One word; “freedom”.
Before ICE and hydrocarbon fuels: 90% of Americans lived on farms to feed the nation.
After ICE and hydrocarbon fuels: 2% of Americans live on farms to feed the nation.
Has any other industry seen such an explosion in productivity after the invention of internal combustion engines as agriculture?
We could use External Combustion engines maybe ?
they are not so efficient but they can use anything as fuel.
As a side note I once read about a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills who had an old mercedes diesel and he used the fat he got from liposuctions to power it.
Leftists hate internal combustion engines BECAUSE they enable great prosperity.
I disagree. Heat is actually the enemy of ICE engines. That is why ICE engines need extensive cooling systems. The power comes from burning fuel which turns it into hot gases which have much bigger volume which creates high pressures inside cylinder of engine and that pressure causes pistons to move with force.
It is similar to steam engines. When water is converted to steam using heat, steam volume is much bigger than water which creates high pressure inside the boiler, and that high pressure steam then moves the pistons or turbines.