>As you have also pointed out, it is
>possible for oil to be 'cheap' and 'plentiful' while 75% of
>human still have to forage for wood and dung for fuel...
This is entirely true, of course, but is there any reason this state of affairs can't continue indefinitely? I'm sitting on an island with some of the richest people in the world living only blocks from some of the poorest in the northern hemisphere, and we have relative social peace and the system reproduces itself. Better surveillance, slicker propaganda, and nastier cops keep it going.
Doug