My father lived through WWII in England, and in some ways he remembers it as a very lively and enjoyable time, while in other ways he would certainly agree that things have improved.

It depends how you mean it. We have a much greater variety and sophisitication of manufactured products of all kinds now, and more varieties of food from all parts of the world, and some of us have more money to spend. Some...

At the same time, we have less community, less home cooking, more loneliness and isolation of the individual. We have less patience in general, and more apparent need for instant gratification (driven by our expensive technological gadgets, like the TV, the computer, the dishwasher, the clothes washer and dryer, the microwave, etc.).

We have become more helpless, I would suggest, as these gadgets have robbed us of direct participation in real life.

Go to a relatively poor society in the 3rd world, and this becomes really obvious, as you see how much more community they have than we do.

My suggestion is: number one, destroy your television or give it away. It's a start at reclaiming the life that has been stolen from you by the marketing system.

I guess I had to get serious at some point here...

- LH