[Lil Black Car]

Snowman,
As Scottmandue said in an earlier post, get the book "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. It is an excellent book that will help to explain the way some societies prospered while others did not. It explains why there are still "Cavemen" in places like Borneo and other third world nations.
We are lucky that we were born in the US and that that has given us a distinct advantage, but we are not necessarlily so far out of the caves. My mother, born 1945, in New Mexico lived in a 12x15 one room shack with dirt floors and the stereotypical outhouse until she married my father at 18. His house was not much larger but had wood floors. Both "houses" are still owned by the families and are now used as tack sheds. Are they Cavemen, or just folks who lost everything in the depression and caught hell trying to pull themselves up. by their bootstraps. My parents bought their first computer last year, but they certainly live a better life than their parents who were dirt farmers and horse ranchers in New Mexico.

I love visiting with my wifes mother in South Korea. She lives on the beach in a house that her family has had for a few generations. It has been modernized with the modern conveniences like indoor plumbing and electricity, and she lives a very simple life that revolves around family and community. No television or ipods for the kids when they come visit. Is it "Caveman?" I do not think so, but you would not believe how your worries melt away when you are there and get to leave behind all the modern "Conveniences."
Get that book. It is a pretty interesting read, and it will explain in a logical sense why there are still cavemen on Earth and how we in the West have gained an advantage over them.
We are blessed to be Americans despite what certain politicians wifes have to say about the gloom of America and how they have never before been proud to be Americans. We should be proud, but we must realize that, regardless of being black or white, rich or poor, we have been blessed.