Fuel

“Progress” is prominently manifested in the concept of economic growth. This "growth" has completely altered the face of the Earth, transforming wild lands into croplands and cities. This has resulted in a mass extinction and significant alterations in the climate, water, and soils of the planet. It has brought about technological advancements in human food production, transportation, and medicine that are available exclusively to the first world minority. The global economic system depends on growth for its existence and maintenance. This growth is subject to diminishing returns, leading to inevitable collapse.

This explosive growth of one species has been made possible by the energy harvested from fossil fuels. Petroleum, comprised of the accumulation of marine organisms over millions of years, and coal, remnants of the carboniferous fern forests, are the big ones. The homogenous agricultural food factories of wheat, corn, and rice now account for 40% of the Earth's primary productivity. These crops are able to produce temporarily enormous yields through the application of petroleum-based fertilizer, before the intensive system depletes the land's topsoil. We are effectively eating oil, consuming the energy of millions of years' worth of biological energy in a few short decades. When cheap oil peaks, global civilization will accelerate towards the collapse it has laid out for itself.