technical advancement¶

The problem with this hypothetical is that it overlooks geopolitical forces in favor of vague notions of "technical advancement." By 1905, the imperial powers had already become fully vested in a geopolitical game centered primarily around the extraction of fossil fuels. https://t.co/aOenR30oSS Could they have switched to solar power? No. Everything was already set up for the self-reinforcing circuit of fossil fuel use -> heavy industry -> imperial conquest -> resource extraction -> fossil fuel use. Backing out at any stage, by any player, would have meant defeat. Investing in that emerging, untested, small-scale technology would mean losing out on short-term profits -- profits that get reinvested to accumulate long-term profits. There's a reason the imperial powers were able to keep the rest of the world in shackles. And there's also a reason their geopolitical interests eventually clashed so strongly that they became embroiled in a globe-spanning war. In that context -- which continues to this day -- solar never stood a chance.