This extrapolation is based on "money is a claim on energy", which assumes some kind of linear, or linear-like relationship between energy and wellbeing. Just

This extrapolation is based on "money is a claim on energy", which assumes some kind of linear, or linear-like relationship between energy and wellbeing. Just because a relationship is linear-ish up to a point doesn't mean it always will be. The system is trapped in a what-is-measured-is-what-is-managed loop, where we worship "growth" without understanding what it's for. These can all be true without contradicting one other: - Many people on the planet can't access as much energy as they need to achieve optimum happiness and wellbeing. Making more energy available to them would alleviate suffering. - Providing enough for all 9Bn to reach their optimum without destroying the environment will be extremely difficult. There aren't enough critical minerals available with current tech for everyone to live a high-energy electric dream. - Some have vastly more energy than they need, and depleting resources to make them richer won't make them, or anyone else, happier. There is a diminishing returns effect beyond a certain point, where a massive increase in consumption only produces a small net gain. - Nevertheless, the super-rich do not have so much that we could redistribute it all and the poor would also have enough. Liquidate the rich, give it all away and the poor will be.. slightly less poor. - The relationship between energy and wellbeing is not fixed or linear, and may indeed come down with time. For example, if you have an effective and energy-efficient information system, people don't need to expend as much to live a good life (you don't need to go halfway around the world to find the girl or the job, if it turns out there was a good one in the next town or city over, but if your information systems suck you'll never know). Same for matching buyers to sellers and so on. $2Bn accrued to the balance sheet of Elon Musk counts the same in global GDP as $2Bn accrued to the balance sheet of Ghana. I don't need to tell you which one will do more for humanity.