There is nothing (so far) to match the visionary, entrepreneurial fever of the United States. People here are ambitious, they change the world. Even something as "silly" as the Ipod, which has become not only a brilliant innovation but a cultural icon that becomes symbolic of our times (I've been reading lots of articles about it lately, including the cover story in Newsweek recently, and a wonderful essay by a San Francisco Gate writer) and manages to apparently get into our "souls"--this innovation, this kind of vision, is worth everything to me as a person. It's what makes life worth living. The same goes for musical innovation at least in this century, namely jazz and blues...
Australia is a very nice place. It is relaxed. People are very friendly. It has very little of the problems we have--people are taken care of (of course, it has a small percentage of the population we do) if poor or old, medical care is socialized, and there isn't fear of violence in the streets. But, ultimately, it's boring. Not a lot is happening there, in the areas I'm interested in anyway, which are the sciences and arts. And to me, boring is equivalent to dead. |
