.. whether under Communism or Capitalism. Historically it's a world-wide thing, with both the third-world nations and the former Communist nations (eg Rumania, East Germany) coming off worst, pollution wise.

Here's an update on the Sydney pollution situation: harbour pollution - and btw, since my recent post re air pollution being worse than NYC or London, I've spoken with various taxi drivers and others in the know, on where these high levels are concentrated. The answer is that during the day they are spread around the entire city. Only at night do the levels settle down ..

BTW, my relatives pull the same 'black or white swifty' as you did with mentioning Thoreau: if I'm criticizing the city, that means I want to live in the bush (!?) - how about simply wanting liveable cities that are more than just giant and very expensive collectivist hives? There is a middle ground, obviously.

The more I see photos of so much charming civic architecture in US towns and even cities, the more I realize how lucky many of you 'Yanks' are, and start to wonder if you know what I'm trying to say here. I'm talking about greedy capitalist 'enforced collectivization'. If I was living in (formerly) Communist country I'd no doubt be straining myself to escape from THAT truly wretched collectivization - but I don't. I live here, I'm grateful for all the good things the system has produced (and which I use), I realize this must come at certain costs to the individual and community, but I also still am justified in pointing out the big problems (and even whinging about them too, if I wish).