His God is not gold; it's his stomach. If you don't see a problem with that then you are in the same "Caloric intake is IT" boat as RE. I'm not there. All the blah blah blah from GO about "Christianity" is hypocrisy (the compliment that vice pays to virtue).
Alan, humans are dynamic entities with spiritual inertia. People who are other directed and respect their fellow humans get better at it with time and more comfortable with it (I.E. the good get better). But those, like GO, that choose to put their interests before anyone else's and seek constant fulfillment in collector's items and fine arts instead of improving society, get WORSE with time. I'll don't wish GO any harm but I'll never be silent about his "I've got my greed under control" BS.
Every PENNY of profit that goes to a greedy person undermines the quality of life of everyone else. Don't believe me? Rewind the clock and DON'T give land away to the railroads and oil prospecting companies. Don't give them subsidies (give aways). DON'T allow he government to get co-opted into taxing fossil fuels we use so the addiction and transfer of power to a few energy oligarchs DOESN'T take place and we would have a different world.
It was ALWAYS about greed, not "progress" or "energy" or a "better world". We have REGRESSED, regardless of medical and technological advances. The quality of the planetary air and the average visibility SUCKS compared to a mere 50 years ago. That is NOT progress, Alan.
I know you refuse to bind morality with human activity. I cannot believe mankind can progress without developing spiritually and having a strong conscience for all things that live. Yes, technology is important and we need it, as long as we don't KILL LIFE to get it. WHY? Because, no matter how advanced technologically and culturally a society is (see Germany 1933), lack of morality will turn them into monsters.