questions for canadians... perhaps brits too.

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
canedge said:
"I think the idea of a monarchy is just utterly ridiculous in the 21st Century in any real terms"

-Has the monarchy ever exisited in real terms?
-Has Bono or U2 ever affected you in real terms? Like paying your debts or cutting your lawn?

I would beg to differ. Like so many other Canadains I don't care much for it either. But it does prevent the insane idol worshipping that exisits in the US.
A few Asian countries still have monarchies to apperent suceess.

Many Brits, though I may stand corrected, are more dignified as to dedicate their life to somebody's evil marketing scheme. That is these citizen demigods, celebrity divinity...

It is the symbolic power of the monarchy that is useful just as U2's music has symbolic power over who we are and the decisions we make....

To that end, I say keep the monarchy...
So as a tool of social control they are still valuable; I want to worship idols.
 
anitram said:

Australians (why are these people everywhere??).

It's a couple of things, I think. One is that we generally don't move away from our home cities to go to college/university. Remember our population is only 20 million for a land mass the size of the US. Nearly half of that population is in just 2 cities (Sydney and Melbourne) and everything is really spread out. There's a good 12 hours drive from any one major city to the next nearest. By major I mean 750K - 4million+ population, and there's only 5 or 6 of them spread out over the whole country. Relocation for uni, or really for anything, is pretty rare, especially if you are already living in Sydney or Melbourne. I think that means for 18-25 year olds, that whole 'moving away to college' coming of age experience is commonly traded for spending a year or so wandering the globe.

Of course, as you'd know, once you've done it once, you've got the bug and because of our distance from virtually everywhere here in Australia, a lot of us choose to base ourselves somewhere else for a decent period of time and travel from that base. Of my 10 closest friends, over the past 10years since I finished high school, 7 of them have spent 2+ of those years living in either the UK, Canada, or the US - and that is very, very, very common.

anitram said:
I remember seeing it in a small train station in La Spezia - 4 Canadian tourists who recognized each other based on the maple leaf hugged, chatted, exchanged tips and so on. That probably plays a role too.

La Spezia, you've made me a little misty eyed.

Canadians are known for the little flag patch on the backpack. I don't think I've ever met a Canadian traveller, here or when I'm also travelling, that didn't have one.
 
canedge said:
It is the symbolic power of the monarchy that is useful just as U2's music has symbolic power over who we are and the decisions we make....

I think this is the funniest, most bizarre thing I have ever read on Interference.
 
Especially in Australia, being a German it's hard to get a decent share of speaking English, because everywhere you go you will always find a bunch of Germans. :(

But it's true, quite often you will see Australians at tourist hotspots.
I'm always thinking that one thing is very sad for them: When Australians go to e.g. England, and exchange their dollars for some pounds, they give tons of their money and receive very little in return. You guys are so punished with your weak currency.
 
It is the symbolic power of the monarchy that is useful just as U2's music has symbolic power over who we are and the decisions we make....

I think this is the funniest, most bizarre thing I have ever read on Interference.

Well what I meant by that quote is that both of these 'factors' U2 and the monarchy bring people together. In that regard they are similar. They operate as social glue...
 
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