Chris; Your last paragraph below pretty much repeats what I tried to say. But our Constitution is loose enough to permit a wide range of interpretations, some of them probably abusive in my opinion. But its value is that it does not frame anything so closely that alternative interpretations are not possible. That's why there's a Supreme Court. Their decisions need to be in keeping with some arguably valid interpretation even though a different interpretation might also be arguable. That's why the majority court opinion rules. Simple, elegant. And changeable.
I have been in Canada fairly often, all over. It's a fine country as far as I can discern but then I'm always only a tourist. Their current constitution was enacted in 1982, based on an earlier amended constitution from around 1867. I think there a many contentious issues in Canada and a difficult relationship with respect to the influence of the U.S. economy. Curiously, I've never had success in buying a good History of Canada book. Do you know of one? wc ----- Original Message ---- From: caldwell-brobeck <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sat, July 7, 2012 6:10:33 PM Subject: Re: Independence Day They're just a sampling William, and mostly of things that interest me, so they tend to focus on quality of life things for a pretty average person. And my response was to Cheerskep's post (which was about determining the best; there's no mention of "Constitution" in his post or prior ones). But feel free to pick your own sampling, google "country rankings by (whatever)" and you'll often find studies by reputable institutions. Depending on the "whatever". As for Quebec, I lived there for a long time; it's a great province but a little too nationalist and socialist for my tastes, so I wound up eventually here in Nova Scotia... I don't disagree re. the US Constitution, it's a great document. But there's no end of good constitutions in the world (many based on the American one) supporting wretched regimes; a constitution only works as well as the society itself. Think of it like a script for a play; if the actors can't be bothered reading it, how well can they perform it? Cheers; Chris On Sat, Jul 7, 2012 at 7:21 PM, William Conger <[email protected]> wrote: > I agree that there are plenty of best things for each person in every way. >Your > selected positive views about Canada offset by select negative views about > America are meaningless as a social science type statement or even as a >judgment > because they are subjective, selected by a-priori bias, and not parallel to one > another. By the way, what Canada do you speak of? Quebec? > > No government can claim to be the overall best, obviously, because no > government can fully meet the desires or needs of every citizen, or even >provide > the maximum opportunity or individual freedom all at the same time. My >remarks > were, I thought, focused on the American Constitution which is, in my judgment, > the best formal instrument for moving toward the best conditions for the > greatest number of people. It has worked for that purpose for a long time, the > longest of any nation in the modern era, and remains flexible enough to last > into the foreseeable future, accommodating change without loss of ideals, > purposeful values, ethical guidelines, and the greatest freedom for the >greatest > number under democratic law, itself subject to change. > wc > > > ----- Original Message ---- > From: caldwell-brobeck <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Sat, July 7, 2012 4:57:44 PM > Subject: Re: Independence Day > > Certainly any determination of "best" requires qualification - i.e. > "best" in what sense? Personally, having lived in both the US and > Canada, I much prefer Canada. Better education, better healthcare, > more economic freedom, less crime, less intrusive government, less > incarceration, greater economic mobility,more civil society, that sort > of thing. But to each his, or her, own. > Cheers; > Chris > > > On Sat, Jul 7, 2012 at 5:21 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: >> An effective array of good moment-summoning details, William. The ability >> to do that is no doubt allied to the ability to select the details that make >> for good representational visual art. I've often felt that if you hadn't >> gone into visual art yourself, you might have become a novelist -- provided >> you >> could provide the necklace-chain of plot. >> >> As for this country's being the best, I agree, so I hope you didn't see the >> first episode of Sorkin's new tv series NEWSROOM. It opens with a rattle of >> data that supposedly prove we are not the best country. But there's a >> defective logic at work. For example, the opening datum was, I think, that >> our >> kids rank 15th or 25th or something in the world when it comes to math >> scores. Number 1 was Finland. At best, all judgments of "best" are arbitrary, >> but >> the pertinence of that datum in judging that Finland is a "better" country >> than the U.S. is dubious to me. >> >> >> In a message dated 7/4/12 12:56:16 PM, [email protected] writes: >> >> >>> I'm a sappy romantic patriot when it comes to Independence day. I love >>> remembering the joyous days of youth when we had plenty of firecrackers, >>> smoke >>> bombs, 'Roman candles' and maybe a few outlawed cherry bombs. We had the >>> run of >>> the little Wisconsin farm town and probably did dangerous things by >>> setting off >>> 'fingerling' firecrackers by every little pigtailed girl we saw or by >>> blowing up >>> tin cans with bigger three-inch firecrackers and shooting our bee-be guns >>> at >>> every sparrow we glimpsed. The cherry bombs were saved for something >>> special, >>> something big, out of adult view. I remember the flag parades down Main >>> Street >>> with the old WWI veterans trudging loosely ahead of snappy young soldiers >>> in >>> close formation. The pathetic High school Band did its best, too, and all >>> applauded them. Then we had our big afternoon picnic on a bluff >>> overlooking the >>> Mississippi and I can assure you it was pure Americana with lots of fat >>> relatives in aprons spreading out their three hundred varieties of potato >>> salads, cold chicken, beer, pop and cookies on half-rotted picnic tables >>> while >>> Oshkosh-by-Gosh farmer-husbands lit campfires for hot-dogs and >>> marshmellows. We >>> messy reckless kids ran and climbed trees, stick-chasing puppies barked, >>> sputtering old sun-faded rattle-trap cars still steamed under a big tree >>> at the >>> hilltop. Best of all was the huge vista of blue sky, the wide river, >>> and the >>> distant woodsy lands beyond (where imaginary Indians danced). None of it >>> was >>> ever equal led in later, older eyes. Now I want to celebrate the grown >>> up >>> American Dream that underpinned that children's' delight: Social equality >>> and >>> fellowship; honesty and fair play; freedom with charity. If you're an >>> American, >>> you'd better wave that flag today or be shamed. You almost surely have >>> more good >>> fortune than you deserve. I'll also celebrate liberal-progressive >>> ancestors >>> David Conger, private NJ militia, 1776-78; Edward Conkling, Sag Harbor NY, >>> Commander of Privateer Eagle killed at sea by British foes, 8 May 1779; >>> and >>> David Seabury, patriot, killed at Ft. Groton CT by mercenaries led by >>> traitor >>> Benedict Arnold, 6 Sept. 1781. They and millions of others have assured >>> our >>> still evolving ideals and Independence, still the best ever devised and >>> sustained so long. It's a cultural aesthetic. >>> wc
