Zorro wrote as "The basic problem is we don’t have a democracy, but a memocracy, which can be defined as “governance by the morally enlightened minority”."

Zorro, I think the first question you need to ask yourself is this; "Do you want to live in a society of ordinary decent people"

Sam

Philo (post Thursday, 1 June 2006 10:36:55 PM) what can i say, your response validates my position. You lack vision. Where is the evidence, hmmm? What you have offered is nothing short of empty headed pub talk in the guise of faux analysis. Again, all you have demonstrated is a typical response often presented by 'whitebread' Australia in reaction to a complex array of issues relating to Indigenous Australians. Your attempt to contrast the circumstances of a "white mother who has had two children removed in the last 6 years because she also allowed her second baby to drown in the bath" does not equal to the official policy of stealing of babies from black mothers which was nothing more than a legitimate attempt to breed out the Aboriginal race. In short, a softer version of "dispersals" aka killing fields on the frontier of colonies, a legitmised effort to "ethnic cleansing". Please do not insult my intellect any further with claims to the contrary anymore, to do so would reveal your own stupid thinking towards Indigenous Australians. It is a pity that you [from your comments] do not see it this way. Although, i will agree that what is happening in communities is totally unacceptable, but, instead of removing the children [and women], why not gaol the perpetrators, Australians [all of us] should take a hard line, zero tolerence to abuse, i do not suscribe to cultural protocals or some form of silent acknowlegdement that for cultural reasons the perpetrators have a "cultural right" to rape children [and women] and disguise this in legal interpretation that men in these circumstances have a so called "cutural" right to instigate abuse. No!! I will not accept this.

Christopher,

You are cetrainly insulting and over sensitive to my posting. What was happening in the 1950 - 60t's was not a Government attempt at genocide as you claim by your insulting remarks. The Government of the day was being advised by those working in indiginous affairs that the only way to change the lifestyle of the camp and walkabout of indiginous children was to remove them from this practise as infants so they learned to participate in the broarder culture. The fact is only those indiginous who have moved into the broarer society are sucessful and no longer a burden on taxpayers.

We have abandoned this practise only to see the sexual abuse of infants in the name of indiginous culture that in a brorder Australian society would be removed buy DOCS. Indiginous culture certainly has come a long way in 200 years. Like hell!

Quote, "Your attempt to contrast the circumstances of a "white mother who has had two children removed in the last 6 years because she also allowed her second baby to drown in the bath" does not equal to the official policy of stealing of babies from black mothers which was nothing more than a legitimate attempt to breed out the Aboriginal race. In short, a softer version of "dispersals" aka killing fields on the frontier of colonies, a legitmised effort to "ethnic cleansing". Please do not insult my intellect any further with claims to the contrary anymore, to do so would reveal your own stupid thinking towards Indigenous Australians."

Phil -I agree with you.

The main idea behind the removal of such children
was that the children would fare better in a foster environment.

A number of world cultures will shun children of mixed race.
But here was 'racist' white Australia accepting them into their hearth,as their own.

I remember how after the Vietnam war the west including Australia
opened their doors to thousands of mixed race children who were being rejected or sidelined by Vietnamese society-and I wonder when that will come back to bite us, under some guise or other.

…………………………………………………………………………

Christopher
1) It was also standard practice –during the same period - that teen girls ( of what ever race) who had children out of wedlock would have their children removed by the state. I have seen/read interviews with many of these woman who had no choice in the matter and now mourn for the children they lost.

2) There’s an interesting little story here about (white ) British children being ‘stolen’. should you care to read it:
www.abc.net.au/pm/stories/s149291.htm

Philo/Horus, check this out, only one source, yes, but there are others....http://www.erc.org.au/issues/text/mr00.htm... anyway, i have enjoy our brief exchange, it has been interesting, and I am sure there will be other fronts on which we will do this all over again, bye for now.

This discussion is all the more relevant now. If you haven't already read this article- what do you think? Shameful, I'd say!

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/stop-aboriginal-culture-lessons-report/2006/05/29/1148754937878.html