cd318 said one very important word, tribe. Humans evolved by killing each other. There was no other balance that could exist in nature. No other animal could compete with us. Thus we became clannish. Power in numbers. Family became tribe became town and so forth. We learned to trust those in our tribe. England was made up of a rather homogeneous group of people with a high degree of trust. As they were invaded by different races with significant cultural differences the degree of trust eroded. The US has always been heterogeneous and many groups did not receive fair treatment to put it politely. We are slowly coming to grips with this but it takes generations. Socrates said, "Give me a boy until he is seven and he is mine." Some of us, particularly young males always seem to be in a hurry. They bang their heads against the wall for several years, wind up with a family and join the rest of us.
This country will never go socialist. There is that great silent majority.
Autospec, sorry to hear about your difficulties. This is why you never send equipment until you are paid. Using an intermediary like PayPal is always a good idea. I have always done business in person. There is always a higher degree of confidence when you shake hands. Some people carry their dreams a little too far and start to barter for an item they really can't afford then become embarrassed to admit it. It may be frustrating but you have not lost anything other than time.
Humans are a royal PITA. 75% of the email you receive is somebody trying to scam you. They will lie, cheat and steel. Why? Survival of course. That is what nature is all about isn't it? If you can't do it honestly then you find other ways. This is primitive human behavior. We counter it by teaching our children to survive honestly. Obvious there are sectors of our society that are failing at this. We need to figure out a way to help them that they find acceptable.
Lets get back to Hi Fi. I just put on the back side of Santana's second album. "Get Ready!
