The Terminal Contradictions
AI as Capitalism’s Final Crisis
Artificial intelligence amplifies capitalism’s core
contradictions by pushing the fictitious commodification of social life and
creativity to its limits. Building on Polanyi, AI platforms convert previously
uncommodified spheres—such as creative expression, micro-interactions, and even
affective labor—into datafied, monetizable assets. As generative models mimic
and monetize social relations and creativity, the boundaries of what can be
sold are effaced, resulting in heightened alienation and the dissolution of
authentic human exchange in favor of extractive platforms.
Simultaneously, when applied at scale, AI transforms the
cost structure of entire industries. With the marginal cost of producing
software, digital content, and design services approaching zero, the profit
logic on which capitalism depends evaporates. The price mechanism, which
allocates resources under scarcity, is rendered obsolete in AI-mediated
post-scarcity contexts. Sectors that once relied on labor as the source of
value and social mediation are hollowed out. This trend accelerates Marx’s
“tendency of the rate of profit to fall”—as labor is eliminated, surplus value
disappears, and capital loses its valorization process.
Ultimately, AI exposes the fiction of market universality:
when everything becomes a good and the cost of production collapses, neither
prices nor profit can coordinate or justify ongoing accumulation. This brings
the capitalist system to a terminal impasse, requiring not reform, but a
foundational social overhaul.
Foundational Pillars of a
Post-Capitalist Model
|
Core Principle |
Departure from
Capitalism |
Basis in Economic
Thought |
|
Decommodification
of Basic Necessities |
Ensures universal
access regardless of market participation; directly negates fictitious
commodification of life. |
Universal Basic
Services (UBS), Eco-Socialists |
|
The Commons as Default Infrastructure |
Replaces
profit-motivated ownership with shared resource governance; solves market
allocation’s redundancy post-scarcity. |
Elinor
Ostrom, Commons Theory |
|
Participatory,
Plural Value Metrics |
Multidimensional
contribution replaces profit as the organizing principle; revitalizes purpose
after price collapse. |
Participatory
Economics (Albert & Hahnel), Polanyi |
Institutional & Operational
Blueprint
The Resource & Production System
A dual model, “The Circular Commons,” allocates essentials
through a state-backed Universal Basic Services (UBS) framework: all have
access to food, shelter, health, information, and education as unconditional
rights. Surplus and specialized goods are provided via collaboratively managed,
AI-driven open platforms where communities—rather than markets or traditional
firms—steer resource flow and innovation. AI automates logistics, distribution,
and production, optimizing for accessibility, sustainability, and circularity
instead of profit.
The Meaning & Governance System
Purpose and belonging are structured through “Multiform
Contribution Tracking” systems that recognize care, creativity, and civic
engagement as core social values. A network of deliberative citizen assemblies,
selected by sortition, sets norms, priorities, and oversees resource
distribution. AI supports, but does not supplant, participatory deliberation,
ensuring transparency, plural voice measurement, and adaptive feedback
mechanisms. Social standing and access to collaborative projects derive from
demonstrated engagement across recognized domains, not labor-market competition
or accumulation.
The Post-Scarcity Social Contract:
A Draft Constitution for a
Post-Capitalist Commonwealth (Circa 2045)
Preamble
We, inheritors of an era that saw every facet of life
commodified and the edifice of market logic brought low by its own
technologies, affirm the necessity of a new social covenant. The spread of
artificial intelligence rendered obsolete the core mechanisms of
capitalism—price, profit, and wage—while exposing the alienation and insecurity
at its heart. We therefore, in recognition of the abundance created and the
collective creativity of humanity, establish this Commonwealth to guarantee
dignity, flourishing, and participation for all.
Article 1: Fundamental Guarantees
All residents are entitled, as inviolable rights:
- To
the unconditional provision of basic necessities, including sustenance,
shelter, healthcare, education, and information access.
- To
contribute meaningfully to society through creativity, care, and civic
engagement, with such plurality of effort recognized as valuable.
- To
direct participation in deliberative governance, ensuring all voices shape
the collective future.
Article 2: Economic Architecture
The production, allocation, and stewardship of essential
goods and services shall be managed through a universal framework of public
guarantees. The abundance generated by artificial intelligence shall be
administered through democratic, commons-based institutions, optimizing for
equitable access, sustainability, and circular feedback. Surplus goods and
innovation beyond necessity shall be organized through peer-managed,
open-source platforms, continually adapted to common needs.
Article 3: Civic Architecture
Societal purpose and oversight shall be vested in assemblies
constituted by sortition, ensuring representative deliberation without
monopolization by expert or elite classes. Recognition and rewards for social
contribution shall stem from transparent, pluralistic systems capturing a
diversity of engagements—caregiving, creative pursuit, knowledge-making, and
civic participation—guaranteeing both autonomy and social connection. All
governance processes shall remain open, adaptive, and responsive to the evolving
values of the Commonwealth.
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