Abstract:
In his critique of my essay ‘Gifting Economies’, Andy Scerri neglects to consider that ‘the massive complexity of globalising society’ is only a result of non-renewable fossil fuel energies, and that these polluting energies have concrete limits before decline is inevitable. Energy – its availability, use and dissemination – determines whether a society is complex, simple or somewhere in between. The political process always plays second fiddle to energy. We build our political, intellectual, financial and social systems around what energies are available – water, sunlight, soil fertility, food and wind. It is only in recent times that fossil fuels – particularly ancient trapped sunlight – have extended our definition of what energy means and has enabled humans to think we can live beyond limits. This is momentary delusion.
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