Well only the bank manager has called me "Maaate" as he refused me a home loan.

But if Australia wants to continue to be a safe and happy place for its citzens to live in then we had better start talking about our similarities rather than our differences. While we talk about our differences we build up a culture of hate and spend our efforts hating our neighbours. When we explore our similiarites we can start to provide services that we all need to survive and live comfortably.

I think the author is silly to say that aborigines migrated here from somewhere else - about 40,000 years ago. If we look at western Europe over the last 2000 years there were migrations of celts, jutes, saxons, vikings etc. Taking searching for similarities too far!

BD asks why ethnic groups need their own aged care facilities. Clearly BD is a native English speaker with limited experience of elderly people and their needs.

Abyss, your argument doesn't work. If our "substance" as Australians is formed from holding universal ethical principals, then there is no reason for "Australianness" to be any different from "Americanness" or "Britishness" or "Danishness".

In other words, if your definition of what gives substance to being an Australian is a capacity to "handle nihilism in a positive sense", then there are individuals living in New York or London who are more "Australian" than I am - given that I don't even believe that there is an abyss.

A truly distinct national character is formed from a combination of people and place. I doubt if this character can really be reduced to a set of values or principles, as it's more in the nature of subtle, living entity.

D Boaz and M Richardson,

Of course all human beings are culturally embedded and therefore dependent on cultural cues. I should have noted that what matters is the ORDER of custom and ethics, since my point is that we ought not live from out of that, such that that becomes the measure and law, but rather from out of what makes that possible in the first place, our ethicality, which goes more to our common roots (this is why Hobbes saw the need for separation of church and state, for the former is really only a nihilistic reaction to the alienating implications of the latter).

That way, all “custom” betrays its transience, its being open to debate, and thus a potentiality for alienation, and this on the grounds of the more primordial ethicality that lies at the root of all humanity (e.g. that we can communicate, and the ethical implications of this), not just a particular culture.

Western cultures are closer to living from out of the universal rather than the particular, and that is why we transform by the decade, and thus “appear” to “have no culture”. But the West’s diversity is profound! Sure, we always hear of how “superficial” Westerners are, but I find that Capitalism has only better REGULATED what is elsewhere left uncheck, such as the organ market in China. And those who want to kill cartoonists have the most superficial sense of identity known!

DB: “why?” Because we threaten the existence of foundational grounds! I could “give reasons” for why I ought to be allowed to be who I am, not just regurgitate some “tradition” I ought adhere to, and base my “right” solely on some superficial notion of “multiculturalism”! Indeed, I could justify why others ought to be like me! The “when in Rome …” argument is weak.

MR: I agree with the implications you draw out of my comments, because Americans, British, Europeans, all share in the Enlightenment, the historical moment when “criticism” became institutionalised.

David,

Thanks for the kind words. I believe the current Australian-ness issue is one more of Howard's divide and conquer tactics. BEWARE lest he succeeds.

I think it is clear that the fate of democracy in Australia depends on preventing ANY one individual the time in office to become corrupt. !0 years in office is too long. 8 Year maximum electoral incumbency was wisely chosen by American founding fathers and we should take note of their forethought in our still very much evolving democratic system.

Unfortunately, apathy, hubris and fool's gold in the form of property investments have left this nation with a two party, one value ethos. There is NOT much practical difference between Labor and Liberal as you infer. But they ARE the only real choices.

The difference is no longer socio-economic issues. We are governed by corporation-greed-by-proxy in any case. Therefore all we can do is the electoral equivalent of the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart technique of Kill Bill fame. I call it the Five Point Palm Exploding Political Career Technique: where unresponsive leaders like Howard, Iemma and Sartor are voted out and their party is voted out every other term until they realise that in order to come in from the political wilderness they must SERVE HARDER, especially in areas of education and population decentralisation. Otherwise we see them arrogantly smile, turn, take 5 steps and drop dead politically.

The recent blame game about running out of water is a prime example. The culprit is the Federal government's immigration funnelling into areas like SYDSEQ where Macbank and Co have easy access to big markets and profits. These companies have no responsibility for the social damage and infrastructure shortages they cause and have the gaul to use up Howard's electoral charisma to blame us for the water shortages their IMMIGRANT future-markets will cause. This is pure political INCEST. THE answer is to use free speech to expose it and votes to rotate politicians until its eradicated.

Since we are governed by corporations and the reserve Bank, it makes little difference to economic consequences for Australia

If you were blind and could not see
How would you know what colour I be
This goes for both others and me
So let's look for good in those we meet
Don't ask the Gods to fight in your street

4freedom

Response to David BOAZ:

I do not know much about the British Australian Community, but the existance of ethno centric lobby groups is not racist.

You've said, "pride in ethnicity always has racist overtones." I don't think thats right. To take the reverse example, if I lived overseas, I'd still be proud of being Australian and would be interested in having a social with other Australians from time to time. That would not make me a racist. I'd also be interested in ensuring that as a migrant that I was subject to no unnecessary disadvantage. Were is the racism in that?