Dave Cary is hard-bodied. At age 69 he cycled from Seattle to Portland in a single day. Last year he built a deck onto his house: by himself, with twelve-foot 2×12’s. Dave’s seventy-six now, and bemoans that his physical prowess peaked at age 68.

Dave Cary is soft-souled. More than forty years ago he picked up a hitchhiker, gave him a ride and lunch money. Later that afternoon, the kid came to Dave’s office with his lunch receipt and the change. Impressed by this extreme honesty, Dave delved into the boy’s story and guided a reunion with his parents. That teenager cemented Dave’s faith in humanity.

Dave Cary is a serial entrepreneur. He’s owned a 24-hour donut shop, a seafood restaurant, three different pizza joints, and a tavern. “My strategy was to buy build-up, and sell.”

Dave Cary is a serial husband. He’s been married three times. Sharon, his wife of twenty-three years, has been married twice. They have six children total between them. “We are the marrying kind. Almost a hundred years of married life between us.”

Dave Cary is an atheist. He believes there is no god, and religion is for the weak. His bookshelves are lined with titles like, Why Darwin Matters. “It took me ten years to evolve from being a Christian to being an atheist. The Christian perspective is so prevalent; it took that long for me to be comfortable in my own beliefs. But Christan prevalence is recent. I was in school when the words ‘under God’ were added to our Pledge of Allegiance.” Dave raised his sons as atheists. “Two of my sons have become Christians. I consider that a failure. Christianity is an authority figure, like a parent. Adults shouldn’t need to lean on a parent. I am comfortable with what I don’t know. Look around you and the meaning of life is everywhere clear. It is to thrive. That’s why sex is fun. That’s why a seed in the ground sprouts. That’s why the hummingbirds hover at my feeder. We are all struggling to thrive.”

How will we live tomorrow?

“Humans are not planners, we are short-term thinkers. Gas prices are moderate now and high efficiency car sales are down. We will have crisis after crisis before we change. It’s as if we’re all Republicans. We believe in God, whom we can’t see, but we don’t believe in climate change, which is smacking us in the face.

“Religions are invented by man. They reflect his interests. If you’re going to invent a god, invent one that allows you to do what you want to do. Look at the Mormons and polygamy. Look at Crusades and Jihads. Look at male domination and female oppression. Men doing what they want, in the name of god.

“I don’t think we will survive 100 to 200 years from now if we don’t pull back on population. We will need to get back to the two to three billion range. There are different ways to reduce – genocide, war, disaster, political directive. But I am hopeful we will get there through education. I’d like to see some movement from the current Pope. But the real key is education of women. Wherever women are educated, populations level.”