Just returned from a trip to Japan. In truth, I think modern Tokyo is one of the great accomplishments in civilizational history. It is the apex city. There are 40 million people living there with extremely high levels of *justified* social trust. It's incredibly clean, orderly, and safe, and yet it doesn't feel totalitarian--at least not if you behave yourself like a civilized person. The respect for individual freedom is clear and visible. Reaching such high levels of social harmony would be an accomplishment for a single neighborhood, but Tokyo happens to the biggest city in the world. The sheer size alone is unbelievable--the infrastructure alone boggles the mind--and yet it's coupled with ultra-high levels of social harmony. There's nothing else like it. Truly, it gives me some pride as a human. What an incredible thing we've accomplished.