A speculative political and economic idea that argues advanced technology—especially automation, artificial intelligence, and abundant renewable energy—could eliminate scarcity for many basic goods and services, allowing society to provide high living standards for everyone rather than just an elite few. Instead of communism being associated with austerity or forced equality, it imagines a future of material abundance: free healthcare, housing, education, transportation, and cultural access, combined with dramatically reduced work hours. The “luxury” part emphasizes that the goal isn’t mere survival, but flourishing—time for art, play, research, and community. In this vision, robots and automated systems produce most necessities, while humans focus on creative and social pursuits.
The term was popularized by Fully Automated Luxury Communism, written by Aaron Bastani in 2019. Bastani drew from earlier strands of Marxism, post-scarcity science fiction, and tech-optimist futurism, arguing that developments like solar energy, vertical farming, 3D printing, and AI could make near-zero-cost production possible. The phrase blends socialist politics with Silicon Valley–style accelerationism, reframing leftist economics around abundance rather than redistribution alone. In short, it’s a future-oriented attempt to answer: if machines can do most work, why shouldn’t everyone live well?