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[Joost]

New Zealand?

[Bobber]

Canada. Hell, even the first Brits may have come from the mainland of Europe.

[pc31]

who has more diverse nationalities???

[alexis]

That's a debatable statement. Certainly if that particular country has democracy is its main religion.

And actually since 50.01% of voters decide who gets into office, it really isn't fair to tar all with the same brush (new brush for me please).

And even more actually (  :-/ ), more than 50% of voters voted AGAINST the current president in his first election, so democracy doesn't always have the effect one hopes it would.

[Bobber]

And even more actually (  :-/ ), more than 50% of voters voted AGAINST the current president in his first election, so democracy doesn't always have the effect one hopes it would.

Then your democracy is no democracy at all, I guess.

[alexis]

Then your democracy is no democracy at all, I guess.

You think? I wouldn't have thought that ours was the only system where a non-majority can direct policy. For example, I think in most countries the Constitution can't be changed by a simple majority, but rather requires "super majority" of the electorate to change it. So I would respectfully disagree that this makes the system overall "no democracy at all".

[Bobber]

On the other hand, maybe there is no real democratic system in the right sense of the word.

[alexis]

On the other hand, maybe there is no real democratic system in the right sense of the word.

That's probably a good thing, otherwise 2 could always gang up on 1. There's a phrase that floats around now and then, that we all need guaranteed protection from the "tyranny of the majority". In this country that protection is afforded by the Constitution and its Amendments (government can't start its own religion, no slavery, that sort of thing).

[Sondra]

I think people often inflate a straightforward dislike of particular American policies or administrations into a generalized contempt for America as a whole. It's cheap and easy to do, and will earn you some cachet from leftists and (pseudo) intellectuals, including American ones. But I've lived in America off and on many times over the past twenty years, and Americans as a whole do not conform to the cliches put out about them any more than the citizens of other countries fit the commonplaces circulating about them. Anti-Americanism is just simple resentment or political populism (usually self-servingly opportunistic) masquerading as moral superiority.

Were you born in the States? Or Canada? For some reason I thought you were an American living in Canada.  But you also seem a bit British! Just curious!  

[Geoff]

Were you born in the States? Or Canada? For some reason I thought you were an American living in Canada.  But you also seem a bit British! Just curious!  

Sorry if I left the wrong impression: I'm Canadian, in fact.  Most of my family is from the UK (Ireland and Scotland on my mother's side, England and a whole lot of other places on my father's), and I've spent a lot of time on the west coast at various points between Vancouver and Los Angeles. I'm a mongrel and a vagrant, really.  

[Sondra]

Sorry if I left the wrong impression: I'm Canadian, in fact.  Most of my family is from the UK (Ireland and Scotland on my mother's side, England and a whole lot of other places on my father's), and I've spent a lot of time on the west coast at various points between Vancouver and Los Angeles. I'm a mongrel and a vagrant, really.  

Ah. I've just wondered. But the Canadian/British spellings kind of gave it away! Thanks for answering as it was a bit personal!  

[Geoff]

Ah. I've just wondered. But the Canadian/British spellings kind of gave it away! Thanks for answering as it was a bit personal!  

No problem: it's not personal in a bad way.  

[Bill Harry]

Strange, because growing up in Liverpool there was a lot of all things American and the kids loved 'the Yanks' who were stationed in Burtonwood, many of them marrying British girls. Then there were the Cunard Yanks, one of them comments:

[alexis]

Hi Bill!

Thanks for the perspective. My, the people you've met. Has anyone ever written a book called "In My Life"? I think you deserve the title!

I have heard that NYC and Liverpool are very much alike, and that is one of the things that drew John to NYC. People on both sides have been described as gruff on the outside, but loving and caring on the inside, they are both large ports. Have you ever spent a long period of time in NYC? Do you agree with this?

Thanks :-)

[Bill Harry]

I loved New York, although we've only been there twice. Originally we went over with a number of groups and stayed with Led Zeppelin at Loews Middtown Motor Inn. We used to go to an English bar nearby and a club in the evening, where I bumped into our old friend Jimi Hendrix for the last time. We then went around with Ten Years After to the gigs at a venue the Fillmore East and were also with Jethro Tull. Then we went to the Newport Jazz Festival with Zeppelin and Jeff Beck. Then we went to Philadelphia with Zeppelin and Savoy Brown to appear at the Spectrum Bowl. But I really got to know NY a couple of years ago when 1964 invited us across to attend a Carnegie hall concert, we met up with some friends Tony Bramwell and May Pang. Virginia and I took one of those sight-seeing buses that took us all round the city. Virginia also loved the shopping and we went to Bloomingdales etc. Another friend, Rusty, who has a tribute band, took us out for a meal in Chinatown, having a tour of greenwich Village on the way

[BlueMeanie]

^Just another normal day then!

[pc31]

if you remember the romans had a democracy in the beginning and even alexander the great they said was big on it...it seems to utimately fail....it is said that thomas jefferson took the idea of the constitution from the iroqui indians but he left out the council of women and that of the elders,which meant all factions of a nation were reprsented in government...because those savage indians were well into democracy and it worked and was working well until....well thats another story...a type of genocide in some opinions...but if all the needs don't get some attention someone who is doing without will not be happy...and in democratic dominions everybody are never happy..so does the system work???the only way to whip the sh*t out of this depression on the world is world unification...put religion on the side burner and work on a better world for our kids,because the should have a chance to f*** up like we did....in fact we could sterilize them and help out...kidding peeps...chill...world unity maybe we could give them acorns..oh john and yoko tried that didn't they.....

[Ligger]

I hitchhiked across America between my college sophomore and junior years, in 1973. What an eye-opening experience.

People outside NYC were very friendly and open. I got lots of invitations from the folks who gave me rides to stay at their homes. One lady was part of a commune in Kansas. Her room mates had all been busted at a festival in Canada, so she let me and my traveling companion spend a few nights on her farm. Very generous.

There were lots of stories like that. On the way back home to NYC, the van I was riding in broke down and we were stuck in Salt Lake City for three days. A university student there befriended us and suggested staying at the dorms. She and I exchanged addresses when I left. She eventually moved to NY and we became a couple for five years.

Liverpool people seemed cut from the same cloth. When I spent time there in the late eighties, I never had to spend more than a night or two at a hotel. The folks that I met in pubs near the Art College told me that I was foolish to waste my money like that when they had empty sofas in their living rooms.

What a friendly bunch of Scousers they were.

By the way, Bill, I believe I met you for the first time the night the Jeff Beck Group (with Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood) played the Fillmore East. Jethro Tull opened for them and I was taking photos. You gave me your business card and asked me to call you if the Tull shots turned out well. I think Jimmy Page was backstage that night, too.

A few nights later Led Zeppelin joined Beck's group onstage at the Singer Bowl for quite an intense once in a lifetime jam. One of my shots from that show was used for the original "Beckology" box set booklet.

[Bill Harry]

Dear Ligger,
Yes, we did meet that night. New York to me was a different place than it was on my second trip. What I remember most was  going out to the English pub in the evening and the nightclub at night. I forget the name of the club. I remember we had groupies banging on our bedroom door! Bonzo accomodated them. There was a swimming pool on the roof, but you had to wear a bathing cap. Late at night when we wanted a drink I went to reception and asked where I could get a bottle of whiskey. The receptionist laughed and said I wouldn't be able to get a drink anywhere in New York at that time of night. I went to the club, it was closed, but I knocked on the door. They knew me from Zeppelin and the other groups and gave me a free bottle of whiskey - as i went back to the hotel I waved the bottle to the receptionist. I remember there were a lot of groupies at the club. A chap with short hair came up to me, pleased to see me. I realised it was jimi Hendrix and he'd had his hair cut. People had intimated that New york was a dangerous place then and I had to be careful. I was walking across the road by myself when a little old lady stopped me and asked if I could help her to her apartment. I did, taking her down small side streets to her home. I never felt any danger at all in New york although that was the time they were calling it 'kill city' or something.

[duane v]

Not to put a damper on this thread, but the division that exists on this planet just astounds me You would swear planets like ours (with prime realestate to house intelligent life) are a dime a dozen in our own solar system.

We (as humans) will be the death of this planet:(