"You travel here for two months? You are crazy. India no good. Too much war, too much people, too much corruption."

After five weeks in India I have no patience for ancient Tata buses so I hire a taxi to take me to the next city. My driver is maybe 20, likes loud Indian pop music, and subsists on flavored sugar packets which in theory should be mixed with water. He speaks.

"Do you love India? Man, I love India. Best place on the planet."

You want skunk?
"Hmm, no. Do you have any Brie?"
No, only skunk.
"I haven't had any Brie in months. God, I would kill someone for some Brie."

if a technology requires near-perfect government (honest, incorruptible, technologically adept, secure, with continuity, immune to crony capitalism and nepotism, transparent, genuinely servants of the people) in order to prevent its becoming lethal and sublethal for large numbers of citizens, is it a sensible option?  especially when the lethality of the technology has a run-time that exceeds the tenure in power of any government on Earth, ever?

"You are a young race and lay great stock by your own cleverness," Swarm said. "As usual, you fail to see that intelligence is not a survival trait."

- Bruce Sterling, Swarm