This post by Richard Gonser (01/16/2011) from the Committe on Education, is filled with so much invective, anger, inaccurate historical fact and unsubstantiated assertions that it hurts the credibility of his argument with the subject Sustainability: Design as Nature.
He spent little time finding excerpts from the presentation he could critique in a way that would further the discussion but instead resorted to name calling. People and ideas that he doesn't agree with: Communists, Hippies, self-loathing architects, envious and greedy, theives and Marxists are a substitute for dialogue and meaningful discussion. If he had a valid critique of the presentation it is lost in his hatred of all things he doesn't agree with. This is not a useful approach to dialogue with people of different points of view. As an architect with all those fancy acronyms after your name Richard, I would expect some fundamental qualities of civility and leadership.
The Pilgrims did not practice private property - it was far more a communal settlement and they exerted their own religious intollerance which prompted Roger Williams to leave the Colony and start Rhode Island and the providence Plantations.
Richard, if you travel a little you can find many fine examples of successful cities and urban living around the world - your characterizations of city life are focused on what's not necessarily representative of urban living but apparently your unfortuante personal experiences.
Part of our "social construct" as you allude to with building, is the cultural signs and symbols that buildings embody and cities in particular. They mark our civilization and our beliefs from the earliest Mesopotamiam settlements to the ancient and well preserved European cities that live in modernity while simultaneously retaining their antiquity, history, charm and richness.
Your argument about the Chinese is unfortunate. They have embraced certain limited aspect of Capitalism but they retain a very strong command economy that allows them to accomplish things we can not in the Wset, especially at their rate of progress. Their system is a hybrid and a grand experiment - it's too early to tell the fruits of this approach. (BTW) Hong Kong is a former British protectorate founded as a capitalist ecocnomy only recented ceded back to the Mother Country. Facts Richard, facts.
It's easy to assert Richard. A little more homework my capitalist friend before you spout off next time. What's the old expression: are you going to belive me - or your lying eyes? Use your eyes, read, travel, ejoy being an architect.