> The basis of the economy percolates through all levels of human
> activity to become the basis of the character of the people in the
> economy, which then becomes the character of the societies and
> policies that the people create. In the same way as the Roman Empire
> built itself on slave labor - and made the basis of Roman character
> cruelty, brutality, conquest, predation, short-sightedness, laziness
> and oppression - so the oil economy fosters in people a character that
> mimics in its mentality the character of oil industry itself. This
> character is toxic, extractive, destructive, short-sighted, polluting,
> and ensnaring. And its poisonous influence can only be significantly
> reduced through a greater use of clean energy - and greater influence
> for life-affirming, intelligent, provident, and socially and
> environmentally responsible character that its development and
> widespread use stand to foster in humankind.
>
> The oil character is the character of extraction and exploitation, but
> that's not remotely the end of it. From combustion of oil, are
> encouraged worldviews that see the world as being given, and of man as
> only there to burn it without consideration for the rest of the world
> or for its future. The planet is seen as there for people to burn; the ...