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Let's go be European!
Mar. 5th, 2003 12:26 pmThere's some cool stuff happening over on the other side of the pond. Maybe western civilization isn't s'bad after all.
Many, many manliness points for the Pope.
Show of hands -- who knew that a European Space Agency even existed, let alone that they were planning on sending up a probe to the moon?
Just things like this... almost makes you want to play the Chariots of Fire themesong, become a soccer fan, sit and think about things like the Olympics and the University of Helsinki and the UN and human dignity and the European Track Circuit and the Shared Human Experience, and ... sandwich, the US should be more like that.
What we need is a generally accepted international understanding that people think that they're being reasonable, actual reasonable people, a nice moderate socialism, appreciation for everybody's culture everywhere, more buildings that have flags from all over the world on them, more polyglots, better civil liberties everywhere, more reasonable laws about and moderate consumption of alcohol (Germany seems to have that about right), faster 'net connections for everybody who wants them, Free Software, better appreciation for art and artists, more green spaces in the middle of cities, better city planning, cooler architecture, free education and health care, hybrid-powered cars, better public transportation for cities, people who care, a better method for distributing music that makes it economically viable to be a professional musician and doesn't involve the RIAA -- maybe websites with micropayments, and a stabilized human population.
That's not too much to ask, is it? I don't see why we can't do that. Note to any World Leaders who happen to be reading my journal: Why aren't you making this happen? Perhaps in my off-hours, when I'm not hacking on stuff or being a superhero, I'll have to become a World Leader.
Many, many manliness points for the Pope.
Show of hands -- who knew that a European Space Agency even existed, let alone that they were planning on sending up a probe to the moon?
Just things like this... almost makes you want to play the Chariots of Fire themesong, become a soccer fan, sit and think about things like the Olympics and the University of Helsinki and the UN and human dignity and the European Track Circuit and the Shared Human Experience, and ... sandwich, the US should be more like that.
What we need is a generally accepted international understanding that people think that they're being reasonable, actual reasonable people, a nice moderate socialism, appreciation for everybody's culture everywhere, more buildings that have flags from all over the world on them, more polyglots, better civil liberties everywhere, more reasonable laws about and moderate consumption of alcohol (Germany seems to have that about right), faster 'net connections for everybody who wants them, Free Software, better appreciation for art and artists, more green spaces in the middle of cities, better city planning, cooler architecture, free education and health care, hybrid-powered cars, better public transportation for cities, people who care, a better method for distributing music that makes it economically viable to be a professional musician and doesn't involve the RIAA -- maybe websites with micropayments, and a stabilized human population.
That's not too much to ask, is it? I don't see why we can't do that. Note to any World Leaders who happen to be reading my journal: Why aren't you making this happen? Perhaps in my off-hours, when I'm not hacking on stuff or being a superhero, I'll have to become a World Leader.
