Forgive me if this really seems like a very long rant. So far I’ve had a somewhat stressful week and have been working 16 hour days since Saturday. Tomorrow I am definitely planning to take the evening off and wonder around and see the Durham Cathedral and Castle. Possibly even the university. I do love old architecture. Hopefully pictures will follow.
First off I think everybody is deaf. They are dreadfully loud, all the time. They speak at the top of their lungs and barely enunciate. They are virtually yelling at each other all the time, probably due to the fact that they don't understand each other either (since it seems like a fundamental aspect of human nature to speak louder if it appears you aren't getting your meaning across).
They need small efficient vehicles because they drive with lead feet. This is probably a secondary reason to use Diesels in everything. Instead of using diesels because they are highly efficient at sustained loads they use them at full throttle to yank cars up to merging speeds due to their much higher torque at low speeds. Under the circumstances if you were to compare these vehicles to the "American" vehicles they are more fuel efficient. If you compare what people really get to what people really get back in the states I think the picture would look much different. Of course Americans still lose out due to the distance driven though for total consumption.
In fact an interesting thing for the environmentally "conscience" European governments very few of the diesels can actually pass emissions requirements in the united states. They produce far too much nitric acid (HNO2) which in the atmosphere causes acid rain. This is readily apparent in Athens which has for quite some time had the worst air quality in the world, where the priceless artifacts of the past are literally melting from it. The united states of course freaked out when pitting was noticed in the limestone façades of New York high-rises and quickly implemented the clean air act which, despite its flaws and lack of suitable enforcement methods against large polluters, has reduced significantly the noxious compounds released into our air. So yes the United States (and Australia) have not ratified the Kyoto protocol; why follow the rest of the world in a token effort to reduce CO2 emissions when most of them don't even make an effort to reduce compounds that cause health problems RIGHT NOW.
Okay so back on track. Lead-footing of everything: Roundabouts just make the problem worse because in the favor of "reducing congestion" they have traded stop lights to making every turn a dead stop to a merge with high speed traffic. In other words if you do have a lot of traffic you end up with worse congestion than you would otherwise since the roundabout gets clogged up to the max and nobody from any direction can get on. When I was in the states I always thought that roundabouts would be a great idea. I mean it all makes sense on paper.
But then I thought about another highly engineered "traffic" routing system. Ethernet. It normally is a self monitoring system and if the line is clear it will transmit. It also uses something called collision detection to self arbitrate the bus. However as you start to add more and more transmitting nodes the performance reduces significantly. In fact it has been acknowledged that for Ethernet to work you should not go beyond 70% (or something like that) utilization. If you want to go higher you use a SWITCH. You stop traffic and route it on a first come first serve basis. Switches didn't exist in the early days, people used to use hubs that would connect all the lines and keep traffic moving smoothly all at the same time. So great idea on paper, bad idea in reality.
Okay so next up. TV Licenses: 1000 pound fine if you don't have one. What is a TV license? Why do you need one? The whole concept of it just boggles the mind. Of course there are also Yearly Vehicle Registration/Road taxes...but only an 80 pound fine.
So I highly recommend traveling. See the world. Keep an open mind. Then think and draw some conclusions about yourself. Enjoy the past while its still exists.
diamond.co.uk: Legal gender discrimination? I mean who cares about equal rights for ALL?
Of course all of this has given me a totally different perspective on the United States trade deficit. Everywhere I look I see items, while locally made, are produced by companies that at one time were also locally owned but are now divisions are American companies. So yes Americans aren't producing as much anymore it is amazingly obvious to me here that American companies are very able to skim the cream off the milk of the world. So for the people that protest globalization in the United States because it is "exporting jobs" maybe you start protesting globalization because it is gradually enslaving the rest of the world.
There was a heavy dose of sarcasm in that last sentence. Those companies were able to be purchased for a reason. I'm sure many people in the world would rather be employed by an American company than totally jobless. Its really quite sad I think. Its no wonder that so much of the world resents the united states, but they need to turn the lens back on themselves and realize that through the powers of democracy they have willing relinquished rights unto a socialist government in favor of an "easier" life which has made local companies highly vulnerable to outside purchase. In fact the way a socialist government makes life easier to survive does it by sucking away what in the United States makes it possible to excel: rewards for brilliance and the right to generate wealth. There are NO FREE LUNCHES anywhere. You want the homeless to be housed, the poor to be fed, the jobless employed, and everybody to have free medical care? Then be prepared to give up your chance to be great.
Personally I would much rather see pain and suffering exist in the world today if it means the human race can move forward and become greater tomorrow. I don't want to see a new caste system in place that trades progress for stability.
The only real danger to the United States economy is if there is a world movement towards Nationalization of private companies and its own citizens voting for socialization.
Homework Reading: The Communist Manifestos by Leonard Peikoff
