This is a stupid quote from a very stupid article. If and when we run out of energy there will be massive changes to society and the world's population could be reduced by billions.
However, among the many reasons that slavery went away is because it is so hugely energy inefficient. It takes a lot more energy for manual labor to harvest a field of potatoes than it does for a mechanized combine. You need to run a diesel combine for a few _seconds_ to harvest as much as a slave could in a day.
If (and this is a Big If) energy gets scarce efficiency will matter even more. Slaves are inefficient. If massive human slavery makes a comeback it will be for tyrannical reasons, not energy reasons.
on December 4, 2009 10:17 AM
This is a stupid quote from a very stupid article. If and when we run out of energy there will be massive changes to society and the world's population could be reduced by billions.
However, among the many reasons that slavery went away is because it is so hugely energy inefficient. It takes a lot more energy for manual labor to harvest a field of potatoes than it does for a mechanized combine. You need to run a diesel combine for a few _seconds_ to harvest as much as a slave could in a day.
If (and this is a Big If) energy gets scarce efficiency will matter even more. Slaves are inefficient. If massive human slavery makes a comeback it will be for tyrannical reasons, not energy reasons.