Hmm,... in Energy and the Wealth of Nations: Understanding the Biophysical Economy, Hall and Klitgaard point out that the exponential growth shown after the turn of the 20th century correlates clearly to our use (aka depletion) of earth’s “cheap” stocks of fossil fuel energy. All the positive points you mention...
Our whole system currently depends on it…food, water, living in high-density cities…. Take cheap oil out of this equation and we are all in for a very, very, nasty surprise. Any good engineer can tell you that.
Sure, we are bad news biased (evolutionary smart), but we are also biased with a very strong preference for the current state. Most of us cannot (or don’t want to) think outside of the current frame and avoid change.
History is filled with many painful examples of nations and people who didn’t see change coming in time.
