Australians don't hate the 'other'; they hate political correctness which seeks to deny them any identity or culture. With attitudes such as this Australia (and the West) will die a corrosive death, and China and maybe India will take over where the 'West' committed suicide.

This is a very interesting piece. In order to fully absorb it, one has to "Stop the World" - in other words, stop the "noise" that is daily foisted upon us.

To observe the world from the perspective of an unassociated being can leave one shivering and unclothed.

How to stop clutching at the mae-west of one's footy team, the Crocodile Hunter, the illusion of John Howard wearing the Don's baggy green while snicking boundaries off Labor's inswingers?

How to stand in the centre of Melbourne and realise that it is as insubstantial as smoke and mirrors - yet still feel contented?

Tricky.

Perhaps we are just believers with no faith. Belief is a clinging thing - the reflection of one's needs. On the other hand faith is a total letting-go, even to the extent of abandoning one's most comforting beliefs (pious people take note).

Faith in one another is the foundation of civilisation. That faith takes no account of race or religion - otherwise it is NOT faith - it is something else, answering to someone else's beliefs.

Faith is not out there, it springs from within.

Indeed, the Idols I have loved so long
Have done my Credit in Men's Eye much wrong:
Have drown'd my Honour in a shallow Cup,
And sold my Reputation for a Song.

*

Try this link to find out where you stand as a 'rich' Aussie. You'll have to convert your annual income to either pounds or US $, but it is a lot of fun to find out just how you measure up.

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

;-)

This pretentious bit of writing is the reality of what has dogged Australia for the past thirty years.
These academics have a cringe culture about poor old Oz,a few words of praise are flung as a sort of aside, just so we will not think of the author as totally anti Oz.
Fortunately these 'deep thinkers' are now as passe as last years lettuce.
And we are now finding out just how wrong they were.

Scout.. you don't do justice to this VERY important and ground breaking article. I recall disgreeing almost hysterically with this author on some other matter, but in this article he has opened up so many crucially important points that it's almost hard to know where to begin.

*Above all, we want others to recognise that we have a worth approximating to our self-assessment.*

Yep..its called having a culture :) and some territory in which to live it.

1/ *For much of humanity, the self-image of individuals or the group is the image of the god they worship* -

2/ *who, in turn, is in their image.*

3/ *They see their actions as divinely inspired and godlike. They are superior to all other creation and may be unique in the universe.*

COMMENT on 1. The God of the Judao Christian heritage is the One who calls us AWAY from our carnality and greed. He tells us it is WRONG to covet our neighbours this or that. He certainly does NOT justify territorial expansion, the taking and exploitation of other's resources. "If any man will follow me let him DENY himself"....etc Jesus said. "You are in the world but not OF it" He also said.
"We have given up underhanded deceitful ways" Paul says.

COMMENT ON 2. If 'we' are the land grabbing, wife stealing, underage girl lusting types, then...why does our God CONDEMN such behavior ? Sorry, our God is NOT in 'our' sinful image.

COMMENT ON 3. In less enlightened days, yes, we westerners did. Many today of different cultural/philosophical backgrounds STILL DO feel they are actually superior. If not, why would someone born in Australia 3 generations removed from her Greek ancestors say "I'm so proud to be GREEK" ?

While some may err like this, most people understand now that we are simply 'different'. But,.... (and its a important 'but') our difference is OURS...and we don't wish to be treated poorly by those who come to this territory. If they do, then we might reciprocate.

BD - now I KNOW you didn't try the link.

If you had you'd understand just how narcissistic and intolerant Aussies really are.

"So it is healthy and “natural” for most of us to reinforce our conviction, sense or feeling of self-worth by joining with others in what might become orgies of never-ending communal self-aggrandisement. Those “others” are not really others, but are seen to be narcissistically compatible. They look like us; they speak our language; they share our emotions; they think our thoughts; in empathetic guise, they eat our food and drink our wine. They are “us”."

i find this an interesting conception, of which this forum provides many examples, primarily in the evocation of various amorphous entities such as 'the silent majority' or 'aussie values', or even the overly optimistic appeal to 'general decency'. the need for validation of an individuals reality leads to the fairly audacious claims that numerous others, whom the individual has never met, agree with their opinion.

as often happens on this site, the detractors do their best to confirm the points of the article. Mickijo immediately cries 'anti oz', when what they really mean is that the article is against their own conception of Australia. there is no real problem with this, we all are entitled to our own opinion. the problem arises when Mick transfers their own reality onto others, seen as 'narcissistically compatible', but are possibly not.

there are of course 'voting majority's, often sighted as confirming the 'value majority', however this is much more complex, the left/right generalisation of two party politics hides the fact that people vote for a party for completely different reasons, more related to the individual than any generalised position.

An aside on Nietzsche and God...

His thoughts on God were a lot more complex than most people realise, and he's usually only partially quoted on this subject. There are two points to make.

The first is that Nietzsche was all about will to power, and so he had respect for people who attained will to power, including Jesus and the early Christians (people who otherwise lacked will to power in the Roman world). His big problem, therefore, with modern Christianity was that it had become an orthodoxy that restricted will to power and was almost a parody of itself.

The second point is that Nietzsche was asking us (and indeed, himself) where we go if we reject a particular system. It's not enough to either collapse into nihilism or to simply replace one orthodoxy with another (which is why he goes on about the superman and man being something to overcome -- the whole scene with the tightrope walker illustrates this), which I suppose is the big problem for much of 20th century thought and the problems with political correctness and post-modernism. To be sure, there were big problems with the grand narratives of before, but in many ways, what replaced them has merely fallen into more of the same sorts of intellectual and cultural territorial jostling, defensiveness and rigidity, or else is complete goobledy gook that doesn't really say anything about anything.

To the author

Thank you for an extremely well written and thought provoking article. I do not agree with all you have to say but even so, you have given me lots to think about.

I know that I am egocentric - just as all other people are egocentric.

Cheers

I think there is a subtle difference between how we would like ourselves to be seen and how we really are.

We may like to believe the world sees us as "larrikins with a healthy disregard for authority" but this may not necessarily be the case.

There is as much egalitarianism, radicalism and any other sort of "ism" here than exists in any other country.

To say that "mateship" for example, is a somehow a uniquely special Australian trait seems to devalue the words buddy, pal, comrade, mon ami and all other derivations of the same universal concept.

To keep on implying that we hold some things in higher regard than other nations tends to make us look a little insecure about ourselves as well as seeming to fear those who choose to come here.

Of course the same principles would conversely apply to other nations who hold their own sense of values but it seems to be more of an issue in this country.

We need to feel - not as good as - but slightly better than everybody else. I suppose that's what tribalism is all about.

Unfortunately, this article is wasted on the people who most need to understand it, because by definition, narcissists are incapable of seeing the flaws in their own nature. They can always find somebody else to blame for their problems.

How nice it must be to go through life oblivious to one's faults and failings, surrounded by a bunch of like-minded goons vacuously chanting "Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi" or "Allah akbar"; and then, after the latest crusade or jihad has backfired, being able to sheet the blame home to <hate group x>.

Heck, narcissism has a lot going for it, when you put it like that.

If WORLD WAR 3 breaks out James Cumes and the line is drawn in the sand who is going to be standing on your side of the line? That’s when we’ll see who our true friends are. That’s why we need tribes around us, to help defend us if we are attacked .

If Suddam Hussein had gassed the Sunnis en masse instead of the Kurds he wouldn’t have been leader of Iraq for very long. He would have been overrun very swiftly by the Shiites. That’s why dictators although they may be cruel seldom commit annilation of their own tribe. It’s called survival.

Although I agree with some things you say I think you are confusing narcissism with tribalism. We are programmed by nature to be tribal to help us survive. That’s why the whole community pitches in after a disaster because while the community is disorganized and weak it makes the whole community vunerable to attack by an outside force and we also need a community around us to provide us with services, like food and electricity and shelter to survive.

Nature gave mankind tribal instincts unfortunately a lot of academics think they are calling the shots and not nature. That’s because they’ve got their heads stuck too far up in the intellectual eather. They need to come down to the biological level where life is really being played out and realize that nature IS calling the shots on this planet . No man can stand in front of a Sunami and no man can take the tribal Instinct out of man.

Third and fourth generation immigrants still march in the streets when anything threatens their tribes in the old country but they don’t show such tribal loyalty when the Australians are killed in Bali.

Bite 2 of this elephant.....

Cumes conclusion. (and his glaring weakness)

"That creed (to which he feels we must subscribe) is that we should join with others ...and should transfer our narcissistic self to no other institution than one that embraces us all."

James... dude.. HELLOOOOOO.. this kind of thinking is good for Lygon street cafes and Journalists/Arts majors engaging in mutual warm fuzzies and self congratulation, but unfortunately, it has emerged out of the intellectual and moral vacuum created by the 'Death of God' and our friend Mr Neitche. Post modernism is simply the 'shotgun' approach to truth, everyone has his little bit and they all go in different directions.

This produces a debilitated, crippled society where "each man does what is right in his own eyes", unless of course he is busted by the drug squad etc.

A much bigger problem for this weakened, suicidal, morally bankrupt society, is that NOT EVERY CULTURE SHARES THIS VIEW. Specially those who believe that they have a Holy Book which is above reproach AND.. (more importantly) justifies them expanding their belief system by violence and war. Not only that, but that version of truth encompasses the whole of society and government. There is no discussion of 'State and Church' as in Islam, they are one.

Christian foundations are both our weakness and our strength. We have the freedom to either accept or reject the Gospel. It is by nature an 'offer'. "I stand at the door and knock, to him who opens, I will come in" said Jesus.

Unfortunately, too many of us have a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign on our doors.

Does Dr Cumes really, seriously believe that those under the Quran will ever listen to his views ? Does he know these people exist? Does he watch SBS ? "The world and all that is in it belongs to Allah and His messenger" is the mantra of that group.

We have a different message. "Come to me all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Jesus)

Australia has 0.3% of the world's population and yet we carry on as if we are the greatest place on earth.

Why is that? Because we are actually whining, insecure prats who like to blame anyone but ourselves and our "friends".

What we also forget is that most of the world's population are different to us.

BOAZ: Did you read my comments on Nietzsche though? If you had, you would notice that a) Nietzsche didn't cause the death of God (he was largely engaging in social commentary), and b) he was concerned about a post-Christian moral vacuum. Nietzsche would have been just as concerned as anyone else with post-modernism.

The scene with the tightrope walker involves the following: the tightrope walker is trying to walk between two towers and a jester comes out and overtakes him, and then the tightrope walker loses his nerve and falls to his own death. This symbolism represents (modern) man trying to walk between the animal and the superman, and losing his philosophical nerve or belief system (in this case his belief in Christianity), yet being unable to replace it with something that will allow him to go on to reach a higher self (the other tower of the superman), hence his demise.

That’s right Marilyn, we really are in a privileged minority –

"If we could reduce the world’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all existing human ratios remaining the same, the demographics would look something like this:

The village would have 60 Asians, 14 Africans, 12 Europeans, 8 Latin Americans, 5 from the USA and Canada, and 1 from the South Pacific

51 would be male, 49 would be female

82 would be non-white; 18 white

67 would be non-Christian; 33 would be Christian

80 would live in substandard housing

67 would be unable to read

50 would be malnourished and 1 dying of starvation

33 would be without access to a safe water supply

39 would lack access to improved sanitation

24 would not have any electricity (And of the 76 that do have electricity, most would only use it for light at night.)

7 people would have access to the Internet

1 would have a college education

1 would have HIV

2 would be near birth; 1 near death

5 would control 32% of the entire world’s wealth; all 5 would be US citizens

33 would be receiving --and attempting to live on-- only 3% of the income of “the village” "

An expanded interpretation of this comparision can be found at -
http://www.ppu.org.uk/learn/infodocs/pm_globalvillage.html

In reality, I guess that not many people really care what we think about ourselves or anybody else.

Interesting posts wobble.

I simply cannot understand the reason that people who clearly hate Australia, Australian people, and Australian values, continue to live in this wonderful country.

I have only been overseas twice - for holidays. On both occasions, I read about the countries, their histories, culture and customs before I embarked on my holiday. I made sure that I knew the laws of the land. I made sure that I met locals in order to further understand the laws of their land. Not difficult really. Just respectful.

Cheers
Kay

Dear Shorbe... agreed...and that is exactly my point. We HAVE fallen, we are spiralling out of control down toward what we wish is a net, but it's not there.

Most folk advocating humanistic approaches to life miss this crucial point.
Jesus said something along these lines (a parable) Luke 11:

"24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says,'I will turn back to my house from which I came out.'

25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.

26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first."

I can only observe our society and conclude that we are not just heading towards, but have already arrived at that 'last state'.
Why ? well, a lot of our 'Christianity' has been, and is, very nominal, cultural. We made a show of getting rid of the 'unclean spirits' and had a facade of Christian living, but inside we were empty, many have not embraced the life in the Spirit which would replace the 'old life'. There has just been a bit of a 'tidy up'......

Then, lacking in a secure foundation, we are vulnerable to the very things we sought to rid ourselves of with a shallow Christianity, and the old life comes back, as 7 storm troopers, blitzkreiging our sensibilities, and leading us down a 7fold worse path.

I've mentioned in my very first post some 'litmus' tests or indicators of this.
This post might seem a bit apocalyptic, but just as Neitzche used imagery, I'm referring to our Lords parables.

I hope we will all not just 'tidy the house' but replace the previous unclean guest by inviting the Holy One knocking at our door to enter in, and abide with us.

marilyn
people may wear different clothes and have different traditions but the human being is the same animal the world over and you can always back a horse called self interest when it comes to their reasons for doing things no matter how they may seek to present a different face to the world.

By the way has your family given back any of their land or houses to the aborigines yet or have you booked a passage on a boat to go and leave the country so the aborigines can have the space you"re taking up and the territorial resources you're using, back?