Robert Heinlein once posed a question:

[malthaussen]

2. About all we can do is try to keep our own footprints small.

When I am in a particularly brutal mood, I remind people that their clothes, their smartphones, and all the appurtenances of their lives are built on the blood, terror, and rape of others. It's usually not a sentiment well-received. The purpose is not to instill guilt -- I think guilt is one way the power structure tries to manipulate us -- but to serve as a reminder that there is a lot more going on in the world than occurs under our noses.

There was a link to a Tom Engelhart article in GD that echoes your thoughts about leisure: http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027303011 . I think one of the things "they" are working on (for a given value of "they&quot is reducing our time for reflection, thought, study, all in aide of enabling them to keep pulling the wool over our eyes while we snooze in front of the TV. It has the added benefit of squeezing more blood out of the stone, in terms of raising per-capita productivity higher and higher (without any corresponding compensation). Since most of us are in thrall to a paycheck of one kind or another, it seems to be working out really well for "them."

As far as Alpha males go, it's a common enough sociological term to serve the purpose. The society is structured to encourage assholes, who achieve prominence by dominating others. Given that even in this enlightened age, only the biggest of female assholes can hope to compete with the male ones, hitching yourself to one (so to speak) is one easy way to get the goodies and riches of life.

Bob has been so co-opted by the Libertarians that many have found their opinions of him changing (and let's face it, some of his later books were especially awful). Though many think there is no difference between him and Ayn Rand (and after all, Professor de la Paz did say he could "get along with a Randite&quot , there is a crucial difference: Heinlein was a firm believer in sacrifice and service to the community, which would be anathema to the true Randite. I think that constitutes a saving grace.

-- Mal