarcity', state of the art - If Romildo had the accumulated knowledge of
a 'bushman' added to a 'chef' and a 'physician', he not only would have eaten
delicious dishes such as a soup of toast larvae, tucupi and jambu, but also
would have reduced his usual high level of blood cholesterol.



- 3rd stage of
'post-scarcity', plenitude of use - If Romildo had a relatively perfect base of
knowledge (conceptual condition of plenitude in post-scarcity scenario) he would
have had as much delight and moments of rare pleasure in the middle of jungle, and
also could have got out of there millionaire. May be because he dedicated himself
to a rich gold deposit, or have studied the use of a handful of native plants
combined to make a tonic compound with the purpose of increasing the average
life expectancy of mankind in 220 years.



Currently, our
civilization is experiencing a stage of shortage (just prior to the first stage
in the example cited above) where a relatively small group of people takes
improperly advantage of resources around, and the vast majority feels impaired:

- A brilliant musician who opted for a life of crimes because he needed urgent money to feed his family, dies in a police confrontation. He was unable to use his&nbsp;potential&nbsp;talent because of the misuse of knowledge and proper attitudes;



- A victim of cancer
dies because he had no access to a remedy made out&nbsp;of the toxins of a particular
type of spider that lives in the garden of his own house;



- A postal clerk fails
to bring to market a revolutionary software, able to share information on the
newest achievements of science because their low self-esteem did not allowed
him to quit his secure job to devote to the project;



Here are dramatic
examples of how the era of scarce is harmful to the planet and should be
tackled immediately.



In a post-scarcity the
classic definition of economics would change from - allocation of scarce
resources to unlimited needs - to - conscious use of unlimited resources for
all needs.
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