[...] Let's just say this technology is freely accessible to everyone. The poor, the rich, the destitute, you and me. I was thinking what would happen once humanity reaches a point where the acquisition of unlimited resources would not be a problem. No more wars fighting over who gets the most petrol or who controls which natural mineral mines. Our current economic model--capitalism will cease to exist because a scarcity based economy wouldn't exist anymore.
How do you think this would affect humanity as a whole if this technology were to come into fruition?
I'm not sure it would be that simple; chances are that you would also need a stupendous amount of energy to get those things working - I mean, it's basically capable of transmuting matter at will, which doesn't come cheap.
Assuming you can somehow cover the energy costs (say, through widespread fusion power perhaps), the next obstacle I see working to keep scarcity in place would be people's mentality. So for example, a lot of the fighting over oil isn't over access, but rather control - that is, restricting access to others. Is humanity prepared to overcome this mentality to reach the post-scarcity world that that technology would allow?
