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Simp Of Human Progress's avatar

Might be controversial to some but to me it's a timely reminder that true liberty begins with duty not freedoms.

And btw I inboxed you something.

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Steve  Bull's avatar

I increasingly believe that much of our supposed ‘freedoms’ have an energetic foundation. When we can replace human and animal labour with technology powered by other means, a variety of ‘freedoms’ arise (but also some things that reduce ‘freedom’, depending on one’s perspective). With our leveraging of hydrocarbons—especially cheap and easily transportable oil—quite a number of ‘freedoms’ arrived. As we increasingly encounter diminishing returns on this source of energy ‘slaves’, it seems inevitable that a number of ‘freedoms’ will be lost; especially with a ruling elite that will want to ensure their share of a contracting economy remains secure. The rise of authoritarianism in complex societies appears to go hand-in-hand with resource depletion via diminishing returns and the elites fighting to preserve their revenue streams.

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