Ron,
I like the story about the monkeys. Good stuff.
But I don't quite get the analogy to bonsai as practiced in this country. Who exactly is advocating jin on ficus? Who is advocating aerial roots on junipers? (And how the hell do you grow them! Inquiring minds want to know!) Where can one read that soil is all the same?
Nope, I thought the analogy was going to go in a different direction. I thought that there was a certain on-line cage of monkeys, and every time those monkeys tried to discuss roots, they got sprayed with cold water because a fight would break out. Then one day a poor newcomer monkey came by, mentioned roots sensibly enough, and doggone if the other monkeys didn't jump all over him.
All the best,
Old Mister