Yes, that seems to be the pattern! I'd love to see us institutionalize a reasonable level of equality, rather than depend on disasters to provide it. We certa

Yes, that seems to be the pattern! I'd love to see us institutionalize a reasonable level of equality, rather than depend on disasters to provide it. We certainly have plenty of wealth and productivity for everyone to a have a pretty great life in the US. And we're headed in that direction for more and more of the rest of the world. I spent 5 years in China, and it's happening there too. We're just stuck with a survivalist attitude of "give me more" — held by people who have absolutely no threat to their survival. But from our recent behavior — lack of prosecution of financial crimes after 2008, for example — we seem headed for a very severe learning experience.