You have stuff. I have stuffe`! Actually, I'm looking for the shovel right now to get rid of most of it. Hmmm, maybe eBay. As for heirlooms, my kids have already clucked their tongues at the prospect of having to someday get rid of all this "stuff". So, I will save them the bother.

On the big scene, we all want to live and live as comfortably as possible, each doing their own thing. We all need food and big tech makes large populations possible. We are all caught up in a big web of tech and if that web ever goes down you will see the thin veneer of civilization disappear like a morning mist at 10:45! The unintelligent desire for food will trump everything.

Have any of you read the book "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy? A little post apocalyptic novel that will haunt you. Well imagined. The story itself has great pathos and the backdrop of collapse is truly chilling.

I had an uncle who did small appliance repair during his retirement but gave it up as it was cheaper for people to just toss the old and buy a new! Fins on cars, big ties in, little ties out. Forty pairs of shoes for some (or more). Gotta stay in style. Before the assembly line, quality in workmanship and endurance were the things most sought after. Today it is style and replace-ability as well as function, that is the norm. It seems to me that Mankind is reaching its crescendo. Will there be a coda? Or can we pull it out and add another movement to the opus? How about an andante or largo with a basso ostinato of responsible industry (to carry the musical metaphor a little further :)? Do what you can. Influence those who have the power. Let them know that change is needed.