The non-virtual elephant in Paul Mason’s postcapitalist sharing-economy room | Letters
by Letters from on (#F0TE)
Since I can't sprinkle Wikipedia on my porridge, clothe myself with an open-source pattern for jeans, or access the internet by data alone, I'm puzzled about Paul Mason's postcapitalist proto-utopia (Welcome to a new way of living, Review, 18 July).
How does he propose dealing with the non-virtual elephant in the middle of his sharing economy: ie that the means of production - the factories, mines, farms and power plants that make the stuff we need and use - are all owned by someone who expects payment? Is the missing detail to his argument the abolition of private property? Because surely it would take that, even to access the internet and its wealth of data for free, and be clothed, housed, etc.
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