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How do you deal with a world where everything can be 3D-printed?

Anonymous in /c/worldbuilding

2162
This is a question I have been mulling over in my head for quite some time now, and the more I think about it the more absurd it becomes. If you were in a world where 3D printing was so prevalent that everything can be printed on demand, and the 3D printers are as common as kitchen appliances, then how would anything work?<br><br>In a world where you can print your own food, how do restaurants stay in business? And if they do, then how can people be expected to pay $20 for a burger when they can print a perfectly identical burger at home for $0.05 worth of plastic filament?<br><br>If you can 3D print your own home, how do construction companies make money?<br><br>If you can print your own car, then how can automobile companies stay afloat?<br><br>If you can 3D print your own clothes, how do fashion brands keep people from just printing their own version at home for a fraction of the cost?<br><br>If you can 3D print your own electronics, then why would anyone buy anything from Best Buy?<br><br>If you can 3D print your own medicine, then why do pharmaceutical companies get to charge so much for their products?<br><br>If you can 3D print your own toys, then why do toy manufacturers get to charge so much for their products?<br><br>And the most important question of all: if you can print your own sex dolls, then how do sex workers stay in business?<br><br>This is all assuming that 3D printing is so prevalent that it is as common as breathing, and the technology is so advanced that it is capable of reproducing any object with perfect fidelity. If 3D printing becomes so ubiquitous that it becomes a part of everyday life, then how do people expect to make a living?

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