Regards,
Bob...
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By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy;
if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
- Socrates
----- Original Message -----
From: "Frantisek" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "P. J. Alling" <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, October 20, 2005 7:50 AM
Subject: Re: More Texas Photo Issues
Thursday, October 20, 2005, 3:19:53 AM, P. wrote:
PJA> The United States is the oldest Constitutional Republic in existence.
That's quite funny pissing contest :) US were a republic as much as
the old Rome was. Id est only small part of the population had any
constitutional rights.
I'm not very familiar with the early Roman Republic. In fact, I wasn't aware
that they were a constitutional republic. Usually, they simply describe the
structure and makeup of the government. The granting of specific powers to
the government by the people is also a relatively modern concept (by modern,
I mean compared to recorded history). Further, it's unusual, except in
relatively modern times for the constitution of a republic to address rights
in any form. Perhaps you could educate me about this early Roman
constitution.
Indians and other people of colour probably
didn't see much difference between the British colonies and the first
US in 1776... Not until a lot of time later.
Absolutely true. It's not easy being the first of it's kind. The first of
everything is always fraught with flaws and needs to grow. The first
automobile was a very flawed invention compared to the vehicles we have
today. Not everyone was ready for the concepts of the new republic any more
than roads were ready for the first car. Those republics that followed had
the benefit of observing what worked well and what needed improvement. I
hope the exposure of both our flaws and our strengths was a help.
That said, I don't mean the talk lowly of the system there - it sure
was a model for many other countries, including the first Czechoslovak
republic in 1918 (fortunately now, we no longer have a strong
presidential republic...).
I wrote that just that I find it funny, or even laughable and kind of
stupid, when somebody talks about how "his" state was the oldest
Contitutional Republic in existence... small minded patriotism, in my
opinion.
Well, I guess I'm just a small minded, kind of stupid patriot. I'm not sure
exactly how that makes a person small minded and kind of stupid, but maybe
that's because I'm small minded and kind of stupid. I'll try to do better
though by redressing others should they say something stupid and kind of
small minded concerning something they are proud of about their country.
Your excellent example is appreciated, and I'll be sure to give you the
credit, Frantisek, for this enlightenment as I redress them.
