A few days ago, transhumanist author and politician Zoltan Istvan had an article published on The Maven titled "Transhumanism is Under Siege from Socialism." It was there that he stated, "Transhumanists must favor the free world and free market to make its movement as powerful and successful as possible," and must equally "be on their guard against [socialism]." I disagree - at least when it comes to the free market.

If anything, the transhumanist movement needs socialism if it wishes to survive the enormous social transformation(s) that'll arise due to proliferated automation.

Although Zoltan and I largely agree on many topics relating to transhumanism, our disagreements derive from our ideological perceptions of the movement as a whole. While I'm a dues-paying member of the Democratic Socialists of America and officer of the U.S. Transhumanist Party, Zoltan is a left-leaning libertarian who recently ran for Governor of California under the Libertarian Party ticket.

And in this new article of his, our disagreements couldn't be any clearer. Let me try to break them down:

History of Transhumanism

Zoltan correctly admits that "transhumanism is turning left after years of being known as a libertarian-minded movement." This is because the prominent demographic adopting modern-day transhumanism is the youth, and over the last couple of years, polls have shown that the majority of today's youth view socialism quite favorably.

What Zoltan conveniently neglects to mention, however, is that the history of transhumanism doesn't start with the libertarian Extropians of the late '80s and early '90s; rather, its origin story goes all the way back to what was known as Russian Cosmism - a philosophical and cultural movement of the early 20th century. From Nikolai Fyodorov to Vladimir Vernadsky, its members, however few in numbers they were at that time, not only discussed topics such as radical life extension but were also quite socially progressive, believing that a transhumanist future would be post-capitalist by nature.

Yes, a lot of those ideals were introduced to the Western world by visionary libertarians near the end of the 20th century, but after a few decades of growth, the transhumanist movement, as reluctantly admitted by Zoltan himself, is swaying back to its roots. And rightfully so.

Robber-Baron "Philanthropy"

Both Zoltan and I have also been sounding off the alarms when it comes to accelerating automation in the workforce, to which will result in mass technological unemployment. In response, we've both advocated for variations of a basic income system. Where we disagree, however, is in the method of funding and delivering basic income.

Zoltan is an advocate of what is known as a "federal land dividend," whereby a selection of federal land would be leased off to private businesses in the hopes of figuring out ways to monetize that land and fund a "universal basic income" for each and every person regardless of their class status. He states that, in doing so, we'd be giving the land "back to the American people," but in truth, will be handed over to private businesses, thereby exploiting the land for profitable gain.

I, on the other hand, am an advocate of funding a "basic income guarantee" via a combination of corporate tax increases and profit sharing. This guarantee would specifically target people living under the poverty line, rather than each and every person regardless of their class status. Thus, ensuring those who need the income receive higher amounts, as opposed to less to accommodate millions of people who don't actually require financial assistance. Not to mention, no extra land would go the way of private property and exploited for profit accumulation.

Though, to be fair, Zoltan's plan would also require those businesses to eventually return the land in its original condition. However, his faith in today's business leaders doing the right thing for the betterment of all is a bit naive. He even goes as far as saying that, "Ultimately, I believe the so-called One Percent—the very richest of society—don’t desire to leave the rest of the world behind."

Zoltan justifies this belief with examples of entrepreneurial philanthropy, from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to Mark Zuckerberg's multi-billion dollar donation to eradicate all diseases by the end of the 21st century. And while I do recognize and appreciate these business leaders' sense of urgency in building a better future, their altruistic veils are beginning to reveal cracks.

More specifically, remnants of robber-baron capitalism have manifested within their business practices when it comes to worker's rights. Yes, tech entrepreneurs, like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson, want to eradicate disease and democratize space travel. Unfortunately, there's one other thing these three have in common: Union busting!

From Tesla to Amazon to Virgin Galactic, workers within these industries are being exploited with no relief in sight. Historically speaking, the right to collectively bargain in America was popularized by socialists on the frontlines fighting against child labor, low income, and terrible working conditions during the industrial revolution. And now that another industrial revolution is underway, unions are more important than ever.