It’s a good article, it lays out some basic facts about the current situation and examines possible future scenarios. It has some BIG problem areas concerning historical events but conceptually it’s sound.
B had an “epiphany” and realized that civilizations mirror ecosystems.
It’s the reason why there are always fewer predators than prey. Each step up the food chain is a concentration of ENERGY and a reduction of ENTROPY.
In prey/predator populations the ratio is usually about 10 to 1.
In “natural energy” societies the ratio between peasants and “everyone else” is also usually about 10 to 1.
That’s about the biggest “specialist class” you can EVER expect to find in a sustainable agricultural society. That 10% are the people who live in the palace. The “nobles”, the professional warriors, the priests, the administrators, and the artisans making luxury goods.
Basically Mycenae Greece.
Would you want to spend the rest of your life as a “peasant”?
If you chuck that and decide to do without agriculture so that you can have a more egalitarian culture/society. Well, then you are talking about an Australian Aboriginal way of life. Which BTW is very similar to the peasant way of life, minus the 10%.
VERY sustainable, very stable, very little change EVER, and very little individual freedom.
On the individual level your ENTIRE LIFE is laid out for you from birth. There is a preordained set of rituals and milestones for you to adhere to and meet. You are bound in nets of “taboos” and customs.
From birth till death your life is mapped out for you and you WILL STICK to THE PLAN. Everyone does, which is why NOTHING ever changes.
The Aboriginal Culture endured for over 50,000 years in Australia, almost unchanged. You can see that as “cultural brilliance” or “cultural stagnation”. Either way, would you want to live that life, would you want it for your kids?
Without external ENERGY inputs (which can be slaves BTW, that's what the "Glory of Rome" was built with) those are basically the ONLY two choices for cultural organization we have ever had as a species.
After COLLAPSE, those will be our choices again.
