Not_Now.Soon, I find your location makes you all the more interesting, nothing to appologise for.

Banjo, I confess, your knowledge of religion and it's workings leaves me shaking my head. How on earth can you remember all these details?

I put my lack of memory down to age.

Always good to have your input.

Carry on.

Loudmouth, just to answer your question in isolation.

There are of course other reasons for these attacks on the wannabe's.

The govt has created far too many ways for anyone to obtain benefits and grants, (money) so all these so-called abo's are coming out of the woodwork everywhere to claim their aboriginality.

In many cases are failing the test, but still continue saying that just because they failed the test does not change the fact that they 'feel' abo.

It also has not helped that the true number of the 'real' abo's, due to this bloody re-identification program', is responsible for a sudden and severe increase. (on paper).

The benefits are what they seek. Nothing to do with their abo background. Take away the benefits and we'll see how many 'real' abo's there are.

The reason why they are not abo's, is that by trying to choose to be one race they are shunning all the other races after the abo one.

If you are 1/8th cast, then you could have 7 other races in your blood. It is disingenuous of you to choose one of your ancestral race over another.

That's why an abo who's lineage has been broken along the way is, I'm sorry to say, NOT an abo. They are merely an Aussie with abo blood somewhere back when. It's a pity one chooses to highlight the abo ancestors over the rest.

On the other hand in my case I have been written up in various newspapers and media stories as, quote: 'An Australian born Italian Designer', unquote. I had nothing to do with this title it was bestowed upon me without my knowledge or input.

The author of this title was completely correct in his description, because I AM of Italian blood and descent, clearly. And I happen to be born in Australia.

I believe I have previously posted an example which may or may not still be the case today, as follows;

If you were born on a ship, you took on the nationality of the country the ship was registered in at that time.

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Dear AL TRAV,

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You ask :

« Banjo, I confess, your knowledge of religion and it's workings leaves me shaking my head. How on earth can you remember all these details? »

My memory is not that great, AL TRAV. As I indicated in a previous post, I verify the facts before I post them.

Religion is part of the cultural heritage of the large majority of mankind. It was part of my cultural heritage. In fact, it was all I inherited – apart from myself.

As I figured it must be important, I spent much of my non-working life investigating religion, only to come to the realisation, at a fairly advanced age, that its essential tenants are totally false.

My inheritance was reduced to just me. That’s it. No sense believing in something that doesn’t exist. I was used to travelling light anyway, and where I’m heading, I don’t need anything else.

As I told my dear wife, many years ago - and it hasn’t changed that much over the years :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJE1uhXrcQY
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The question of personal identity which you raise in your post to Loudmouth is an important one, particularly for people of mixed ethnic ancestry. It’s not quite as simple as you describe for our Aboriginal peoples. They’re not the only ones. It concerns a whole lot of people in Australia.

We are becoming more and more multicultural and more and more multi-ethnical as the same time.

There always is and always will be abuse of welfare systems. It's not limited to Aboriginal benefits. But the question of personal identity is not only about welfare benefits. It goes much deeper than that.

Personal identity is exactly that : personal. Many individuals are faced with the difficulty of finding out who they are, what they are, and who and what they want to be. It is often a long and difficult process for the individuals concerned. They should not be regarded with contempt or lack of respect.

Not surprisingly, your Italian ancestry does not make you sensitive to the complexities of ethnic diversity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_history_of_Italy

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Banjo, my contempt and lack of respect you sense has to do with rights and privilege's and ultimately equality of property and land rights.

As an individual and an Aussie, I am incensed at any group, especially minorities who have acquired a clear advantage over the rest of the population, like the queers and the abo's and not just because they pushed their way to the front of the queue, but the lie's and mis-representations they used to get there.

I do not believe in the many reasons I have heard justifying these wannabe's excuses for calling themselves abo's. And I'm sorry Banjo, I don't give this 'personal identity' any traction either.

You are entitled to feel whatever you wish but when that 'feeling' encroaches or impacts on others, you are called to account to justify your 'feelings'.

I'm sorry if you feel somewhat compromised by my comments but on the flip side I am pleased because now you can 'feel' how the other side feels.

I do not appologise for any emotional distress my comments may cause, but I have said previously, emotions play no part in any discussion or debate, but merely attempt to sway the direction of the discussion away from it's true path and final objective.

Returning to topic. I too found religion to be a con and was invented only as a means of keeping people under control with fear. You speak of finding out who you are and who you want to be. I'm sorry Banjo, in my world you have gone too far. You are over thinking a very natural thing. LIFE.

Never mind all this psychobabble and just get on with life. You will be what you are, you don't need to annalise every facet of your life. Just get on with living it.

Banjo, words like 'ethnic diversity' are wasted on me because that phrase did not exist until recently when some smart arse academic thought it would help the abo's cause and white man could not argue it down or reject it because it was promoted as a sensitive issue.

. Dear AL TRAV, . You wrote : « I do not believe in the many reasons I have heard justifying these wannabe's excuses for calling themselves abo's … I'm sorry Banjo, I don't give this 'personal identity' any traction either … words like 'ethnic diversity' are wasted on me … » . Yes, I understand that, AL TRAV. It’s not your fault. As I indicated in my previous post : “Not surprisingly, your Italian ancestry does not make you sensitive to the complexities of ethnic diversity”. Italians are ethnically fairly homogenous. Multiple DNA studies have confirmed that genetic variation in Italy is clinal (a gradation of the characteristics within the population). All Italians are made up of the same ancestral components, but in different proportions. The only exception are certain north-eastern Italian populations who cluster with Germanic and Slavic speaking Central Europeans. As you are neither ethnically diverse yourself, nor conscious from childhood of any cultural diversity of your parents or ancestors, it is extremely difficult to apprehend the problems of personal identity that children born into multi-ethnical and multi-cultural families have to resolve. Also, as I indicated in my previous post, the problem is not exclusive to Aboriginal peoples, it affects an increasingly large proportion of Australians of all walks of life and has nothing to do with welfare benefits. Please don’t feel offended, but perhaps it might help you to understand if you try to imagine how you would cope if, instead of both your parents being of Italian extraction, only your father were of Italian extraction and your mother were of Aboriginal extraction. As you know, each child tends to identify with the same sex parent and is attracted to the opposite sex parent. This results in the child rivalling with the same sex parent. What effect do you think that has on how the child sees his own ethnical and cultural identity ? Perhaps there are some other factors (personality traits of the parents, social and cultural environment, etc.) that complicate things even further. Try to work it out. .

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Dear AL TRAV,

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You wrote :

« I do not believe in the many reasons I have heard justifying these wannabe's excuses for calling themselves abo's … I'm sorry Banjo, I don't give this 'personal identity' any traction either … words like 'ethnic diversity' are wasted on me … »
.

Yes, I understand that, AL TRAV. It’s not your fault. As I indicated in my previous post : “Not surprisingly, your Italian ancestry does not make you sensitive to the complexities of ethnic diversity”.

Italians are ethnically fairly homogenous. Multiple DNA studies have confirmed that genetic variation in Italy is clinal (a gradation of the characteristics within the population). All Italians are made up of the same ancestral components, but in different proportions. The only exception are certain north-eastern Italian populations who cluster with Germanic and Slavic speaking Central Europeans.

As you are neither ethnically diverse yourself, nor conscious from childhood of any cultural diversity of your parents or ancestors, it is extremely difficult to apprehend the problems of personal identity that children born into multi-ethnical and multi-cultural families have to resolve.

Also, as I indicated in my previous post, the problem is not exclusive to Aboriginal peoples, it affects an increasingly large proportion of Australians of all walks of life and has nothing to do with welfare benefits.

Please don’t feel offended, but perhaps it might help you to understand if you try to imagine how you would cope if, instead of both your parents being of Italian extraction, only your father were of Italian extraction and your mother were of Aboriginal extraction. As you know, each child tends to identify with the same sex parent and is attracted to the opposite sex parent. This results in the child rivalling with the same sex parent. What effect do you think that has on how the child sees his own ethnical and cultural identity ?

Perhaps there are some other factors (personality traits of the parents, social and cultural environment, etc.) that complicate things even further.

Try to work it out.

.