'and' or 'but'

The young intellectual is unhappy because the 'middle way' is for the middle-aged, not for him; it is without passion and is deadening. Ideology, which by its nature is an all-or-none affair, and temperamentally the thing he wants, is intellectually devitalized, and few issues can be formulated any more, intellectually, in ideological terms. The emotional energies-and needs-exist, and the question of how one mobilizes these energies is a difficult one. Politics offers little excitement. Some of the younger intellectuals have found an outlet in science or university pursuits, but often at the expense of narrowing their talent into mere technique; other have sought self-expression in the arts, but in the wasteland the lack of content has meant, too, the lack of the necessary tension that creates new forms and styles.

1) what does 'is intellectually devitalized, and few issues can be formulated any more, intellectually, in ideological terms.' mean?

2) shouldn't the 'and' be changed into a 'but'?



3) what does politics have to do with 'emtional energy'?



4) what is 'but in the wasteland the lack of content has meant, too, the lack of the necessary tension that creates new forms and styles.' mean? What is the wasteland?





This is a text I found in a GMAT prep book but couldn't really understand it....;;;