Probably the most difficult experience I've had in the wilderness was a hike I did over about a week, where I severely misjudged the difficulty of the terrain and consequently was traveling much slower than expected.  Since I only had enough supplies for the time I had allowed to begin with, I had to hike from dawn until well after dark each night to arrive at my destination on time.  This meant no time or energy for shelter, fire, cooking etc.  Just cold food and cold nights, I must say after that experience I was very glad to be home.  In my environment it's quite possible to set up camp in the bush and live quite comfortably, not in the same sense as living in a city but it certainly isn't like you're at high risk of losing your life.  The word comfort takes on a different meaning when you're talking about wilderness living.  It doesn't mean you have 24 hour access to fast food and television, more like you have a warm place to sleep and you aren't painfully hungry all day every day.

I can see how this might be different in extremely cold climates, although I would still have thought that if you're set up somewhere long enough to have a decent shelter you should be able to live quite well.

...unless these character shortages are so massive that they undermine the underlying economic base...

I think that was the point...

Without even considering possible mystical factors, which I would not discount since I do not believe that time is as absolute as many people believe it to be.  There are numerous factors which could render Crow's story possible.  For example, it is more than likely that the person dropping the ruler signals their intentions in some way that can be picked up on intuitively by certain people.  It should be obvious that there are more variables at work than pure reaction time alone.

"If birth is not a matter of chance, then it is not a coincidence for a being to "awaken" to itself in the body of a man or a woman.  Here too, the physical difference should be viewed as the equivalent of a spiritual difference; hence a being is a man or a woman in a physical way only because a being is either masculine or feminine in a transcendental way; sexual differentiation, far from being an irrelevant factor in relation to spirit, is the sign that points to a particular vocation and to a distinctive dharma."

Julius Evola - Revolt Against the Modern World

This is not an easy thing to explain, since it presupposes a certain understanding of the world that goes beyond the scope of a forum post, but I will try to offer some context.  The relationship man-woman, is not simply a biological accident, it corresponds to a duality and a complementarity that is visible everywhere is nature.  This is because this duality is an essential part of the metaphysical foundation of the entire universe, this is made quite clear in certain formulations from Eastern philosophies such as Yin-Yang and Atma-Maya.  Therefore being born a man or a woman is not simply a biological accident, it defines one's relationship to the universe in a very profound way.

This may seem somewhat at odds with what I was saying earlier, although I maintain that there are always exceptional cases and there is no reason not to treat these as such.  Also as far as voting is concerned, if we must return to this tired subject, the nature of a Western democracy is so profane that it basically rules out the possibility of the application or spiritual truths in any meaningful way.

I agree, and I think we are now making the same point.  What I was saying that artificially restricting these exceptional women like the ones you mention purely because of their gender is a problem.  Any civilization worthy of the name will recognize exceptional qualities in an individual regardless of their gender or other factors.  Note that modern society does the opposite, it seeks to elevate individuals based on any factors other than aptitude and quality, such as gender, race etc...

I am not trying to justify feminism, which, like many modern developments was unjustified even though it did have a cause.  Trying to uncover the cause is not the same thing as saying that something was a good idea.

The pieces you mentioned are excellent, although they come from a time in which sacred music was in decline.  If you are interested in sacred music it may be worthwhile investigating the development of this tradition from the middle-ages through to Bach, where it played a much more central and significant role in the evolution of Western music.

Ensemble Organum - Kyrie Orbis Factor

Perotin - Sederunt Principes

Palestrina - Canticum Canticorum

Bach - St. Matthew Passion

This music also gives some insight into the nature of Christianity before it was modernized and corrupted by humanist ideas.

Obviously I wasn't clear enough the first time.  I am saying that if you are making the required effort to select the minority of men who are capable of making an intelligent decision about the leadership of a nation, then you already have the necessary systems in place to select the (smaller) minority of women with the same capabilities. 

We are not concerned with gender but rather with someone's capacity to make a decision about leadership, the fact that it is likely that fewer women are capable of this is really not even a relevant issue.  It is really only due to a historical events that we even consider eligibility to vote in terms of gender.

All fair statements.  I wonder if it's really possible to justify the existence of video games at all?  It seems to me that many modern inventions serve no purpose but are cleverly designed to distract us from their inherent uselessness.