This was much better than anything I could have written, and for the first time since your first few years on GC, I have started to admire you greatly and look up to you for something more than just great fiction writing! :-) You sound much more like the Markaba of those early days than that dude "Todd" who took over his body for a few years between then and now. It's nice to have Markaba back, and I hope this time he has submerged the "Todd" persona for good. If only I Love Green Olives was here to see this! (Remember him?)

You've always been a borderline genius, but it's nice to see that intellect pointed in a positive direction again. The metaphorical creation of Big Daddy Sam was awesomely memorable, and I'm going to start using that archetypal dude in the future now too, with your permission! (Get a patent on that, dude!) All you need to do now is acknowledge his partner-in-crime, Big Papa Elephant (the personification of the Corporate system, the conservative worldview, and the Republican Party in the U.S. and the Tories in Britain).

I would be more than proud to put a polished version of this post up on the Newgon Wiki as soon as I get back to that (which I am now planning).

My only disagreement, of course, is that I don't believe we are stuck with a close variation of the current state and family unit for eternity; I agree overthrowing the state like in the old days is not an option today, but there are other options available to us now that didn't exist in the past. The Second American Revolution must be done in a civilized but firm manner, and only by eventually getting the great majority of the "free world" to agree to stop worshiping Big Daddy Sam and Big Papa Elephant with the same degree of zealousness that the religous fundies worship their conception of God, and to join together in class solidarity just as most of the 1 percenters always have. The Occupy Wall Street movement is a nice little step in the right direction, and a sign that large numbers of the working class have finally had enough. A lot more work has to be done, of course, because the first little step is only the first of many that need to be done.

Btw, I thought it was interesting how you followed up the endnotes demarcated by asterisks with endnotes designated by the upper direction symbol and the pound symbol. I never saw that done before.