Singing the nation electric, part 2: post-oil democracy

Before fossil fuels and industrial machinery transformed the way goods and services were produced, all societies had an energy problem. Some wind power and hydropower was used, but the main energy sources were humans and animals. For the powers-that-were, slavery and serfdom were convenient ways to ensure an adequate supply of human-sourced energy. What will happen when fossil fuels are no longer available; will the global elite be in a position to reimpose serfdom and slavery?

…As long as the fossil fuels hold out, the global elite can continue their reign and expansion without enslaving vast numbers of people. The legitimacy of the system can be maintained, because even a billion people in China and a billion in India can still hope that they can join the post-slave automobile-centered society that the United States pioneered. Meanwhile, the food, manufactured goods, energy, credit, housing, transportation, and security will be controlled by an ever more focused group of institutions.

But as fossil fuels begin to run out, the global empires will suffer the same fate as other empires that ran low on energy, such as Rome; they will begin to collapse, as economies become more localized for lack of fuel. Whether huge cargo ships can keep plying the seas without fossil fuels is doubtful, so no matter what they do, a truly global economy may be difficult to uphold; but more locally, if history is any guide, the national/regional elites will do everything in their power to hold on. And with much less energy to work with, they will try to drive down the standards of living and choices of the vast majority of the population and try to keep their local empires going with a new kind of serfdom.

Sanders Research Associates