The book, Ishmael, which my son had to read over the summer for school, pointed out that there are certain laws that we are trying to avoid through our implementation of civilization, but that we are doomed to follow.  One of those laws is that life and death are natural events and that both provide the opportunity for growth through evolution.  HBR, in “Downsizing Lost Its Bad Rap”, October 2009, suggests the possible conclusion that layoffs this year, while large in scale, aren’t viewed as negatively as before.  Perhaps we’re learning that these events are more natural and that we can grow out of them.