If one commodity becomes too expensive, another commodity will do the trick. In the 19th century that wasn't true, but it is now, and that's why things are getting so good. We no longer use wood for fuel and our forests have grown back spectacularly. We now have more trees on the East coast than we did in the 19th century. By the mid 1990s, the United States had 128 million more acres of forest than it did in 1920.
Time is shorthand for the content of our lives in the here and now.
It may not reflect great military strategy, but in the wake of the Gulf War and the Kosovo conflict, it has become clear that the United States is willing to spend millions, if not billions, to prevent the loss of a single American life. But that's the subject of a different column. In order to ensure that you are not accidentally subscribed, you will receive a reply message with a confirmation number, to which you must reply to complete the subscription process.