...for Luddites.
I saw a review in the local fishwrap for this book, breathlessly explaining in loving detail how our lives will become so much better when the cost of moving around becomes prohibitive; how, at $8 per gallon, airlines will disappear; at $14 a gallon, Walmart will cease to exist and so on until we reach the liberal utopia of, I suppose, a horse-and-cart economy, locally grown foodstuffs and so on...
So, if you live in an area where you can't actually grow food, or grow cotton, or live near the bio tech companies that produce modern medicines, then I guess you're fucked. Because if the cost of movement is prohibitive, you're not going to be able to leave - and what do we have then? A mass die-off, aka an environmentalist's wet dream. And it looks like the author is cool with that.
Look, it's quite simple really: the lower the cost of energy, the cheaper the goods you need are. The cheaper the necessities, the more time and money you have to devote to pursuing happiness and thus the higher the standard of living. As energy costs increase, so does EVERYTHING, since energy is required to grow, manufacture and transport everything we use, wear and eat. People will not be happier or better off when the majority of their time and sweat goes to just staying alive, even if the environmentalists insist "it's for their own good".
Tell me again why capitalism's so evil?
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