I agree with the notion that we should make products that last. I also abhor the use of low wage labor and especially the use of slave labor of people that have no choice at all. That is one of the reasons that my stomach turns whenever anyone points to Brazil's ethanol industry as an example of an "efficient" way to produce biofuels.

However, I completely disagree with your characterization of a high energy use economy as one that is dependent on slave labor. History shows that economies that are based on manufacturing, efficient transportation and labor saving inventions that use commercially available fuel sources and electricity instead of human muscle are far less likely to be economies that depend on the use of involuntary labor.

Check out the Energy Slave entry in Wikipedia for an example commentary or simply do a Google search for the term "Energy Slave".

For my home and car – the major costs are purchase, maintaince, insurance – with energy being way way way down the line. If prices would double I'd not blink because taxes are 5x what energy costs me for my house.

It's time things changed – so that we valued people who were thrifty – who didn't see polluting and consuming as positive qualities. It's time we stopped using slave labour to give us products so cheap that they're not worth fixing. It's time we produced (food, products) locally – for local consumption. It's time we lived within our means – and shared what energy there is. Those of us in the first world need to have a one-child policy and cut our energy use to 1/10 of what it is (1/5 if we cut our population in half).

The way forward is to use less – to consume less – to do without – not chase techo dreams of newer technology to solve the problem that technology has created. We need to decouple food from fuel so that the rich don't take food from the mouths of the poor.

We need to make a society that is positive – not based upon slave labour, death and destruction. Our society is destructive to individuals, the environment and every living thing. It's not sustainable; it doesn't make us happy and it needs to change soon.