Those examples of mass surveillance for oppression, despite the deep imprints they have left in history, are symptoms of an unsolved fundamental economic problem in the world: resource scarcity.
but the question for me arises whether scarcity is exclusively a problem? Without scarcity, much of the incentives that drive innovation, efficiency and performance would be gone. Scarcity is probably good and bad at the same time. Would you agree with that?
Some of life's biggest achievements have been made in the face of adversity such as cold, hunger and poverty. The saying goes "necessity is the mother of invention". It is ingrained in all of life to struggle for survival, not only of individuals, nor of mere groups or even species. All of life is connected, some commensalistic, others mutualistic and yes, there are also parasites. One could wonder, what is the reason life wants to survive? What is the next goal, if there is any? I do not know the big picture, and I too am a life form subject to survival instinct, therefore I can not objectively answer whether scarcity is good and bad at the same time.
You have to remember the majority of human's current world economy is based on infinite growth. The resources on earth are finite, therefore infinite growth is unsustainable.
The consumer in me says give me those GATCOINS