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 > Article Comments > How to be British in the 21st Century > Comments

How to be British in the 21st Century : Comments

By Dennis Altman, published 15/6/2012

You are the language that you speak, whether you like it or not, and whether you share its genes or not.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All
I have this weird new feeling. I agree with everything in an OLO piece! Except maybe for the last paragraph, about 'rethinking how we might take advantage' etc. There is already a nice balance between asserting our national identity and accepting the historical connections of a majority of Aussies. But the balance might turn out to be a bit delicate if rocked. Best leave it alone.
Posted by Tombee, Friday, 15 June 2012 9:46:04 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
Interesting article. Australia is 'British' because we acquired the British brand of liberal democracy. So it's not so remarkable that Australia still retains deep cultural affinities with the UK, despite that country's increasing irrelevance to Australia geo-politically and economically. Australians don't even seem to to care or remember that the British abandoned us in 1942 and then waved us goodbye by joining the EEC. Even though mother doesn't love us, we love her.
Posted by mac, Friday, 15 June 2012 11:35:38 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
No mac we don't particularly love them, & we don't dislike them either, we simply admit that the UK is our root.

We, the thinking ones anyway, would much rather remain with them, than let the layers loose in the courts, as would be the case, much to their wealth, if we change even a few words of a successful constitution.
Posted by Hasbeen, Friday, 15 June 2012 5:03:06 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
Hasbeen,

I'm not sure what you mean by 'remain with them', do you mean stay as a constitutional monarchy?
Posted by mac, Friday, 15 June 2012 5:52:29 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
Well, I guess that the geographical distance matters a lot in this. of course Australia is historically connected with Britain - but in the second half of the twentieth century - after the decline of the BE - Australia has moved on on its own accounts. There are undeniable British roots (most obviously the language) but the cultural treetop (to keep it metaphorical) is no longer the Crown.
Posted by josephine, Friday, 15 June 2012 8:00:03 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
There is no contradiction between rejoicing in the best of our British heritage such as parliamentary democracy, the English language, and a respect for the rule of law founded on an independent judiciary on the one hand, and recognizing the imperatives of our geography. . We are located
In south Asia. Our major trading partners are overwhelmingly in Asia. The ethnic composition of our population is increasingly diverse with a steadily growing percentage from greater Asia. I suggest that in two generations from now we will look back on this generation's clinging to the British monarchy as the quaint absurdity that it is. That does not mean we discard the assets mentioned above that we have inherited.
Posted by James O'Neill, Friday, 15 June 2012 8:05:14 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. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. All

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