Don Alderman [donalderman@neildon.com.au] visiting from Australia thinks that Americans are isolated and don't get involved enough:

 

  "I was in the US with my family for Christmas in California.

  The people were warm, friendly but still very insulated from

  the world at large. Certainly the miasma of apathy that you

  wrote about was very evident. 

 

  "Americans trumpet around the world that they have the

  greatest democracy in the world. So why doesn't everyone

  vote and have a say in correcting the problems? 

 

  "Like any corporation, or country for that matter,

  Democracy is only as good or as strong as the people

  that make up it's structure.

 

  "From the outside looking in, American Democracy is seen

  as self serving to the military/industrial complex and

  severely broken when only the small percentage of people

  that vote drive the whole country. When 100% of the USA

  populace gets off their backsides and has a say in

  government, then the world may start to believe the

  rhetoric about the "Great American Democratic process".

  For the moment it's a global joke, while "you the people"

  still don't get the punch line.

 

  "Thanks for being one of the free thinkers and debaters.

  It would be nice to see more of it."

 

Steven N. Hinman [Steven.N.Hinman@us.mwhglobal.com]

relates his experiences in India:

 

  "I was really happy to read your stories of India, as my wife

  and I were going there right after you got back!

 

  "I am Chief Electrical Engineer for a company whose major work

  is engineering water and waste water treatment plants and pumping

  stations. We have a design center in Pune, India, with 3 electrical

  engineers and 5 Instrumentation and Control engineers. I went there

  to share my experience and do some training. Thanks to modern

  network technology, I was also doing my regular job while there.

 

  "All in all, I see India as being a very capitalist country, and

  agree with most of what you are saying about the future. Our company

  feels that we want to hire engineers there, because it is easier

  to hire them there, than it is here. We're not trying to replace

  American engineers - we just need engineers. In the past, we have

  used them mostly just to do drafting of our drawings. But now we are

  counting on them to do lighting designs, and taking first cuts at

  the power distribution designs. The great thing is that they are

  about 12 hours off from us, so they can work on our jobs while

  we sleep!

 

  "I took my wife along, so that she could see that part of the world.

  We both really enjoyed the trip. We flew in to Mumbai, where we got

  a car which took us around for about 2 hours or so for 1000 Rupees

  ($25), a very good deal.

 

  "The way that you describe the traffic in Bangalore was pretty much

  what we saw. Our company sent a driver to pick us up at our plush

  hotel (the fanciest place I've ever stayed), for a Sunday morning

  ride to Pune. During our stay in Pune, the traffic was bad, but not

  as bad as Mumbai. It was a week or so before I finally took a ride

  in an autorickshaw. Eventually, my wife took a ride too. The

  drivers kind of took care of her, and I noticed they didn't make

  nearly as many high-G turns when she was in the autorick. Thank you

  for your economic analysis on autoricks. Those things are great!"

 

Bernard Quinn [Bernard.Quinn@emerson.com] from England responded to my comments about progress towards a more sustainable environment:

 

  "Whilst I agree with the sentiments expressed, I wonder just how

  far away "tomorrow" is.  The oil producers and the auto companies

  exert so much influence and power that one feels that it will take

  many more years before they will seriously try to move towards

  a sustainable future. 

 

  "Equally (especially in the UK) the Governmental budgets rely on

  the tax derived from cars and fuels.  Would they really be happy

  to see a major drop in their income? I changed from petrol to diesel

  (because I was told it was cleaner) but now diesel costs more than

  petrol in the UK. If we try to change to bio-diesel, we find that

  the auto companies (typically) only allow 5% bio otherwise the

  warranty is withdrawn.

 

  "So, will we actually see any really significant changes in our

  lifetime, or are we going to rely on our children, grandchildren

  and great-grandchildren actually doing something positive?"