One filled with retribution and little in the way of prevention or =
problem solving. It's as if the population as a whole says to those 'on =
the edge' "I've succeeded, you haven't and it's your fault" and of =
course everything here is always justified by that constitution. =20
Surely it's about creating a decent a civil society and how you go about =
achieving this? Surely somewhere along the way some other rights are =
given up so that the whole benefits, and not just by those who have =
failed to become the most successful, failed to become affluent and =
failed to gain the power.=20
I feel that there is a real resistance to honestly taking a hard look at =
the culture, to be critical of past icons and 'what used to be' and to =
perhaps one day actually look to other countries and see what they do to =
deal with cultural issues and problems. America is not always right and =
they are not the only democracy existing in the world.
It's quite paradoxical really as I can honestly say that very often I =
feel I'm living in the 'wild wild west' - and I live on the east coast! =
- where all problems are solved by 'might is right' and yet I'm =
constantly amazed by the conservatism.
Jennifer (New York State)
jmck@frontiernet.net
----------