I’ll never forget one of the lessons taught to me by my junior high Social Studies teacher. Somehow, he got off on a rant about “new.” “People are suckers for the words ‘new,’” he said. “If it’s got that word ‘new’ on it, people will go for it. The new car, the new clothes,” and then he glared at me and filled his voice with his trademark venom. “The new Star Trek movie.” What can I say? It was 1991 and the only thing I was talking about was the upcoming Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. But, at least to me, he made his point. What is it about “new” that gets people all swept up? Why are they so focused on making things newer? There are many examples of this. Trouble over in China recently made the comment that Chinese people think Canada is a much better country, because everything here is so “new,” compared to their classical buildings built 600 years ago. But let me present a case study much closer to home.