I am at an age where I don't want to spend my time thinking negatively, even when the world around us seems to demand that we should. So my take on all of the problems besetting us is that, eventually, we will get through them and the world will be a better place as a result of this present turmoil. As A Canadian, I have travelled, holidayed and done business in the U.S. My general feeling about the country and its people is that their history is one of challenges overcome, of differences ironed out and of optimism eventually governing their attitudes and their actions. It seems to me that they have gone down hill over the past few decades by allowing their popular culture to descend into banality and their manufacturing economy to be given over to foreign countries for the sake of being able to buy cheap imports using borrowed money. I get the impression that young people like those who are demonstrating see this and other problems and are frightened enough by the implications to "do something about it." Underneath all of this I have a great deal of repect for the Americans' innate ability to "get mad as hell and not take it any more." I'm planning to live long enough to see the day when we can look back on today and see it as a turning point towards a better world.