Until this nation comes to terms with this flaw in social planning (or the absence thereof), obesity, social isolation, and consumerism (which necessitates the American work ethos), will continue to be increasing problems for the fabric of American society.

BBC: Americans are getting fatter faster than ever before.

Software company 37Signals, the darling of the bootstrapper movement, began spearheading an anti-meeting work ethos, and talking up its new workplace design ( check out the pictures here), which was practically company philosophy (as articulated by founder Jason Fried in his excellent book Rework for example) expressed as interior design.

FORBES: An Organization Design Renaissance

Or are their votes more of an economic tantrum against the globalization that threatens the less-work, more-welfare ethos of their contemporary lives?

FORBES

"This is a wonderful place to work and, in terms of how I work with produce and ingredients, it is very similar to the ethos here, " he says.

WSJ: Bruce Palling on Food: Petersham Nurseries' New Bloom

Brian Behlendorf, founder and chief technology officer of CollabNet, says that the open-source ethos allows programmers, particularly those collaborating from different locations, to work together more efficiently.

ECONOMIST: The software-development industry