The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > General Discussion > Tearing down the Berlin Wall

Tearing down the Berlin Wall

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. Page 3
  5. 4
  6. All
I sometimes get the idea that to some people left-wing means being for a lot of decent things like a fair wage for all, opposition to militarism and racism, care for the environment and a lot of other things that they don't give a stuff about as long as they themselves are ok.
Posted by david f, Thursday, 1 January 2015 11:14:48 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Natham,

Racism-: My experience is that there are very few racists. i.e. People that dislike others because of their race. To be critical of a culture, a religion or a persons conduct is not racism. I add here that Islam is not a race, persons of many races are followers of Islam.
Many persons try to bring accusation of racism into a debate to put an opponent on the defensive. A sure sign they are not doing well.

a better understanding of cultural beliefs-: It is not hard to understand most cultural beliefs, whether one agrees with some practices is a different story. I don't mind dragon parades and children in colourful dress doing folk dances and beer festivals. However I will not accept FGM, forced marriage, honour killing, or the eating of dog meat and human placenta. I understand these cultural practices but cannot accept them.

attitudes towards refugees-: I am happy for us to accept a number of genuine refugees after making sure they will integrate into our society. However that does not include those that simply turn up on our doorstep and gatecrash our country, expecting us to accept them. These persons are economic migrants, country shopping.

a better acceptance of Australian history and multiculturalism-: The simple facts are that the Poms decided to colonize (take over) Aus in 1788 and did so. You cant undo history, so accept that is what happened and every person now has to live under present laws.

Multiculturalism was supposed to unite the various community groups, including Anglo Aussies, and has failed to do so. It simply divided us into tribes and told newcomers they could carry on all their cultural practices. In our rush to show how tolerant we were we ignored such things as polygamy, forced marriage and FGM and that is why these alien practices exist. We have to accept that some cultures are not compatable to our society and we, and they, would be better off if no more of some groups were accepted. To emphasize diversity simply for the sake of diversity is ridiculous
Posted by Banjo, Thursday, 1 January 2015 11:47:08 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
And may what ever god there may be, protect us from people with vision, including the Hillers, Stalin's, Mao Tse-tungs, Whitlams & Obamas. Most visionaries are have too dumb, with too little experience of the world, to see the disasters their dreams will become, if implemented.

What we need is simple good managers, who get the hell out of peoples lives, & simply keep the roads swept, the sewage treated, & the power on. The rest is none of their business.
Posted by Hasbeen, Thursday, 1 January 2015 12:28:33 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
"What we need is simple good managers, who get the hell out of peoples lives, & simply keep the roads swept, the sewage treated, & the power on. The rest is none of their business."

Except, I presume, to supply people like Hasbeen, with free hospital medical care and subsidised doctor's visits and pharmaceuticals.
Posted by Poirot, Thursday, 1 January 2015 12:34:38 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hassy, are you one of those "simple" people you refer to? Is it on your CV? "Simple" that is! We have only 3 positions available!

1 Gutter Sweeper
2 Dunny Cleaner
3 Electrical Globe Fitter

I can see the problem, if the light goes off, the dunny will get missed, and all the crap will end up in the gutter.

Which job will you be applying for? A man of your talents should, with exhaustive training, be capable of doing all three.
Posted by Paul1405, Thursday, 1 January 2015 2:03:45 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hello,

One program I watched on SBS this year was called "The Great Divide". More details can be found at:

http://www.sbs.com.au/programs/first-contact/article/2014/10/30/ray-martin-great-divide

The program is described on the website as: "Six whitefellas meeting blackfellas for the first time in their lives. This group of ordinary Aussies hit the road for a month - starting out as a bunch of strangers. They weren’t allowed outside or family contact. No mobile phones or internet. (That proved a lot tougher than you might think.) These six get to confront their own beliefs, their own prejudices and, in some cases - by their own admission - their “ignorance”."

However what the program didn't answer was: "Aboriginal people seeing Anglo Saxon or other people for the first time in their lives", for me to break down barriers across Australia.

One remote Aboriginal community visited in the Northern Territory, people had to see a large turtle killed and left overnight (whilst still alive) in a boat. One (anglo saxon - I am not using the above term from SBS) woman was in tears.

The reason given by the Aboriginal people (for the killing) was that this was part of their tradition, despite a modern boat used to kill the turtle, having modern housing and clothing far from traditional. A reference was also made to the commercial fishing industry to justify their case - despite other Aboriginal people saying (at other times), these people's killings were at the detriment to the animal species - many that were very rare.

The discussion after the program was bland, predictable and sent a message that Aboriginal people are all suffering and have little or no future.

I know this is not true - being related to Aboriginal people myself (two direct nephews and other relatives) and not being Aboriginal myself. One of my nephews for example is working in a conservation/recreation park in the Northern Territory as a Park Ranger - alongside a range of people - both Aboriginal and Anglo Saxon.
Posted by NathanJ, Thursday, 1 January 2015 2:33:53 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. Page 3
  5. 4
  6. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy