The only thing you really "have to" do, is die. All other "obligations" are voluntary. Regardless of how unappealing the alternative might be, you still technically have the option.

I imagine it would probably shake out the same way... A technologically stagnant civilization, 3000 years behind the curve versus a technologically advancing civilization on the leading edge of industry. It's kind of a foregone conclusion.

I heard the same thing, but it was celery.

I tried listening to NPR once, the whole time I'm talking back to the radio going; "That's a lie. Lie. Not true. Based false assumptions. Lie again. Misinterpreted. Lie. Lie. Taken out of context. Your opinion presented as fact. Again, not true. Not Proven. Assumption. Assumption. Feelings. Belief not fact. Lie. Wrong. Half-truth, misrepresented." You get the idea. I finally had to turn the guy off because he was so completely full of crap and his "guest" was even worse. It was a bit like listening to George Noory doing a show on cryptids from outer space. I'm getting Hollywood's leftist messages from almost every TV series on the air (they cancelled Tim Allen's series, and I never cared much for Roseanne Barr), and don't even get me started on the comedy or variety shows. Almost every form of media comes included with leftist ideology, just some are less subtle than others. To wit; Apparently every third human being is either gay or at least bi-curious. Every white guy is racist, if not overtly, then down deep in his subconscious. Military men are all psychotic warmongers who take great pleasure in killing, the more innocent the victim, the better they like it. Men think women are at best, pets and at worst, furniture. Corporations are all heartless and evil, and love profit so much that they'll take a dump in their own food if they can make an extra buck. Capitalism and free markets are a vast conspiracy perpetrated by rich white people to get even richer and whiter. The earth is a big fragile eggshell and if we step on it too hard it will crack and we will all fall into the yolk and drown. Don't even get me started on how Christians and Jews are typically portrayed, although ironically Muslims are all poor innocent victims of Western aggression. And I can't make out if Donald Trump is a villainous mastermind of heinous evil and corruption, or if he's a learning-disabled simpleton without the intellectual capacity God provided to the common rock. I guess it depends on which leftist nutball has his mouth open and on what day. It's not like I listen to talk radio morning, noon, and night anyway. I listen in the car. It takes me 20 minutes to get to work, and about a half hour to get home. It's a nice little respite to listen know I'm not the only person who thinks the prior paragraph is a giant truckload of horse dung.

Is so is. They re-released it under the name "Samurai Swords" (something about James Clavell pitching a fit over the name), so you can still find it if you know where to look.