"William Seward imagined that the U.S. might one day acquire British Columbia and thus bring all of the Pacific coast north of Baja into American sovereignty."

All these grand imaginings. What a thrill, to conceive of such plans, and then approach people in power and take steps manipulate acquisition of large swaths of the earth. Human greatness at work!  We can tell, because we name things after people like this everywhere we go - towns, holidays, streets, mountains, rivers, parks, etc., turning the entire world into a planetary homage to humanism.

One of the most brilliant things I've ever heard anyone say was articulated by a Ford Motor Co. executive in the early 90s.  He was talking about the company's disastrous state in the early 80s, before they changed everything and made the Taurus.  He described their many layers of complexity and bloated costs that resulted in shoddy goods and sleezy culture.  He then looked at our group and said, "The problem is, people are creative!"