[AKSA]

Andrew,

'tis always a pleasure to hear from you.  Pithy, acerbic views too - my, you are a cynic (the last recourse of the true romantic, no?)

Of course, (sighs in the manner so typical of the ageing male), you are right.....   

I find myself agreeing strongly that the consumer is not always the victim;  he often drives this greed by demanding champagne quality on beer income.  We buy cheap, crappy goods fully aware that they might be produced in appalling labour situations.  I don't approve of that either, but it's in every PC/Mac on the planet.  Heck, even the body panels on the great Aussie car, the GM Holden, are now made in China.

Hugh

[Oz_Audio]

Gidday Hugh and all.

About 18 months ago I was watching a late night news show on the idiot box, (Late Line) and Gore Vidal was being interviewed and he was asked who he sees the USA in the 21st century.

His answer was very interesting:  I see the USA the same as the UK was 100 years ago, bankrupt!  100 years ago the UK has fingers in every pie all over the world and it was spread far too thin and spending too much money trying to be the worlds policeman.  It retracted into itself and the USA and Russia took over.  Russia failed and today, the USA is in the exact same position as the UK, spread too thin around the world and spending far too much money.

I fine it interesting that the USA now finds itself virtually bankrupt but it still cannot see that its time is over.  100 years ago, the worlds superpower, the UK failed and the world went into the 29 drepression,  there seems to be too many similarities and I wonder if the same result will not happen again.  If it does, China will also fail finacially as it produces the worlds goods and no one will buy so it will be interesting to see who takes over, China or India?

Mark

[AKSA]

Hi Mark,

Great to have you here again.  How's FNQ?

Perhaps I am biased, because I love the US with a passion.  And I'm breaking my rule about making political comment here, but it's positive, so what the hell.  I find everything about the New World very interesting, and the dynamic population is simply fascinating and much more open and friendly than my own country.  Maybe it's my funny accent, huh?

There is no doubt that banking excesses have seriously wounded the US, but I am convinced it is not terminal and will recover.  The US is too dynamic, too aspirational, and too idealistic to be terminal, and will, I believe, rise again.  It is still a technical tour de force;  it has little welfare, so it's people are not enfeebled by the nanny state;  there are pockets of profoundly good education and healthcare;  it holds some of the most artistic and dynamic communities on the planet;  and it has the most technically advanced Defense Force.  Many pour scorn on US democracy, but their comments are rarely comparative;  there are some shocker regimes out there if you look around......

OTOH, China, the darling of the industrial commentators at present, has major, major problems.  Based purely on its history, there have rarely been more than 30 year stretches of unbroken peace and prosperity - some dreadful natural disaster or political revolution has always intervened to change the landscape.  This is also true of Russia.  It's due now, particularly in light of the iron fisted control of the Central Party, which imposes harsh controls on labour rights, family planning, economic policy, and the law.  The fragile issue of Taiwan, dating from the anti-Communist Chiang Kai Shek's flight there with the Kuomingtang in 1949, has never been forgotten.  Taiwan is a real powderkeg and along with energy and resources dominates their foreign policy.  China has little welfare as we know it, and life is very tough for the working classes.  I see this situation as dynamically unstable, far more so than the Western countries.  I won't even talk about the environmental issues of rampant production.

If Britain was bankrupt in 1900, she made an impressive recovery by WWII, and with Allied help, chiefly the US military under Eisenhower, she rose impressively to the challenge.  She is still a force to be reckoned with in the EU, and even maintains her own currency still!!  (??)  If it is true that the US is in decline, then it is likely to take a long time.  And you could argue that if the nanny state eventually enfeebles and destroys a nation, then the US is a long way off, and maybe we, in Oz, will go before they do.......

Last night at the Melbourne Audio Club, a Soraya power amp with a British preamp of unknown heritage drove an ESL63 speaker beautifully with approximately 50 members attending.  The front end was a fancy SACD/DVD-A/CD player, and we even listened to some PC/Server based 24bit 192KHz PCM format.  A very nice evening, and the amp never turned a whisker, driving the ESLs to very high sound levels effortlessly.  In fact I was concerned Chris might blow his speakers;  the amp really pumped it out, and the detail was stunning.   

My sincere thanks to the owner of the Soraya, Ernie Groenwald, a good friend an wonderful Aspen customer, who sadly was unwell on the night and did not attend.  It's a great flattery to have one's equipment brought along for the Club by loyal customers!!

Cheers,

Hugh