Jessica:

What a great read. The zenith of all the changes you, and others, have discussed is the need for us to return to a far-less commercialized lifestyle: working from home / homesteading; being more agrarian; developing cultural traits that we had long ago given up; and being more family oriented.

Living in balance with Nature, and in harmony with one another, are fundamental needs in every society. The refusal to even things out; to avoid the ego-quest of being the "top dog," of living at the top of the mountain (when we don't see that it's "Bandini Mountain"); and the desire to let our Reptilian Brains dominate socio-political, religious, and economic interactions, all of these are great flaws that threaten our existence on Mother Earth.

In the final analysis, "Mother Earth bats last," and if we ignore that truth, we'll ALL be up the proverbial estuary without the usual means of locomotion.