Little Hawk,

I agree in spirit.

We probably won't learn. Your litany reenforces that hindsight is always better than foresight. City Planning has been practiced for years, which is probably part of the problem.

Capitalism demands growth. It is a necessary element of the system. Once we learn that all that bigger means is bigger, we'll go to some other economic system. The "bigger is better" myth pervades the culture. (That and most people seem to want the benefits of the "bigger").

IMO. As a culture (and not just in the US), we need to redefine our basic values and priorities, then build on that. If we truly value the family as one of our core values, then we do things that enhances the family. We haven't. The family is sacrificed to another value: Quantity over quality. We're stuck in the Calvinist maxim that dying with the most possessions proves you are one of the chosen.

Kim, While I'm not a big fan of claiming that lab rat experiments relate directly to our society, studies of overcrowding in rate "utopias" (Plenty of everything except space), show that the lack of adequate space alone can cause all sorts of ugly behavior. The same may be true of people. We all need our personal space and our needs are more complex. It isn't just physical space. Its cell phones, beepers, wireless hand-helds, the internet, call waiting. That and the fear that the "bigger and more" (a core value) doesn't seem to be happening to a lot of people anymore.

"It's easy to get mad when somebody makes you mad" IMO, being mad back is my decision. Being self programed, so to speak, the only "devil that made me do it', is inside me. Which is I think what you're saying.

A friend brought up something that happened a year ago? A Scorpio maybe. We do hold grudges, you know. Hope you asked why they waited so long to bring it up. That seems to me to be the real issue.

Regards,

John