Traditionalists are pessimists about the future and optimists about the past.

There are signs that the age of petroleum has passed its zenith. Adjusted for inflation, a barrel of crude oil now sells for three times its long-run average. The large western oil companies, which cartellised the industry for much of the 20th century, are now selling more oil than they find, and are thus in the throes of liquidation.

The reason for the sadness of this modern age and the men who live in it is that it looks for the truth in everything and finds it.