"We Come from Hearty Stock"

or:  Our Ancestors Said: "Fuck You, We'll Leave!"
 
Mrs. du Toit has an excellent essay up on the kind of people who came to America - the unruly, unrepentant non-conformists.

What the hell happened to us?

I've said before that when a society becomes too restrictive, then the individualists will head for the new frontier. Unfortunately we no longer have much of a new frontier.

We'd better figure out a way to exploit space, and soon. I hate to think what will happen when the pressure builds up because there's no longer a safety valve.