NB - stay away from subsets of in-country politics or the thread will die an almost instant death. It may anyway. On 29 November 2014 at 21:48, Richard R. Pope wrote: > .... even though the US is headed towards being a dictatorship. .... That statement has been being made by some or other group forever. There is always some merit to it, but always not very much at all. This is not the correct forum for politispeak. > > In fact there was an activist that was murdered in China a couple of > weeks ago for speaking out about how dangerous the food supply is > That may be true. But/and that was happening in the US in the 1930's at least and no doubt before and after. FWIW. > The rule of law does not exist outside North America and Western Europe. That is manifestly incorrect. Start with eg Australia and NZ - do they meet your definition? How would they compare with countries that are included in your description= .. I suggest that you try to look at your world map more closely and think about 'what applies where' before you making such blanket statements. OR add a footnote redefining your use of terms such as "law" that allow such statements to be considered true. Even in countries with very high levels of corruption, law is reasonably well delivered for many of the people much of the time. (Alas, that can leave a largish percentage fallin throught the gaps all too often). Russell --=20 http://www.piclist.com/techref/piclist PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .