Imagine a carbon nanotube replicator and garden in every home. It’s not sci-fi and will soon be possible. How fast we make the transition is entirely up to us.

What Is Universal Basic Means of Production (UBMoP)?
This term refers to the idea of providing every household with technology that allows people to produce things they need at home. This includes consumer goods such as clothes, food, building materials, etc. In a world where everyone produces as many of their consumable materials as possible, wealth and abundance would be wealth would be localized and the entire economy would be transformed.

In many ways, we can think of it as creating a decentralized means of production, although it’s not entirely decentralized. When you get right down to it, the whole point of a decentralized means of production is people working together to produce things they need. Not just some corporate “shareholder value” conference.

As technology advances, our current trade methods will shift. There is no getting around that. So, one answer to continue thriving through that shift is to pivot to a more localized, circular economy.

There are a lot of terms that describe a movement to eliminate trade or modern agriculture and bring the means of production back to the individual with the assistance of advanced personal technology. The concept is based on the idea that technology will provide every house with technology to make traditional agriculture and consumption unnecessary. The Zeitgeist Movement, The Venus Project, and Fully Automated Luxury Communism (a book by Aaron Bastani) are just a few.

The newest term — Universal Basic Means of Production — helps someone unfamiliar with the concepts to better imagine that world without clouding the idea with negative connotations from the past. So, what if instead of focusing so heavily on the idea of passing out money to individuals, we shift our focus to subsidizing 3D printers, local recycling centers for collecting plastic to make 3D printing filament when possible, and vertical gardens in homes and communities.

The Components of UBMoP

1. 3D Printing in UBMoP

The 3D printer we know and love right now will soon be made obsolete when scientists improve the first generation Star Trek replicator that has already been built.

In the meantime, however, subsidizing 3D printers right now will help reduce the cost of living for millions and boost the standard of living for billions of people worldwide. While it can do a lot of good for individuals, there is always a caveat. As people begin to consume less from standard production chains, businesses start to lose revenue.

So, to maximize the positive aspects and minimize the bad, we would need to perform a delicate balancing act and crunch the numbers. We have only just begun to see the effects of the pandemic lockdowns on the economy and supply chains. But, it will be a lesson in how we can change our consumption patterns without crashing the economy as we transition to a more sustainable society.

From the intelligent selection of investments in sustainable technology to the incentives that governments provide to safeguard infrastructure, we can gain a firm grip on the necessary long-term controls for shifting to an automated society and mitigating the risk to the livelihoods of the average person.

As ridiculous as it may sound, 3D printing will soon become a bit of antiquated technology with the advent of molecular factories. The concept is similar to 3D printing, but instead of using filament of various materials, the objects are assembled on the molecular level. A few examples of real-life molecular factories that are rising quickly. 

• Prometheus Fuels (formerly MatterShift) is perfecting the process of removing carbon molecules from the air to create gasoline and jet fuel.

• Elon Musk has partnered with German manufacturers to supply molecular factory machines to manufacture pharmaceuticals.

• BAE Systems is creating Chemputers to manufacture drones in a chemical vat that forms the drone components as one solid piece. In contrast to the current process of 3D printing and building them piece by piece, which can take months, chemputers offer a streamlined process that cuts production time to weeks.

When molecular factories come to the main stage in production, the economy as we know it is going to shift fundamentally.

2. The "Sharing Economy"

For decades, we've been familiar with businesses that rent everything from industrial equipment to medical mobility devices to cars. This concept is certainly not new. However, it has been picking up the pace in the last few years, and the major shift in the idea is who owns the items being loaned out.

Before, it was the businesses that invested in and owned these items. Now, the concept is moving to privately owned items. There are now apps for loaning out everything from clothes to cars to residential/commercial properties.

Open-source software is another excellent example of people who collectively pooled their resources to create something that is then given freely or sold to the public. This model has given rise to what has been dubbed the "Sharing Economy."

After all, why spend a large sum of money on a tool or object that you don't use very often? One great example of this would be lawn and garden equipment such as weedwhackers, lawnmowers, chainsaws, etc. These items can be collected and rented out when the community needs them. The owner of the item may make a small commission on each loan.

Scaling up this idea can keep money in consumers' pockets and give a small commission to the owner of the item. In time, the library can purchase the items, and all collected fees are reinvested into the UBMoP system.

3. Vertical Farming Methods

Vertical farming is a recent concept that emerged from the agricultural sciences. It is the cultivation of plants in vertical layers instead of expansive farms that lay horizontally across the land. This method is often used to grow food in a limited space. It can be considered as the future of agriculture. The best methods for vertical farming are aquaponics (fish and plants in a closed-loop system providing organic nutrients), hydroponics (using synthetic or natural nutrient solutions), and aeroponics (plants receiving nutrients through a fine spray misted on the roots).

When fresh produce is transported across state lines, many states require even organic produce to be sprayed with pesticides to prevent invasive species. Some products are still sprayed with pesticides even though they have an organic label. This defeats the purpose that most consumers are trying to achieve while also misleading them. If food does not need to be transported across state lines, not only does it reduce the carbon footprint of logistics, but it also eliminates the concern for transporting invasive pest species.

One of the advantages of vertical farming is its efficiency in producing food. Due to the nature of the methods, crops grown are high in yield. Vertical farms are known for their ability to produce high-quality, consistent crops. As compared to traditional farming, vertical farming prevents the crop from wilting or being destroyed by insects. Because of this, it can be considered more eco-friendly as it doesn't require pesticides, herbicides, or other harmful chemicals to keep the crops healthy. 

Furthermore, vertical farms are optimal for crowded conditions in urban areas. Due to the currently limited access to fresh, organic produce and other essential products, urban dwellers often find it hard to meet their basic needs. This can be very detrimental to the country's overall economy, as we are beginning to observe in the US.

Like current farming techniques, proper crop rotation and planning are vital to ensure a consistent flow of products available for consumption. This means that UBMoP facilities (combined with individual producers) will need to coordinate their planting and harvesting schedules to have a continuous supply of produce. However, unlike traditional farming techniques, the plants grow faster in a vertical farming setup. The significant advantage to this is it can make planning easier and more efficient.

When all factors are considered, there are many considerable advantages in using vertical farming systems. First, they are very efficient. They can maximize the yield from limited land. They also provide the users with more control over the quality of the harvest. Thanks to the controlled environment, using this type of system almost entirely eliminates the need to use harmful chemical pesticides.

If there is a breach in the environment that leads to an infestation of pests, remediation is much easier. Natural pesticides (such as neem and orange oils) work more effectively in a controlled environment. Therefore, the potent chemical pesticides currently used are not necessary.

Moreover, these systems allow for faster crop production than traditional farming methods. Finally, because produce begins to lose nutrients as soon as it is harvested, the food produced at UBMoP facilities will contain a much higher nutrient value than currently available. In many cases, consumers can have their produce within minutes or hours of harvest.

4. Waste & Recycling

The recycling of waste materials can reduce the strain on landfills, reduce air pollution, and promote job growth. However, the current methods used in the US to recycle waste are almost as unsustainable as the process that created these materials, to begin with.

Due to a lack of nearby recycling facilities or the facilities are at capacity and must reject new loads coming in, much of the recyclable materials that are collected are shipped around from region to region. We also often send waste to other parts of the world, and in doing so, defeat the purpose of using recycling as a way to reduce emissions. That's just plain absurdity.

With a UBMoP system, both large facilities and individuals can take local recycling to reuse it in innovative ways. The idea applies to much more than just plastic, though. Let me explain:

There are three types of recycling: primary, secondary, and tertiary recycling. Primary recycling (also known as closed-loop recycling) involves taking material and making more of the same material. For example, turning plastic bottles into more plastic bottles. Secondary recycling is taking something and turning it into something new but made of the same material, such as turning plastic bottles into a plastic comb. Lastly, tertiary recycling (also called chemical recycling) involves breaking down something and turning it into something new, like making bioplastic or compost from agricultural waste. 

UBMoP facilities will be zero-waste, which means every type of waste will be recycled in one way or another. And there are many ways to go about this. For example, plant waste can be turned into animal feed, biofuels, bioplastics, and even good old compost. Each one of these products can be sold to help sustain the facility. 

UBMoP Will Disrupt the Status Quo

If you're wondering about the implications of implementing UBMoP on a large scale, you are right to have your concerns. When this plan is put into action, immediate economic effects will lead to a fundamental shift in the global economy. Some sectors, like logistics, freight, warehouses, outlets, and other companies that support the mobilization of products worldwide, will suffer. Farms and the companies that support them will suffer, and the subsidies they receive will begin to dwindle. International trade will suffer. Many industries will suffer.

But that is the point. The fact of the matter is the sectors that are hit hardest by this plan were going to be battered anyway as automation accelerates under the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Bringing production back to a local level will help offset some of the impacts of these sectors' losses by leading to a shift in how and where people work and how they can thrive as the economy shifts.

The only way to eliminate the need for most types of trade is to create abundance for all. While some trade (raw materials or items that just cannot be produced locally) will still be necessary, the way we think of trade will fundamentally shift.

As technology advances, our current trade methods will shift. There is no getting around that. One answer to continue thriving through that shift is to pivot to a more localized, circular economy. And, Universal Basic Means of Production facilities achieve this.