#1615 Envisioning a Leftist Economic Future of Postcapitalism, High-Tech Automation, Universal Basic Income and a World (Mostly) Without Work (Throwback)
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 28 February 2026
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Original Air Date: 3-1-2024
We don't have to think too hard to understand the fears of a world in which work, and the ability of millions to support themselves, are lost to automation and artificial intelligence. But that is only a capitalist future in which the benefits of technological advancement are hoarded by the already-wealthy. Today we imagine a different path.
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SHOW NOTES
Introduction to Inventing the Future: Postcapitalism and a World Without Work by Nick Srnicek and Alex Williams
Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and other multinational corporations.
Ch. 3: The Two Futures Of Automation Capitalism VS Socialism - Second Thought - Air Date 12-15-21
With jobs being automated and handed off to machines at an ever-increasing pace, it's only natural to consider what our future will look like.
Ch. 4: Planet of the Robots: Four Futures of AI (Documentary) - 1Dime - Air Date 10-15-21
In this video we will be discussing automation, which is often confused with being the 'technological revolution' in it of itself as it is what the mainstream focuses on, and for good reason, as how we handle automation will determine the trajectory or co
Ch. 5: Universal Basic Income Explained (An Automation Solution) - Futurology - Air Date 5-28-24
With jobs being automated and handed off to machines at an ever-increasing pace, it's only natural to consider what our future will look like.
Ch. 6: The Two Futures Of Automation Capitalism VS Socialism Part 2 - Second Thought - Air Date 12-15-21
In this video we will be discussing automation, which is often confused with being the 'technological revolution' in it of itself as it is what the mainstream focuses on, and for good reason, as how we handle automation will determine the trajectory or co
Ch. 7: Universal Basic Income Explained (An Automation Solution) Part 2 - Futurology - Air Date 5-28-24
Since the demise of the USSR, the mantle of the largest planned economies in the world has been taken up by the likes of Walmart, Amazon and other multinational corporations.
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS:
Description: Photo of a patch on a backpack that says "What would you do if your income were taken care of?"
Credit: "Berlin UBI March" by Patrick Maynard, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this throwback edition of the award-winning Best of Left podcast, where we remember the past and choose to repeat it. |
| 0:09.7 | We're taking a bit of a vacation to recover from the winter darkness, but in our last new episode, we highlighted the scam at the heart of Silicon Valley. |
| 0:18.5 | Then in our previous throwback episode, we looked at the scam |
| 0:22.6 | culture permeating our economics and lives more broadly. So today, we thought we'd look back |
| 0:28.0 | on an episode with a positive framing of an economics the left is envisioning that includes |
| 0:33.6 | elements of high-tech innovation and automation, but with the benefits aimed at the |
| 0:38.9 | people rather than the powerful. |
| 0:41.2 | So to look back, but with an eye on the present, sources today include Dank Audio Stash, |
| 0:47.0 | Novara Media, Second Thought, One Dime, and Futurology. |
| 0:57.8 | Music and Futurology. Where did the future go? For much of the 20th century, the future held sway over our dreams. |
| 1:04.9 | On the horizons of the political left a vast assortment of emancipatory visions gathered, |
| 1:10.1 | often springing from the conjunction |
| 1:11.6 | of popular political power and the liberating potential of technology. From predictions of new |
| 1:17.4 | worlds of leisure, to Soviet-era cosmic communism, to Afro-Futurist celebrations of the synthetic |
| 1:23.5 | and diasporic nature of black culture, to post-gender dreams of radical feminism, the |
| 1:29.0 | popular imagination of the left envisaged societies vastly superior to anything we dream of |
| 1:34.4 | today. Through popular political control of new technologies, we would collectively transform |
| 1:40.1 | our world for the better. Today, on one level, these dreams appear closer than ever. |
| 1:46.2 | The technological infrastructure of the 21st century is producing the resources by which a very |
| 1:51.9 | different political and economic system could be achieved. Machines are accomplishing tasks |
| 1:57.7 | that were unimaginable a decade ago. The internet and social media are |
| 2:02.3 | giving a voice to billions who previously went unheard, bringing global participative democracy |
... |
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