Dolack reviews the claims by Danish authorities that their country is leading the way to a future in which the world will transform its dependence on fossil fuels to renewable forms of energy. That's right, we don't have to worry about the future and just go about our business as usual. He then exposes this as another big lie--no doubt one whose propagators are desperate capitalist agents or paid by such agents to spread the big lie.
For anyone who has been exposed to the behavior of alcoholics or drug addicts, this is very familiar behavior. I'm referring to the extreme denial behaviors that such people engage in to prevent other people from knowing about their addiction and their path to self destruction. One knowledgeable source describes such behaviors this way:
- Drastically underestimating how much you drink
- Downplaying the negative consequences of your drinking
- Complaining that family and friends are exaggerating the problem
- Blaming your drinking or drinking-related problems on others
Such behavior can be explained by the interests of ruling classes in today's world. They enjoy unprecedented power due to the enormous wealth that their system of capitalism creates for them. They refuse to give up on their system in spite of a vague awareness that it requires infinite growth, and that this is incompatible with a finite planet.
Dolack exposes the reasons why such optimism from Danish authorities completely obfuscates and/or denies the realities behind alternative energies and their use in a system that promotes consumption. This leads him to the following conclusion:
The conclusion necessary to be drawn isn’t that we shouldn’t switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources as quickly as reasonably possible. Of course that should be done. But it is a delusion to believe that doing so in itself is a magic wand to wish away the growing crises of global warming, environmental degradation and resource depletion. There is no alternative to drastically reducing consumption of energy and material goods, an impossibility under capitalism, and bringing into existence a sustainable economic system.
All incentives in capitalism are for endless growth; it can’t function without it. Because of this expansionary imperative, that production is for private profit rather than human need and that enterprises are able to externalize environmental costs, decreases in energy prices are an incentive to increase energy usage, which is what has been happening. An economy that must expand will do so — introducing efficiencies can slow down the increase in energy consumption and resource depletion, but an ever expanding economy will ultimately use more energy, more resources.
