Bronywn Winter, a good riposte to our collective prejudices.

Why am I not surprised that so many of the replies fairly reek of prejudice?

As though one steps over some arbitrary, skinny border into a lump of humanity (let's call it France) and suddenly and magically, everything changes; attitudes, needs, ethnic mix. How convenient for a quick judgement, before going back to the cricket score or out for a bit of retail therapy.

"Ask not for whom the bell tolls" (look it up, critics).

The world IS multicultural, and that has to be the baseline for any politician these days, no matter where they live, no matter where they choose to draw their personal "line of power" in the sand. The reality is that ordinary people are the same everywhere, no matter their ethnicity, religion or colour. The only fault-lines worth a damn are between those of us who are ridiculously fortunate and those who are unjustifiably unfortunate. All else is mere decoration.

* * *

The (well co-ordinated) French riots cannot be explained away as a collapse of civility alone. We tend to fixate on the losers and judge them according to our prejudices. It makes us feel superior.

We must also ask, "Who benefits?" There lies a task worthy of our collective intellects. Therein lies the seed.

Kermit Roosevelt overthrew a government and overturned a society, armed with no more than a suitcase full of money and artful use of prejudice. Religion supplied the blinkers and testosterone greased the rails. That ol' rascal Kermit set a new benchmark in geopolitics.

Now that we are all becoming a little nervous of civil unrest in Australia, it might be a good idea to take a holiday from our prejudices, and deny ourselves the pleasure of that feeling of superiority, no matter the temptation.

Instead, let's gaze unflinchingly at the winners in this game. Who's powers will be consolidated? Who's friends will be enriched?

Happy sleuthing, possums!

Dear Chris
its not a 'cartoon' happening in France, its real.

You can woffle on about 'prejudice' but that is the gutless and soft way out.

Mathew S gave a pretty good overview. Why not actually dispute his points, rather than Jackboot us with 'The World IS... Multicultural'

I'm sorry Chris, it is only as 'multicultural' as we allow it to be, in our neck fo the woods anyway, and from what I'm observing, there is a movement to 'mono-culturalize' Australia and seek a workable national identity.

The converse of your cynical snide remark about 'Who benefits' from all this, can equally be thrown back at YOURSELF.. and we hereby ask,

1/ Are you a migration agent who has a vested financial interest in assylum seekers ?
2/ Are you a democrat ? in which case I think some real world therapy might be in order.
3/ Are you a Green ? in which case, your view does not matter anyway as its based on directions which might be described as cultural and social apostacy towards the rest of us.
4/ Are you a Socialist ? in which case, the theory has been well shown to be untenable and unworkable.

Happy sleuthing.

I am sick and tired of hearing the words "multicultural" and multiculuralism".

There is noting wrong with the concept "multiculturalism", when it means respecting and celebrating our many differences, as the multiculturalists themselves will tell you.

Except that that is only 5% of the story. Actually, in practice, multiculturalism means that you cannot criticize any non-western cultural practices and it means that Christian-based Western ideas and practices are always inferior if not wrong. The West is evil, the rest is great, and if it is not great, it is because the West did something bad to them 1, 10, 100 or even 1000 years ago. It is never their fault that they are poor, corrupt, hungry, angry, and killing each other or somebody else.

The article is based upon this premise. The failure of some immigrant groups is caused by (fill in the blanks). Nowhere does Ms Winter even consider the possibility that the immigrants and muslims (mostly the same) may have contributed to the situation.

Why to the millions of latinos in Europe not have the same propblem? Why do the hindus in Britain not have the same problems as the Muslims? Why aren't the poles and hungarians in France revolting?

Yes, there are many causes for the riots in France, but the base ingredient is Islam. Islam is what makes it easy and Islam is what gives meaning to their actions. More and more "Youths" will turn to Islam (and not just any Islam, but the radical form), because it justifies their violence and gives it a theoretical base upon which to interrelate and grow.

It will get worse.

Kactuz

except that yjru don't mean what the "politically Correct" proponents

Kaktuz,

Missed your 5 daily postings, glad you are back.

Rioting is a political/economical statement. Here are facts on rioting in our own backyard:

* Redfern & Macquarie park were Aussies who believed they are discrimnated against or let down by the system.

* The 300 students of the wealthy Catholic school in Bondi who got drunk and went rioting vandalising cars and terrorising tourists (I was there that night) were 5 generation Aussies.

None of the above are Muslims.

Your selective focus on Islam and Muslims is really interesting because you don't seem to write about anything else. Did you 'lose' a family member to Islam?

Adios.

Dear Redneck, the hate by muslims toward the west got going in the late 60's. As far as I understand it, the fundamentalist Islamic movement was revived after the 1967 six day war between Egypt Jordan etc and Israel.

Before that, women in the mid east were even wearing mini skirts and high heels. That humiliating defeat following the original humiliation of Israel being created in the first place by the British, led to thinking that Arab muslims were being punished by Allah.

Hence the revival of traditional Islam, all these ready made suicide bombers, and hatred towards the west.

To Fellow Human.

The race riot in Redfern involved people of aboriginal descent who were given an entire street of new houses in Redfern so that they could maintain their “aboriginal” identity instead of adopting an Australian one. Criminal behaviour is primarily a product of low intelligence coupled with the attitude that you do not identify with your own community, and also the notion that your community owes you a living. Poverty can no longer be used as an excuse for criminality, because criminal behaviour is rising while the world is now living through a period of unprecedented prosperity, and the majority of “poor” people in most communities are law abiding.

I say “most” because there are certain ethnicities noted for their criminal behaviour while there are others who are noted for their social cohesion, exemplary behaviour and very low crime rates.

The Macquarie Field’s riot was caused by Anglo criminals with low intelligence that viciously attacked the society which provided them with a home and is paying their dole. Don’t tell me the poor dears can not get a job, because as a former Housing Commission tenant I have lived among people just like the Macquarie Fields rioters and I know exactly how they think. Quite frankly, they would rather steal than work. The entire Campbelltown area is a new industrial park where I am working right now and there are jobs aplenty. Exactly how many of the rioters were Anglos and how many from other ethnicities I do not know. But residents in Campbelltown call it “Tongatown” and 75% of the inmates in juvenile detention in that area are Pacific Islanders.

The behaviour of the students at Bondi is hardly in the same league as the burning of tens of thousands of cars, the shooting at police, murder, or the setting fire to a disabled woman. One presumes that the drunken students are now very shamefaced about their behaviour, which is something I doubt about the Muslims in France who are obviously expressing their hatred of the French society in which they live.