I agree that cheap energy is vital, but I would argue that my statement is still true and that cheap energy is part of capitalism. It is, no pun intended, the oil the allows the free market capitalist machine to run. It starts with cheap energy, but having cheap energy alone is useless and doesn't lift anyone out of poverty. It's the cheap energy that enterprises can build upon that lifts people out of poverty.
> Remove capitalism, and industrialized society will still limp along, in a relatively prosperous manner compared to centuries past.
Barley limp along, maybe. As I mentioned above cheap energy alone is pretty much useless. North Korea has cheap energy, they aren't doing very well. Japan has cheap energy, and they are doing fantastic. The USSR had cheap energy, there were still bread lines. There has been no other institution, other than capitalism, that is done more to lift mass quantities of people out of poverty in such a short period of time. That said I do whole hardheartedly agree that cheap energy is the foundation and that if cheap energy goes away there will be millions of people that will die (but that is true weather a nation is capitalist or not).
> Remove capitalism, and industrialized society will still limp along, in a relatively prosperous manner compared to centuries past.
Barley limp along, maybe. As I mentioned above cheap energy alone is pretty much useless. North Korea has cheap energy, they aren't doing very well. Japan has cheap energy, and they are doing fantastic. The USSR had cheap energy, there were still bread lines. There has been no other institution, other than capitalism, that is done more to lift mass quantities of people out of poverty in such a short period of time. That said I do whole hardheartedly agree that cheap energy is the foundation and that if cheap energy goes away there will be millions of people that will die (but that is true weather a nation is capitalist or not).