Shostak's attitudes toward future ecconomies, societies, and technological capability are humorously provincial and apparently self-serving.
An endless source of chuckles for me is what I call the "future of the past". I love the futuristic cities of the 60's as seen from the 30's. Or the year 2001 as mis-envisioned by Arthur C. Clarke. It's amazing that we always miss the really big life-changers. Computers would get bigger and bigger. We'd have flying cars (can you just IMAGINE some bonehead flying his car over your house eating a sandwich, talking on his cellphone and smoking a cigarette). A meal would be a simple pill. So interstellar human space travel? Who the heck knows? What we currently know about the fabric of the universe precludes it, but I hope we're not through learning (unless Chris Buttars becomes NASA administrator).