> I don't think I can answer your question, but the more we see
> governments get their fingers in, the more they will try to do
> just that.
To recap, my question was:
"Do you think that this predominantly USA insanity has spread here?"
I don't think that the abdication of responsibility that seems to
have afflicted parts of the USA has spread here, but I do think that
there is too much of an expectation in Australia that government
should legislate and regulate where it is not appropriate.
I may have a rosy view of history but my recollection is that "in
the old days" there were conventions, peer group pressure and a
thing called culture that informed and regulated the average
citizen's behaviour.
I was watching Chris Patten's East and West last night on the ABC
and he showed Singapore's attempts to "educate" its citizens into
behaving better. Brainwashing might be a better term than education.
However, in order to drag a society out of the village and into the
high rise apartment complex, this is probably a necessary thing.
That doesn't make it a good thing for us or other countries or even
Singapore in the future, but it works for Singapore now.
I don't know what impact the Internet will have in this area. If a
civilised society is a balance between the rigidity of an
authoritarian state and the chaos of an anarchy, will the Internet
facilitate a balance or an extreme, one way or the other?
Jeez, this is getting deep.
-- So let me get this straight. You want to fly on a magic carpet to see the King of the Potato People and plead with him for your freedom, and you're telling me you're completely sane? -- from Red DwarfRegards brd
Bernard Robertson-Dunn Canberra Australia brd@dynamite.com.au