Civilisation, Slavery and Fossil Fuels
The energy the world currently gets from fossil fuels is equivalent to having 22 billion slaves working for us. That's around three slaves for every person on earth, without taking into account that the Western world uses a hugely disproportionate share of the earth's resources, whilst many people in the developing world have no access to fossil fuel energy.
It is often claimed that the world is more 'civilised' than it has ever been. Yet this civilisation - the proliferation of leisure time, urbanisation, nation-states, the arts, and service industries, is built on the exploitation of energy that took millions of years to develop beneath the earth's crust. It has taken us less than 300 years to use the majority of this energy. Our 'civilisation', as we proudly call it, has been built upon making our mother earth into our slave.
Thinking back into the past, many so-called 'civilisations' were built on the energy of slaves. The Greek civilisation endorsed slavery as a necessary part of household life, as did the Roman Empire. The pyramids of the Ancient Egyptians were built by slaves.
Even the prosperity of America, now reliant upon fossil fuels, was initially built on the backs of African slaves. The British Empire also relied on this slave trade for its riches.
As fossil fuels start to run out, the world will rapidly change. Much of the energy we use is poured into food production. As oil, coal, and gas disappear, a greater and greater number of people will have to work the land, bringing back to it real fertility rather than the cancerous, excessive growth of death made possible by herbicides, pesticides, and chemical 'fertiliser'.
Can any society built upon slavery call itself a civilisation? Or is slavery always an inherent part of civilised life?
