Yah, I go on later to qualify that statement by saying that I'm generalizing and employing metaphors quite liberally there.

It could be argued that the original inhabitants of Australia had achieved a 'steady state' of culture, but of course we're talking about a stone age culture. Earth-friendly, indeed, but not an option for us now.

The world in general has all caught up with the twentieth century, and so I consider nearly everyone on the planet to be part of a larger leading edge, if you will, of the total human race.

I do think that sustainability is a meme that is growing and will eventually replace the existing capitalist one, but not before we've exhausted that model and realize, in our dimly collective fashion, that we have to learn to live on, not just for the day, but for the long haul.

Odd that the western world has been so full of doomsday-ism and also at the same time been so industrious. I guess if we can quit our love affair with catastrophes and settle down into a respectful arrangement between our tech and nature we might be around long enough to finally meet another intelligence, and compare notes.