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May 4, 2017

Americans have voted themselves into comforts and luxurious standards of living that are as unsustainable as an underwater blowtorch.

My overextended metaphor is that we have voted in such a way that all cars must be expensive because they must all have airbags.
And I'm trying to get Americans, who consider themselves to be anything but rich despite the fact that most of them will own several automobiles in their lives, to see how risk averse that pile of laws has made us. We have grown out of the virtue of physical courage because our entire paved, plastic, medicated and insulated environment shields us from the rigors of... childbirth, street fights... you know all of that stuff that we find so fascinating in the 'culture' of the Third World. American women and men do not have large families. That is the vector of the West. We don't face the life and death decisions of having six children who might have to face life and death decision. We have engineered an economy and lifestyle that we know is unsustainable, and yet... The Unsustainability of Dainty Sensibilities & Strong Arms - Cobb

Posted by gerardvanderleun at May 4, 2017 4:10 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Well, we had six children who might have to face life and death decisions, and I can tell you when you get really, really old, they and their progeny and their progeny's progeny are all that's left. You've heard it all, seen it all, done all you ever wanted to do at least once, have all the stuff you want with a lifetime of spares in closets, attics, and the garage, and have accumulated enough to feel reasonably secure. Those kids, their kids and their kids kids are all that remains interesting. (No, I'm not depressed, just old.)

Posted by: billH at May 5, 2017 7:45 AM

Getting there billH. Lol.

Posted by: pbird at May 5, 2017 10:27 AM

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