Here in Germany there is a (still) minority of Germans with “migration background” (mit Migrationshintergrund), meaning usually German citizens who - or their parents, sometimes even grandparents - were born outside Germany.

In discussions I can always proudly point out that Australia does not have this subclass of its citizens but uses a rather less discriminatory terminology of first, second, third etc generation Australians (In this terminology Aboriginees, I presume, are maximum generetion Australians).

Since enforced multiculturalism, 'being Australian' has much less meaning than it used to.

Thanks, George,

I'll have to use that - 'maximum-generation Australians.'

But so many Indigenous people, or 'people of Indigenous descent' - may have only one Indigenous great-grandparent out of eight, or one great-great-grandparent out of sixteen these days. There are 'Indigenous' people in 'designated' jobs with one out of sixty four gr-gr-gr-gr-grandparents, and thereby have become authorities on all Indigenous affairs.

So who would be 'maximum-generation Indigenous' [MGI] ? Most of the Indigenous people in remote and isolated settlements would qualify, but most city people would qualify only as 'people of remote maximum-generation Indigenous descent' [PRMGID], as well as half a dozen other 'descents': my own kids would qualify for PRMGID, as well as Italian, Chinese, Scots, English, Irish, Welsh, and perhaps Hungarian Sephardi. Even so, almost all the relations that they know are Indigenous, usually also PRMGID.

It gets complicated, doesn't it ?

Cheers,

Joe

So should we all be ashamed of our past?

Everyone wants us to be ashamed of something. I'm a bit tired of it. Yes, Pilger has a point, but what use is it being ashamed and mournful? Australia Day is a time to celebrate. Maybe West has a point - at times?

At one time being Australian meant being fair dinkum and standing by your mate. It meant a fair go was part of an inherent culture. It meant being able to leave doors unlocked and trusting armed neighbors. It meant tin lids were safe when they went out to play in our parks and playgrounds. It meant we were inherently egalitarian.

It means none of that today?

What we have created in its place, is a place where the individual is first and foremost, where criminals and greed have meant that we can no longer trust our neighbor with our security, and it's a place where someone's abandoned granny can be dead in her apartment for two whole weeks before couldn't care less neighbors finally cotton on to the fact she is dead due to the stink.

And it's a place where self righteous foreign based communist activists try to morally blackmail people not yet born, into accepting responsibility for the actions of a far distant elitist ruling class.

Even so it's not too late to recreate what it once was, we just need to start caring for Australia and our fellow Australians again.

As we still largely do, in many of our small country towns and some of rural Australia, not yet the property of Collins street farmers or foreign investors.
Rhrosty.

mostly some good points here Rhosty