Asa I am with you but I applaud the author for thinking about the issue, as they see the problem in our own society. I too can see something at work which could prevent people seeing what the solution is, to the global energy problem. The whole business of "Renewable Energy" is something more of an ideology than based on scientific reasoning, and yet it is driven by the "scientific" community.
Hence why I too wonder about the mechanisms enlisting folk to harmful ideologies.
Profit, to me looks like always the hidden actor behind pretty much all human activity.
As far as I can see, ideologies are preventing us from seeing or realising the full extent of the systemic consequences of our own actions as a species. We all have more or less the tendency to do this, and seem to do in presence or threat of scarcity (low energy), although it seems far more prevalent in white folks, like me and my ilk.
The solution is to remove all possibily of scarcity. Then there can be no profit, and no wish to gather followings for the sake of creating or maximising income. We are starting to do, but it is being denied still by authorities.
Wherever we see profit, we also see lies. Even adverts are a kind of lie. Most worrying that we now see ads for political things like unions on certain TV channels. Three guesses who funds them to place ads. Apparently the same tactic was used during the 70s strikes, to not only split union followerships, but also to paint a false impression of what unions are all about, making them look just more profit driven business. They should not be confused with longer standing traditional unions.
On a personal note, the new changes in law on gender reassignment in Scotland are just a small example of the actions being done, resulting in a population ripe for totalitarian rule, all of it driven by profit, in the presence of an ever increasing perception of imminent shortage (of energy).
Speaking from firsthand point of view, men are increasingly becoming alienated from women, because generally we are afraid now, of what can happen, from what was previously seen as normal contact between us.
I know at least one innocent man convicted of rape, after a long running relationship with a woman, who decided later that she was not consenting, because by this she could profit in various ways. I know many men who have lost careers, or no longer want to have careers which are subject to never having a complaint made against them, for what was once seen as normal interactions between men and women meeting in the workplace. Now men in the workplace dare not interact with women in any way that could compromise their job security.
The "Woman" in charge in Scotland, Ms Sturgeon, was personally responsible for levelling a charge of sexual misconduct at her predecessor, Alex Salmond, who later won his case in court, crowdfunded by supporters, proving his innocence, but not before it had seriously damaged his life and impeccable reputation. Assange was first brought up on similar charges.
The list of these events is endless, and has resulted in children now having a very dysfunctional view of what relationships between men and women are, or should be all about. I know because I have a twenty year old daughter, and we talk honestly about a lot of things.
We can't be blind to the fact that kids are influenced by what they see. They see more and more advantages in being a woman.
For me personally, salsa dancing is/was a passion, learning mostly in Cuba, until recently, it was something we could also enjoy in UK, until now.
Now, there is a new phenomenon of women wishing to be the lead in the dance. For that they have to learn to lead. In mixed salsa classes as is normal, this means a man agreeing to partner with that woman for their turn in rotation of all women with all men, that we normally need for experience, have to forego learning to lead. That gets very confusing for a learner, trying to learn to lead. In truth, the lead has the much tougher lesson, the follower only needs to learn how to follow which is much easier.
And how does a man who only knows how to follow, or a woman who expects always to lead, engage with new partners on a crowded social dancefloor without confrontation? Even if they are gay, what happens if two women expecting to lead engage? A catfight?
There are ways to work this out in lessons, but the experience of coming into confrontation with a woman physically fighting with him to lead, or refusing to dance declaring "I am the man", as happened to me just last night at a refresher class, is enough to put most men off.
Frankly, it is killing salsa, and that might not seem like a big deal, but to Cubans, South Americans, Africans, Brazilians, who's culture, and even relligion, is very deeply immersed in it, it must be heartbreaking.
For me it just means I am alone, to immerse fully in the effort of helping fix the energy problem, and I guess I am happy enough with that.