[at-l] Libertarian/capitalist view of the C-word thingy

[tmcginnis@ucclan.state.in.us (Thomas McGinnis)]

     Jim Owen wrote that...
     
If constant contact with "civilisation" were the norm, then 
Columbus (or his predecessors) would never have discovered America, 
the American West would never have been opened up, the Spaniards 
would all still be in Spain, the Anglos would be overpopulating 
their islands and North America would still belong to the Indians.
The bottom line is that a great level of nervousness at being "alone" 
or "out of contact" is NOT a racial survival characteristic. If 
it becomes the norm, then mankind will never explore the stars - and we'll end 
up back in the caves.

     
     This sentiment is why I feel that the future of our American Way Of 
     Life depends on a healthy supply of wilderness, or at least 
     wildness, readily available to peoples of all incomes and 
     geographic locales. Not to be trite, but if we do not have the 
     ability to "live deliberately," we will lose the "Spirit of '76" 
     which makes this country what it is. And what it is, to be clear, 
     is a union of nonconformists. Not an oxymoron, but a democracy. If 
     we want to keep this country striving, PIONEERING for improvement, 
     we need to provide space for them to "live deliberately."
     
     God HAS Blessed America!
* From the Appalachian Trail Mailing List |  http://www.backcountry.net  *

==============================================================================