The actual question is can we survive technologists and their paymasters. It is interesting the JvN starts off on a political-economy note and proceeds to geop

The actual question is can we survive technologists and their paymasters. It is interesting the JvN starts off on a political-economy note and proceeds to geopolitics considerations, yet doesn't really address the drivers of "industrial revolution" or "empire". He opines that "[a] much more satisfactory solution than technological prohibition would be eliminating war as "a means of national policy."" There are alternatives, John. Maybe we should work on technology to temper the desire -- construed as "divine right" -- of the few to lord it over the many. That's one alternative. War is rarely a "national" concern. Historically it is the means employed by "princes" and "kings" and "queens" to assert dominance over other egomaniacs. "Technology" of course is used to whip up the masses to serve as canon fodder. Another alternative is developing robust ethical systems that drill into the heads of budding technologists that their humanity is not worth a paycheck.