What is the measure of a great civilisation?
Permanence without barbarism.
Richard Orlando, Westmount, Quebec, Canada
• All the contenders we have seen to date have been distinctly uncivilised, so we have no benchmark by which to measure greatness.
Greg McCarry, Sydney, Australia
• How much its influence endures after it is gone.
Craig Sergeant, Nashville, Tennessee, US
• The metric system, forsooth!
Donna Samoyloff, Toronto, Canada
• It’s propensity to delusions of grandeur.
Sunil Bajaria, Bromley, UK
• The length of its fringe.
David Tucker, Halle, Germany
• The ability to laugh at itself.
RM Fransson, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, US
• It depends who is measuring, and why.
Lorna Kaino, Fremantle, Western Australia
• Time.
Josh Beer, Ottawa, Canada
You can do anything but ...
What’s so special about blue suede shoes?
I had some in the late 60s and loved them. They were soft, very comfortable and (being a subtle shade of blue) went with almost anything I chose to wear.
Avril Taylor, Dundas, Ontario, Canada
• They perfectly complement my white sports coat and pink carnation.
Lawrie Bradly, Surrey Hills, Victoria, Australia
• They give others free rein to do anything except touch them.
Charlie Bamforth, Davis, California, US
• Elvis, obviously; no mere footnote.
Susan Garvin, Whitland, UK
• You need to be persuaded?
John Benseman, Auckland, New Zealand
• What is so special, to the universal aesthetic, is that you don’t see them anymore.
Jennifer Rathbone, Toronto, Canada
• As a post-mod in the mid-60s, I wore green suede shoes to match the light tweed jacket. My pants and turtleneck were black. So there.
E Slack, L’Isle Jourdain, France
• They don’t pinch like winklepickers do.
Philip Stigger, Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada
Long to reign over us ...
Which cartoon characters from childhood still resonate with you?
Clark Kent. He taught me a valuable lesson in that you can’t tell what lies beneath a person.
Plus he wore a hat like my Dad did, who in his own quiet way was Superman.
Doreen Forney, Pownal, Vermont, US
• Every time God Save the Queen is sung, I think of Asterix the Gaul and his two Roman jailers: Sendervictorious, Appianglorious.
Anthony Walter, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada
Just get in the queue
Best advice for a new president?
Socialise healthcare and secularise education.
Mac Bradden, Port Hope, Ontario, Canada
• Move quickly to a post-post-truth world.
Gerald Garnett, Kaslo, British Columbia, Canada
• I’d suggest he listened to the advice of others – but, I fear, this may fall on deaf ears.
Alan Lloyd, Schaumburg, Illinois, US
Any answers?
What personal qualities are required for a successful career in politics?
Terence Rowell, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
Is family background a decider?
E Slack, L’Isle Jourdain, France
Send answers to weekly.nandq@theguardian.com or Guardian Weekly, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU, UK
