i look around at what this country has done and what it continues to do and fear of the future threatens to annihilate not refine the spirit by fire. unless there is some seed in humans that needs such devastating heat in order to be released. capitalism can't be reformed anymore than the police state. claire messud says we are not doomed but i wonder if that's just cuz she has kids. with dogs it's different, you know life is provisional and short and you take each day like a gift, not from the future but the remains of the day which is also a book claire m. wrote about which is good but even better is never let me go.