"I submit that we should think carefully before sending off [space] colonists to far-away places without ensuring that they’re capable of protecting the fundamental freedoms of their citizens, and not degenerating into the primitive tribes that humans seem automatically programmed to create in the absence of a checks-and-balances infrastructure."

Read the rest here. Clearly respect for human rights is more cultural than political, even though the preservation of rights should be the sole function of government. The film Serenity addresses the concept of a second collapse of empire quite deftly.

Reading this also lead us to his previous post, Overpopulation? Not a problem! Which leads us to lokeymassive.net (see the third, rather snarky comment). His page has some interesting MP3 files here and here.

...if he knew any better: last night we found Lou Dobbs bemoaning expensive Chinese products. To wit:

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KITTY PILGRIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Cheap Chinese products. Until now, the U.S. consumer has paid less and less for products made with cheap labor in China. But now, a handful of U.S. lawsuits claim Chinese producers have cornered the market, raising prices on a handful of basic commodities -- Vitamin C, pain reliever acetaminophen, saccharin, bauxite, rayon and magnesite, a mineral used in steel production.

HAMILTON LOEB, ATTORNEY FOR U.S. PRODUCERS: The trade associations, the industry groups in China, have served as a means for the Chinese companies to get together and exchange information about who's charging what and trying to keep prices up for product.

PILGRIM: The most glaring example of Chinese cartel action, Vitamin C. The U.S. buys $100 million worth from China, but U.S. antitrust lawsuits claim Chinese producers raised prices from $2.80 to $10 a kilogram. And nothing has been done.

WILLIAM ISAACSON, ATTORNEY FOR U.S. PRODUCERS: The Bush administration, like every other administration, takes great pride in busting cartels. And yet, here there are these cartels in China that they fully know about, and where there's no -- no discussion of them doing anything.

PILGRIM: China dominates the world for a certain type of bauxite used for steel, glass and cement. The Chinese share of bauxite has grown to 75 percent of U.S. imports. Antitrust lawsuits charge prices went from $85 to $116 after China took control.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Read all of it here.