Good post, Ralph Bennett

Yes, conditions are worse elsewhere, but there is such a thing as living in a fool's paradise. Many of us who are "whinging" see the unsustainability of it all and don't want our children and grandchildren to have far worse lives than we did.

Why do I think that the author will be regarding most of the comments so far as pretty good supporting evidence for her assertions?

What a misleading heading. The author implies Australians are whingers and then goes on whingeing about Aboriginal health, treatment of illegals and criticisms of the PM. The author seems to be the champion of whingers supposedly because most Australians don't agree with her views on illegal arrivals, the aboriginal industry and the feminist victim mentality.

Don't you just love it when new (or relatively new) immigrants to the Lucky Country go to such lengths to tell us what's wrong with us? And from a scholarly academic no less, and a senior lecturer in Sociology at that. Why, she must be right, hey! What a poor ignorant lot we are.

Thanks for that. We all promise to be so much better in the future.

PS. We can become a Republic when we think the time is right, and we don't need anyone to tell us to grow up - we are a big kid already. (If the author has a problem with the Queen of the county she abandoned, that's her (the author's) problem, but we'd prefer if she left her prejudices behind, thanks all the same.)

Seems someone has really got into the swing of 'whingeing', and with no help from us - but usually we expect someone to get to know us a whole lot better before they start tearing the strips off.

Talk about how to wear out your welcome. If I (and we) weren't so accommodating, non-sexist, non-misogynistic, non-racist, non-violent, non-homophobic and almost universally environmentally friendly, why then we might actually take offence.

As for the difficulties being faced by our indigenous people, this is an exceedingly complex problem, and our governments are working hard to find an effective and harmonious way forward in their (our indigenous people's) best interests. Taking snipes from the sidelines, and with no knowledge of the factual situation is unwarranted and, to be frank, more than a little disingenuous. Same goes for the asylum seeker issue.

(We aren't being colonised for a second time, are we?) Can our education system be in peril of self-destructing?

[Deleted. Racist and abusive.]

Why am I reminded of that famous movie exchange in "A Few Good Men"?

Col. Jessep: "You want answers?"
Kaffee: "I want the truth!"
Col. Jessep: "You can't handle the truth!"

Apart from a blanket "where's your evidence that we're like that" defence, posters here seem more concerned with beating up on the messenger, rather than use the article as the catalyst for a little gentle self-examination.

The writer is, apparently, a "hypenated former English subject who can advise Antipodeans on subjects such [sic] whingeing", someone who "seems to be the champion of whingers supposedly because most Australians don't agree with her views", a person who should "get to know us a whole lot better before they start tearing the strips off", and finally - classically - " a person from a third world society".

I thought that last contribution from LEGO particularly illuminating. The article has no value, in LEGO's view, because the writer is black. And from Britain, too, that well-known "third world society".

Let's face it, we're in a pretty good place right now. The ability to take on board a little objective criticism without a knee-jerk reaction - "don't diss me, ya hear?" - is a sign of emotional maturity. I feel we may have some way to go yet.