the four pillars of civilization are being attacked; 

A few days ago Tucker Carlson did a video about the elite “anti-human death cult” that’s using “climate change” to reverse the industrial revolution. Returning us to an age where abject poverty -- even famine -- was a daily reality while freedom was a distant memory.

During the 15-minute interview, Michael Shellenberger said something that bears comment: that "The pillars of civilization are cheap energy, meritocracy, Law and Order, and free speech. And all four of those pillars are currently under attack."

This strikes me as a solid list of some of the most important load-bearing walls of civilization that are currently under coordinated attack by the left. And if these pillars go, the world we know will be gone.

Four Pillars of Civilization

So, how exactly are these pillars holding us up?

The list breaks into two hunks: pillars that maintain prosperity — cheap energy, and meritocracy —  and pillars that are more fundamental, holding up both prosperity and freedom.

Of course, the two are related; historically, prosperous people demanded and mobilized for freedom. Starving people do not.

Cheap Energy

Starting with prosperity, cheap energy literally transformed mankind. The burning of coal in the 18th century enabled the Industrial Revolution. Which transformed the world from millennia of survival-level stagnation to a world where every generation has a hard time imagining what life was like for their parents, let alone their grandparents.

Indeed, if you teleported a Roman peasant into 16th-century Italy, life would be familiar. The legal system, the property rights regime, and how people spent their days. School, career, and retirement would all be familiar.

In both eras, almost everybody lived on a farm. Some were artisans, a rare few became intellectuals, artists, or philosophers.........more.......