[icenine]

We have 350 million people in a geographically smaller country. Canada is the world's second largest nation geographically speaking but has a much smaller population than we do. I think their nation is easier to manage for one thing.

The point the author made about Jefferson advocating change to keep up with a society always in a dynamic flux is valid. I honestly believe we have people voting that do not really understand what they are voting for.

On the other hand though we are not as bad as people say..otherwise they would not want to come here. The biggest moral stain in our history was slavery and jim crow. And we have made pretty good progress dealing with that. I am sort of with Whell about comparing our Revolution to the Soviet takeover of Russia....plus we did not commit genocide like Stalin did, if you can describe economic and political policies that killed millions of his own countrymen in such terms. Of course Native Americans might disagree with me on that point.

I think the thing that makes us very positive in the eyes of the world is that we our a classless society in that we do not discriminate on the basis of the ACQUISITION of wealth...in other words we offer more or less equality of opportunity for all people regardless of birth. In England you are judged on your accent and it is a sort of rigid society. Here you may be judged by how you speak but it will not be a hindrance to you in most cases. Plus being able to buy a house on credit makes us really nice in the eyes of immigrants from the "third world" who have to pay cash for their homes. That is what someone from Afghanistan told me once.

If I am beginning to sound like the Arkay or Wigwam Jones of political chat just shoot me.