Tariffs and sky high audio prices.

Once upon a time, many years ago, back in 1961 a man of power and influence said, "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what, together, we can do for the freedom of man".


It would seem that since then, individual selfishness has resulted in the will of the minority taking precedence over the will of the majority and has resulted in political parties caring more about the power of the party than the good of the people.

Some would say that this is just history repeating itself...that this is the fall of the Roman empire all over again.  It is hard not to fear that all may soon be lost (from the standpoint of America as a symbol of power being used for the good of all people) if we are unable to change our direction...both as individual people and as a country.

It would seem that since then, individual selfishness has resulted in the will of the minority taking precedence over the will of the majority and has resulted in political parties caring more about the power of the party than the good of the people

Perfectly stated. Our founding fathers called these types of parties, factions, and were to be avoided at all costs. It happens when the wealthy pollute the politics with their goals and desires at the expense of the less well off.

I remember when Richard Dryefuss was on a talk show (Politically Correct?) long after being an actor and on hiatus teaching American Civics and the Constitution over in England, and he said that if we’re not careful, this 200+ year experiment in democracy will be nothing more than a memory if we don’t work to keep it. It will just be a shining blip in the dark history of mankind.

All the best,
Nonoise

Have faith, throw away that Chinese, European and American transistor junk and get NOS tubes with equipment to match. Renounce digital too, it has no real value and leads in the wrong direction. In other words, do something more than babbling on Audiogon.

Frankly, the primary reason America exists is the basic premise that the majority must fight to protect the rights and freedoms of the minority. We haven’t always honored the spirit of this, but its an ideal worth chasing.

Our privilege to lead others internationally is granted, its not to be purchased, taken or demanded. To have a friend, be a friend. To get a square deal, you must give a square deal. Back to third grade right?

Back in the day, we kids in grammar school were given copybooks in which to practice our handwriting. (Yes, we learned to write in cursive back then).

Each lesson in the copybook had a heading that had to be copied over and over until the handwriting was perfect. The headings were truisms, and the idea was to not only practice our handwriting but in addition, to burn the truisms into our subconscious minds in order to develop us into good citizens.

Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem about copybook headings to illustrate just exactly how societies crumble and fall. I’d like to share it with you guys:

• The Gods of The Copybook Headings

As I pass through my incarnations in every age and race, I Make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market-Place. Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.

We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn: But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision, and Breadth of Mind, So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.

We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace, Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market-Place. But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.

With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch, They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch. They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings. So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.

When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace. They swore if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease. But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe, And the Gods of the Copybook Heading said: "Stick to the Devil you know."

On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life (Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife) Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "The Wages of Sin is Death."

In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all, By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul; But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: "If you don’t work you die."

Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew, And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four -- And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.

As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man -- There are only four things certain since Social Progress began -- That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire, And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire -- And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins, When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins, As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn, The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!

--- Rudyard Kipling - 1919