Post scarcity is physically impossible as it assumes infinite energy, infinite space-time, and no entropy generation. Whereas in reality its the opposite, the most energy, resources, and thermodynamic headroom mankind can ever have access to is based on the co-moving light cone centred on Earth.
We’re already a post scarcity society by the way an ancient peasant would measure it
We have so much food available that it’s a problem that poor people suffer from eating too much
It’s easier and more convenient to throw electronics, clothing, and furniture away than to bother repairing them
I wouldn’t bend over to pick up a quarter, even though it could buy me a day’s rice or flour
Once we’ve moved industry into space, we could well be ten or a hundred times as wealthy as this. Maybe employment will only be something for overachievers in that distant future
By that standard, we’re already living in a fantastical utopia by the way an ancient peasant would measure it, yet lots of folks in this thread are dissatisfied. Why do you think that is?
I disagree. One of the largest industries right now is creating demand. People being content with what they have is an economic problem. A significant amount of consumption is simply socio-economic signaling and zero-sum games that have little correlation to the finite nature of resources.
There is little the average person truly wants that we cannot provide.
What if more than half the people want to be above average? By definition it’s impossible to fulfill that, now or a billion years in the future. Let alone all the other intellectual, spiritual, emotional, and materialistic desires that will inevitably grow.
You are assuming people have fixed minds, and wants never expand to fill the available resources.
I talked about that. People who want to be above average aren't looking for resources, they're looking for social signifiers. There is zero reason these signifiers have to actually use a lot of resources. It's easy to set it up that way, but it doesn't have to.
I never assumed people have fixed minds. People have complex and ambitious minds. But largely these ambitions are social, and not material. Even "materialistic" desires are rarely about the actual material, they are almost always about the social significance of the material.
‘ It's easy to set it up that way, but it doesn't have to.’
Regardless of how perfect the ‘setup’ the remaining materialistic desires will continue to expand as population and technological capacity grows. There is no known force that can completely extirpate such desires. Since there is no upper limit, all available mass-energy will inevitably be utilized given enough time. You are arguing that such a progression can be delayed, I agree. Perhaps a delay is possible up to millions of years but that’s just shifting the timeframe.
For example, I’m fairly certain I’ve encountered someone that genuinely wants an actual Star Trek like spaceship for their personal use, with a minimal social signalling component.
Even if there’s only 10000 such folks on Earth, that already represents vastly more industrial output than real policy makers can even dream of realizing. Let along the current and future desires of everyone else.
Not everything imaginable is realizable.