Some more thoughts on system V, mainly focusing on economic and political aspects.
The V economy is so advanced that sentient beings typically live in a state of total digital abundance, and usually material abundance, too. Technology is so advanced that the distinction between dreams and reality becomes quite blurred. If you can dream it up, chances are that it can happen easily.
Of course, entities can live in virtual realities in which they can live in excessive superabundance without any problems. When it comes to the material reality, there’s still a high level of abundance, but it’s not absolute. In most cases, you won’t be confronted with the existence of money and reputation indices, because the economy is so advanced and automatic that you don’t need to worry about these things! They are still there, is the background, doing their magic to grease the economy, but their role is reduced to the equivalent of simple metabolic processes keeping the human body alive. Human consciousness doesn’t concern itself with such basic matters – which doesn’t mean that it couldn’t, but there’s usually no need for that.
All basic needs are being taken care of, pretty much automatically. If you want some material good, just use the next replicator / dispenser / materializer / grey good pool / nanobot cloud and make it, unless it’s unreasonably large. You won’t easily be able to materialize a mountain of gold, but why would you – unless it’s an art project, in which case, it might work anyway.
But anyway, the V economy is crazy advanced, like it’s so automatic that it continuously scans your thoughts and suggests better thoughts (if you allow that), because better thoughts are better at maximizing value. Like, you want to eat ice cream, but no, the suggester symbiont in your mind tells you that a super-artistic hyper-experimental ice cream that nobody has tasted before, because well, why not (and the entity designing that ice cream wants to have feedback, and everyone else wants a copy of the experience of eating that ice cream)? It also solves 20 mathematical problems in the process in a way you cannot even begin to fathom, unless you augment your mind and download some crazy mathematical knowledge. The V economy aims for extreme synergy, because that is better at maximizing value. Of course, you could shut off the suggestions, but why would you? The suggestions are often super awesome, and even better than what you wanted in the first place. Human volition is overrated anyway. Instead of being like advertisement, which often makes your decisions worse, system V is even more intrusive (but people accept that, because it’s super awesome), but it makes your decisions better.
The V economy is so advanced that desires automatically create autonomous companies that aim to fulfil your wishes. You won’t be aware of that process (unless you explicitly want to). You just want something, and a few moments later you want what you have. This is true no matter whether you want digital goods, material goods, or services, or even some minor political change. The AI and distributed intelligence of the system is just so great that it makes it possible – for about anyone.
What if you want to have something totally excessive? Like a death star? Then you suggester will suggest something better, like a super great spaceship. But it won’t belong to you, but will be co-used by a large number of other people, which doesn’t make it less awesome, but even more. What if you mute your suggester? Then you will probably be contacted by an economic agent who explains to you why your idea is excessive or inappropriate. If you still insist, that agent may tell you what you might do to get your stupid death star in exchange. It may work, but it would be very hard and time consuming, in total contrast to the near instant wish fulfilment of more reasonable desires.
Now let’s come to V politics. The basis of V politics is that everything is voluntary by default. If you agree with laws and regulations that’s voluntary. You get rewarded for agreeing with certain laws and regulations. The full magic of the V economy doesn’t work for people who refuse to follow any laws – which is actually a very effective incentive to subscribe to those laws. Because laws are voluntary, territorial polities have lost their power. Instead, you subscribe to voluntary polities which can coexist in the same space. How these polities organize themselves is also a matter of the rules and laws they give to themselves. if you don’t like them, make your own polity with rules and laws that suit your needs and desires better.
There’s a problem in that these rules and laws can become crazily complex. Either you merge with a lawyer symbiont, or you switch to a polity that has less complex rules and laws.
Also, system V is extremely peaceful (otherwise this coexisting polity stuff and voluntariness of subscription to laws wouldn’t really work). How this peace is actually maintained is a difficult question that I will address sometime later.