The Model of Growth as the Cause of War in Plato's Republic.

In Plato's Republic Part II it is proposed that the expansion of a city is first a result of a communities' economic needs. Second needs turn to superfluous or extraneous desires for luxurious items the necessity of which are dubious to begin with.  It is this expansion which in turn leads to further requirements for excess farm production, which in turn requires the capturing of further lands through conquest and war.

Almost 2 and a half millennia ago the formula was already known.  We see this today.  Capitalism depends on wars, which in turn allows the consumption of ever growing cities to expand.  This can be seen in British Columbia with the Site C Dam.  Why do we need the dam?  The usual reason is an expanding population.  Rather than dealing with population the root of the problem, only the symptom which is further requirements of energy are addressed, which in turn means further environmental destruction: the flooding of vast natural and farm lands to secure even more energy.

This model is ultimately a slow motion train wreck as it has been for millennia, but pushed to breakneck speed with the industrial, technological and global revolutions.