At second glance, Gates' hypothesis is just more Libertarian hogwash. Machiavelli's ideas were institutionalized when America's Founders explicitly designed a government to be run by competing moneyed interests. Economists believe that capitalism is powered by money. But scientists pointed out over a hundred years ago that capitalism is powered by energy. Although economists are trained to treat energy just like any other resource, it is not like any other resource.
Net energy is the pre-condition for all other resources.
As long as we remain trapped by the ideology of competitive growth, there is no solution. We are reminded of the South Indian monkey trap, in which a hollowed-out coconut is fastened to a stake by a chain and filled with rice. There is a hole in the coconut just large enough for the monkey to put his extended hand through but not large enough to withdraw his fist full of rice. Acceptance of the supernatural conveyed a great advantage throughout prehistory, when the brain was evolving.