[cripplecreek]

The culture of the U.S. will be dramatically changed (not for the better) unless things change.

The traditional Norman Rockwell town of my youth is a prime example of the change brought about by an ever expanding population. It simply doesn't exist anymore.

When I was 16 years old I could carry a loaded shotgun right down main street on my way to my hunting spot just outside town. If I try it today someone will be calling the FBI and every other law enforcement agency they can think of. However, these days there isn't a place within miles of that town where I can legally hunt because it's suburbia.

Today I live in an even tinier town where I can simply walk to a hunting place. Unfortunately that hunting place will be on state owned land that can easily be open to the public but closed to hunting.

Seems to me that the more populated America becomes, the further into socialism we slide.

[agooga]

"Seems to me that the more populated America becomes, the further into socialism we slide."

CC, I agree. I am not one to live in the past, but it is clear that greater population is a double edged sword.

Despite my liberal friends' direst warnings that our nation is trending toward a dark-age of conservatism, it is intuitively obvious that we have been trending toward socialism since the days of FDR.

I can't say for sure that this is due to greater population or just a natural progression of democratic politics.

But certainly, negative examples of greater population are all around us-- and there is an inevitable and comensurate squeeze on freedom as well.

[hinckley buzzard]

Seems to me that the more populated America becomes, the further into socialism we slide.

Not just socialism per se, but structure imposed by government in general, simply to keep order among the growing masses. As population density increases, the implicit freedoms such as you mention are gradually eroded by sheer force of proximity. To maintain order in a city of ten million is a different matter than a city of one million. A town of fifty thousand is a different place than a village of two thousand.

Based on considerations of personal freedom, I believe the US passed its optimum population some time ago.