John Kerry

It seems to me that he is speaking for working with the culture and accepting that they do not see the world as we do --- and then working with them. Given where he is and who he is, this IS someone arguing against forced modernity.

Not to mention, tribalism has NOT had 2 million years of success. Do you think the chaos of some of the remote tribal areas - try NW Pakistan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo are utopias or that the problems between the tribes are a function of the interaction with the west?

Not to mention, that the options are not black and white - a technology state with none of the culture and religion OR a nation which completely rejects any form of modernity. Even the example that you cite has plenty of counterexamples. Where nuclear power plants can't be all the things listed, there are technologies that DO have this potential. There have been articles where solar technology has provided power in remote areas to improve lives - and meets most of these criteria.

There is as much mythology of the "noble savage" as there is mythology that technology (or science) can solve all problems. Neither extreme is reasonable.