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The Forum > Article Comments > Has multiculturalism become a dirty word? > Comments

Has multiculturalism become a dirty word? : Comments

By Eugenia Levine and Vanessa Stevens, published 22/6/2007

Forcing people to adopt something as personal and deep-seated as a cultural identity is paradoxical at best.

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Dronkey we can have different beliefs philosophically,but have a core,common set of set of values which have achieved this cohesive strong society.These are not indisputable.They are common sense.Unfortunately common sense these days is becoming very uncommon.

We need the anvil of survival to hone our sense of true values.Affluence often brings decadence.That is why we are in decay.
Posted by Arjay, Friday, 22 June 2007 8:00:52 PM
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Arjay, I do not disagree that a society should have common public values, but I think these are better guided by civil laws rather than by governmental policies activily and prominently pushing for a form of culture control.

And you have still not answered my question - what values are Australian values?
Posted by Dronkey, Friday, 22 June 2007 8:04:01 PM
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Australian values as I’ve learned them:

• You are judged and have to earn respect on your own merit. Your parents/family, your class, your religion, your education, where you come from can be interesting, but should not put you ahead in society.

• We are not obsequious to authority figures. Authority will be
questioned.

• Easy-going and welcoming. Uncomfortable with overt nationalistic expression (of all national varieties)

• Generally law-abiding, but not rigidly so. Finding expression in the larrikin streak-‘as long as it doesn’t hurt someone’.

• Work hard, then enjoy your well earned break. Aussies like their days off. They can party hard.

• Belief in fairness to ‘battlers’ or others who fall on hard times.

• Your home is your castle. High personal homeownership used to set Australians apart from others in Western countries.

• It’s OK for some people to earn more, but not too much more.

• If you are very successful in some way, be humble about it. If not we’ll cut you down to size. Big noting yourself is not Australian.

• Politics and politicians are things to be taken with a big grain of salt. Necessary for the running of things, but nothing to get too heated up about.

How am I going for a ‘new’ Australian?
Posted by yvonne, Friday, 22 June 2007 9:15:49 PM
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Australian values are very simple concept – Put Australia first. So when you do this you put everything else second such as your foreign loyalties and your religious dogma’s
When you put Australia first you begin to understand all the values that made this country the greatest country on earth.

But due to human nature people find this next to impossible especially when they move to a country not for the love of it but so they can make a couple of extra bucks!

So “real” Australians have listen to empty rhetoric and lies about how much Australia means to these people when as matter of fact that if something better came along they would leave Australia faster they you can say “mateship”.
Posted by EasyTimes, Friday, 22 June 2007 9:33:31 PM
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To answer the authors' question. Yes MC has become a dirty word and not before time. It has taken the polys 35 years to find that MC was divisive in the community and the sooner the term is no longer used the better. MC is a failed attempt of social engineering, an idealogy that may, perhaps, suit an ideal world in the realm of dreamers.

Even the term multiculturalism is a misnomer as I have yet to meet a genuine multiculturalist. Some claim to be, but none would be willing to have all cultures here uninhibited. Have a look at some aspects of some cultures to see what is acceptable in our society.

In the death throes of MC there will be more articles like this one, written by those connected to the MC industry. They seek to blame Government or call those opposed to MC as racist, which is stupid but standard argument for supporters of MC.

Some ethnic groups have done much to bring about the demise of MC. A glaring example is the Lebanese Muslims (known as Lebs). Their arrogance, disdain for our society and social conduct is well known. Lebs not only show contempt for us, but seemingly all other ethnic groups. They get along with no others and want all things to suit them at all times, without compromise. The 60 or so gang rapes were Leb actions, showing their contempt for females, as was the harrasment of beachgoers, for years, that lead to the Cronulla "riot". That is one group to blame for showing the shortcomings of MC. Friction and fighting between other groups, such as the Croats and Serbs did not help the MC cause. By and large, Australians have been very tolerant and welcoming to immigrants.

There are some MC supporters that will try to get political gains from this by blaming the government, but the opporsition is also committed to dump MC. So irrespective of who wins the next election, we will see the continued demise of MC, in favour of integration, and the community will benefit greatly.
Posted by Banjo, Friday, 22 June 2007 9:44:37 PM
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Hmmmm much work to do already...

IRONER..

I'm not sure how your brain was working when you extrapolated from my specific mention of HIZB UT TAHRIR, a known terrorist group (in some countries) to.. "migrants are a pack of no gooders" (no, you didn't say that, but it is implied in your words in regard to projecting them onto my post.

I SPECIFICALLY labelled ONE group and singled them out as deserving of the utmost scorn and rejection by mainstream Australia, for very sound reasons. I don't think I mentioned the word 'immigrant' once?
Re-checkit.. bingo.. thats right, I didn't mention any broad attack on migrants generally. I'm married to a recent one in fact.

My wifes culture could not be more different to Aussie culture. There are probably around 10 people in Australia who speak her language.

YVONNE.. you said:

"There is no such thing as a 'culture' that is unchanging anywhere in the world anyway"

EX-...ACTLY. But the more important question is.. 'who' is changing it and 'why' and 'how'?

Nothing happens by chance. Things happen because people are pulling levers of policy. Policy levers are determined by a number of factors not least being influence by lobby groups.

So, change in itself is not bad, but change which alienates huge masses of Aussies DOES matter! Whether you recognize that happening or not doesn't really matter. What matters is that it IS happening and people are feeling it.

ONE NATION, ONE RACE, ONE CULTURE :) i.e. when we drop our racist views of others, we will blend with them in a unity and assimilation and cultural merging that will astound the world.
Posted by BOAZ_David, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:40:25 PM
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