# Post scarcity **URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-scarcity/972517 **Category:** Great Debates **Created:** [September 30, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-scarcity/972517 "2022-09-30T18:32:16Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 2
### Author: ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh) #### Post date: [September 30, 2022, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-scarcity/972517/2 "2022-09-30T19:35:35Z")
When vacuum cleaners and dishwashers were invented, the inventors expected people to spend less time cleaning, and more time on artistic and intellectual pursuits. What did people do? They decided that they wanted cleaner stuff. So they spent the same amount of time cleaning as they had before. I don’t believe in post-scarcity economies, for the same reason I don’t believe in perpetual motion machines. Resources are finite, and thermodynamics limits how efficiently they can be used. There will never be enough raw materials, and there will always be too much garbage. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/post-scarcity/972517)._