"The biggest overall myth that humanity is suffering from right now is the myth that it is necessary to have an ever-expanding economy in order to have a successful society. That is the maddest, stupides, possibly the most self-destructive myth ever perpetrated yet, and it is threatening all life on the planet. Why is it being done? To make money. Period. Just for more money." Little Hawk

To make a serious segue here: I don't understand the saying at all and I hear it a lot. Where did people get the idea that bigger is always better?

This came up again just yesterday. During my volunteer stint at a local museum a couple of stalwart Chamber-of-Commerce types (literally. They belong to the Chamber) came in and we chatted about Juneau, Alaska and its future. The State of Alaska celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and the subject is much on people's minds.

Anyway, they both noted that some local residents want Juneau to stop growing and just keep it as it is.

I, of course, said truthfully that I don't like the idea of continued growth, that with our limited land mass (we occupy a narrow strip of land at the foot of mountains)the only way we can grow indefinitely is by building double-decker highways, and that's not the community I want to live in.

I said that once a community reaches its proper size I like the concept of enrichment- to come up as a community with innovative ideas and concepts, on how to assimilate the homeless among us, how to reach our endemic high school dropouts, to inspire the young who are not college bound to take up and study the subjects they *are* interested in, to create beauty, to do the thousand things that we are not giving enough attention to today.

They were nonplussed; because we had been having a productive chat they wanted to like me but they obviously feared that I was "one of those".

But why should we keep on growing? In natural terms when a plant grows to its optimum height it doesn't keep on growing - it halts and puts out a flower.

Hey, I like that analogy and will use it from now on!