[the_old_crowd] Re: Got a question... (now OT)

[Parker Brown Nesbit]

David wrote:


>Allow me to explain.
>
>The USA is a rationally-based constitutional state, and naturally the
>electorate there dispassionately makes up its mind on the issues,
>based on the best evidence available.

Rational?  Dispassionate?  Um, don't think so.
>
>Sadly, in the UK, this is not always the case, and one sometimes finds
>that people draw political conclusions from quite incidental cultural
>features.  For example, one might look at a person and say "this
>person wears a Fair Isle sweater, and therefore supports entry into
>the Euro" or "this person sports a beard, and therefore sets explosive
>devices near laboratories where animal experiments take place"
>or "this person takes part in discussions of fiction on the internet
>and therefore cannot be trusted to take part in the electoral process."

We do that here too.  I can't count the number of times someone's looked at 
either me or my husband & jumped to conclusions about us based on our looks 
(just because he has a ponytail & I have a tendency to wear either historic 
shirts with jeans or t-shirts with 'liberal' statements (my current 
favourite reads 'Born Again Pagan').

Folks here often have a tendency to look at an African-American who has 
'made it' and think 'he's a drug dealer' when in fact, he may be a doctor.  
And recently Muslims have been singled out simply because of their religion.
>
>It's hard to see how we can get away from this backward state of
>affairs.  My own solution is to make handguns available to the
>population on demand, and then these people would soon be put in their
>place.  It does Mr Blair credit that, in his adherence to Mr Bush's
>lead in everything, he shows that he recognises this problem.

Handguns are available to the general public here--after one passes a 
background check (and I wonder just how thorough it is) and takes a course 
on handgun safety.  Our local library has a sign on its door that states 'No 
concealable weapons allowed'.  I must admit that it scares me that anyone I 
meet walking down the street might have a handgun.
>
>David

Parker