Shorbe.. yes, I totally take your point, and am able to engage on that level.

Nationalism for its own sake, which is blind to evil intent, is indeed misguided. That is quite different from a broad sense of loyalty to ones home, which Australia is to all born here.

The footy angle is symbolic. Of course its neither_here_nor_there if we win or lose, but the loyalty aspect is most important when it translates into OTHER more important areas. Those concerned about my 'loyalty' probe should be far more worried about a Syrian born Australian of high profile and now Victorian Labor political position, who pledged his "unswerving loyalty" to the Syrian President.

"That" is the poisoned tip of the othewise seemingly harmless dart.

Bolt might not be everyones cuppa, but if he speaks 'fact' then the 'personality' is irrelevant.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,19610697%255E25717,00.html

Worth a read.

Strayan.
I suggest that if you have no sense of loyalty to Australia as your home, expressed symbolically in our multi-ancestral Soccer team playing other countries, that you yourself do not deserve to be here. If you have a greater sense of loyalty to somewhere else, by my guest and GO there. Shooo... scat... begone..getout.
"We" neither need nor want the likes of you. (my humble opinion :)

I suppose next you will want our national language to be something other than English ? Like the Hispanics who are now flooding the USA with chants of 'TAKE BACK THE TERRITORY' and waving MEXican flags in LA streets.. yes we know ur kind mate.

Next you will be telling us that 'Iraq' is totally represented by its Sunnite minority ?

I think the time has well and truly come to think more seriously about these things. Quite apart from soccer or footy, the CULTURAL 'barracking' is the issue of greater importance. Does barracking for Croatia or Italy or Greece mean you prefer their culture ? Fine, you are invited to depart, and when we visit your country, we will respect your culture and seek to adjust to it. Can you do the same for us ? :)

"I suggest that if you have no sense of loyalty to Australia as your home, expressed symbolically in our multi-ancestral Soccer team playing other countries, that you yourself do not deserve to be here."

If the test of loyalty is whether or not I care about the whereabouts of the Australian soccer team, then I'd fail miserably. But what an absurd test it would be! What kind of nitwit would even bother measuring loyalty? What'd be the point!?

"If you have a greater sense of loyalty to somewhere else, by my guest and GO there. Shooo... scat... begone..getout."

I 'feel' no sense of loyalty to any country. I am however a citizen of Australia and will exercise my civil and political righs as I see fit.

"We" neither need nor want the likes of you."

Why? Because I'd never throw myself in front of gun fire? And who is "we"? The raging nationalists?

"Does barracking for Croatia or Italy or Greece mean you prefer their culture? Fine, you are invited to depart, and when we visit your country, we will respect your culture and seek to adjust to it. Can you do the same for us ? :)"

I live within the multiculture that is Australia and will live however I want to. As an Australian I would certainy resist any attempts by any authority to control or dictate how I live my life, celebrate, my feelings and my beliefs.

If you want to barrack for Croatia or Italy or Greece, go ahead, fine by me - you don't immediately become 'suspect' like you would in BOAZ_David's confused little world.

Boaz D,
My nephew played footy for the NZ national team against Australia.
I naturally backed NZ so does this means I'm disloyal? I've already been shifted about by government in my life for simply being black/indigenous [in my own country].
If I’m disloyal can you tell me which country I should pack up and move to?

BOAZ_David, I really think you need to regain your sense of perspective regarding sport. Who cares which national team someone supports? Quoting an opinion piece by Bolt does not reinforce your case, it merely demonstrates what an idiot Bolt is. Your comment really should have been posted on the soccer thread http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=4639 , but of course that discussion has been hijacked by the one-eyed fans, complaining that all codes of football (except their own) are as boring as bat droppings. Aside from being way, way, waay off-topic, your post falls into the trap of presuming that sport is important. 22, or 26 or 30 grown men chasing a ball around a paddock? I mean, who cares?

I've got to go now, there 's a matter of great significance claiming my attention. Yes that's right, SBS is about to start broadcasting the highlights of day 2 of the Tour de France. I can't miss the most important event of the year, oops....

Insitutions of 'higher' learning are supposed to be INTELLECTUAL, not doctrinal.

lt baffles me that academics would project their ideological doctrines onto their students who are there to learn a particular subject matter, not be lectured in the spurious art of ideological self validation.

The tendency to preach political ideology and do so in condascending and patronising tones is a huge marker of INSECURITY and DISRESPECT. Those who are secure in their beliefs dont preach. Political opinions are best explained to the ballot box. Overtly partisan discussion of politics thoroughly invalidates one of the most powerful aspects of the democratic process, namely... secrecy of the ballot. This, l believe is the only reason for preaching politics... a deep dissatisfaction with the inherently limited nature of one person's vote. Thus the desire to get everyone else to fall into (goose)step behind the ideological proponent.

Academia is also a notorious hiding ground, a sanctuary no less, for those with too little resolve to actually effect any change, sans the cliched 'influencing' of young minds to do the actual bidding on behalf of the academic pundit of 'higher' morality/politics/perspective.

Having a lecturer/tutor so roundly dismiss and denigrate a divergent view just about sums it up. Cutting down a student is about as much power as an academic can ever hope to wield.

The only academics l respect are the ones outside of the faculties of political hocus pocus (the rest). The ultilitarian academics deal in a rigourous, proven body of technical information. And at the least the philosophers and literary fields are open minded and draw from a wide body of divergent ideas. Political and socio-political academics are a hairs breath away from crystal ball gazing and tea leaf reading. And they know it.

Arjay, sorry I have taken so long to get back to you. I agree with you on all those terrible things you said left wing thinking has created. Left wing thinking caused my train to be delayed yesterday. Left wing thinking created dust storms in the Mallee last summer. Left wing thinking has created flood, fire and famine and pestilence in Africa. Left wing thinking has created SARS and bird flu. Left wing thinking has created seizures of the brain. Do you think we could make a hit song out of this, mate?