Rich wrote: > [...] but with respect to political philosophy I am still inclined to > believe that the constitutional republican government in the U.S. has as > close to a level playing field as possible, ideally. I agree with that, with two additions. One is that what works as government structure depends a lot on the culture of a region; what works in one place may not work in another. It seems that some people forget that now and then (or disagree with it). The other is related to this: as much as culture changes with the place, it changes with time, and what works well also changes with time. And hopefully our standard of what works well increases with time (of course not continually, but at least generally... :). Gerhard -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist