[NetBehaviour] Will a pandemic bring down civilisation?

[james jwm-art net]

"FOR years we have been warned that a pandemic is coming. It could be
flu, it could be something else. We know that lots of people will die.
As terrible as this will be, on an ever more crowded planet, you can't
help wondering whether the survivors might be better off in some ways.
Wouldn't it be easier to rebuild modern society into something more
sustainable if, perish the thought, there were fewer of us."

..

"A growing number of researchers, however, are coming to the conclusion
that far from becoming ever more resilient, our society is becoming ever
more vulnerable (see page 30). In a severe pandemic, the disease might
only be the start of our problems."

mORe:
http://wwwwsonneteighteencom.blogspot.com/2008/04/will-pandemic-bring-down-civilisation.html

dead tree version recommended for rest of feature.