Small communities being more caring - I dunno. Everyone tells me they hate where I live (London) because people don't know each other and so have no community and are unpleasant, and I tell them that people are just as unpleasant in their little villages with their gossip and backbiting. But it is easier for people to be more caring to their neighbours if they know them, and easier to care for smaller numbers of people - it can get difficult when there are millions of people around you all the time. Self sufficiency is good because it helps prevent rows over resources. Not that trade isn't ok too, just that self sufficiency can provide more security. Oh, I didn't mean small communities meaning less resources so much as lower population - there must be a limited number of people the world can hold, surely? I know people argue and say tis not so, but it already feels pretty uncomfortable where I live.

Lots of things that don't have capacity to reason are subject to ethics. Environmental ethics, for one. I don't think many people have the capacity for empathy outside their pack, or for reason, for that matter. Certainly not many I've met, unfortunately. Some, but not the majority. Animals certainly have the capacity for feeling and enjoyment and happiness and lots more, which are all part of the brilliance of life.