reply to post by SLAYER69
China and India are already online, producing the power they require for their own needs.
Solar energy (the only real power source, the rest are stopgaps) can be harvested and stored (given sufficient tech) as it sweeps over the face of the
Earth. There is no requirement that it be shared on a global grid the way electricity is shared in North America. Of course if the nations which are
harvesting that energy in space deprive other nations who are only using surface based collection methods there will be conflicts, just as there
always have been when resources need to be shared. As always those conflicts will be resolved, one way or another. The strongest will flourish. If
they are benevolent they will share the energy harvest. If not...if not, there will be great losses. But loss is something we humans have been coping
with for a very long time.
If we do keep progressing toward being a Type 1 civilization, I think it is inevitable that Earth will become unified in some form but not necessarily
by design. Someone said earlier that would mean empire. Perhaps, but I don't think empire is necessarily evil. The great powers of Earth all share
similar levels of technology yet their cultures are very different and separate. Separate cultures and even nations can exist under a single empire.
The Romans did it using military power. Maybe if it was based instead on the selective sharing of energy and technology it would be different. A Type
1 civilization based on a single planet has essentially unlimited energy. With unlimited energy all other resources become readily available. "Join
us and share, or continue on your own path. The choice is yours. There is enough for all.". I don't know...maybe.
But damn, it's going to get hot. And probably crowded too. We really need to break out of the cage but the cage is so large.