Ick!! what a lot of choices here.

Crouge: "Dearest Margaret Thatcher"!! Why didn't you just run your fingernails down a blackboard?

Mr Daggett or what ever ID. you have today; I've changed my mind. I don't support you.

__________________________

Today I went back to the earliest posts I could find on OLO.

As a human race we have ALWAYS had a go at different races/cultures; we did not have this format to espouse our views though.
It is easier now to monitor the opinions of us folk.

Within the life of this site, the focus has clearly shifted to the Islam/migrant/refugee 'problem'.(Another compelling trend: fundamental Christianity which is not so much being adopted, as pushed strongly as the answer to all perceived 'evil').

What is different about this situation is that it is State (of Australia) sanctioned, and even covertly encouraged! Don't even attempt to tell me that this intolerance and mistrust has NOT been driven by the Howard Government years. IT HAS!

Blind Freddy can't miss the trend to clear and open vilification of specific races.

It is far more civil of me to put this in the manner in which I have, rather than the way I would like to..

It was courageous in this current environment for Jennifer Clarke to attempt to convince some of the privilege of the white race over their darker fellow's. Courageous but futile.

However; I'm damn glad that she tried. She has the right to do so; as do I.

Except redneck I never said white races are more murderous than other races - just that in the 20th century, they were responsible for more violence and genocide than other races, without any attempt to attribute this to a innate/genetic tendency.

However, I do agree it would be foolish to suppose that there were not a genetic component to traits such as violence, intelligence, civility etc. etc. While some might classify even that very suggestion as "racism", it's certainly not the definition I use.
OTOH, it is also clear that the expression of these traits is strongly determined by cultural and environmental influences - the history of any fairly well-defined ethnic grouping will show periods of violence, periods of high culture and scientific development, periods of religious fundamentalism, you name it - even though the genes haven't changed once.

Of course the dominance of Western civilisation will not last indefinitely. The rise of China and India is an unstoppable force, and it would be highly surprising if by the end of my life (I'm hoping to last another 50 years) European-derived cultures held anything like the economic and socio-political sway they do now. Whether or not Australia accept refugees from Africa is going to make precisely zero difference to this.

Muslim immigration and integration is an entire discussion in itself, but here it is very much the *culture* of extreme Islamic beliefs that concerns me, not at all the genetic/racial makeup of those that hold those beliefs. I would much rather have an Iraqi family with moderate Islamic beliefs living next door than an Anglo-saxon with extreme Islamic beliefs.

Shadow Minister

‘The majority of refugees are illiterate (even in their own language…’The huge problems of crime and unemployment in South Africa are a large part due to the huge influx (about 8m) of unemployable refugees from other ’

The majority of African refugees have spent many years in refugee camps, without access to education. They are not illiterate in their own language. They are eager to learn English and new skills. I’ve taught them and they are a delight to teach. If only white students were as eager as them.

You can not relate the issues of South Africa to issues in Australia.

You are wrong when you state that crime and unemployment are due to refugees from other countries. The first wave of refugees to South Africa were white refugees arriving from Zimbabwe during the 70s. Johannesburg has been a dangerous place to live in long before the second wave of refugees arriving from Zimbabwe, largely due to famine.

Fester

‘The UK has pursued similar policy for decades, routinely dismissing any criticism as racist. Of late the problems have become too substantial to ignore. How long will it be before people start facing the reality here?’

The UK did not have similar polices. They had policies of colonial residence being allowed residence to the UK. They just didn’t expect such large numbers of non-white colonials taking up the offer.

Mark Richardson

‘It's noteworthy that the most egalitarian nations are generally the most homogeneous, e.g. Norway and Japan.’

Norway and Japan do not have homogenous populations. Nor are they egalitarian. Their Indigenous populations have experienced incredible discrimination, much like Australia’s Indigenous populations. From an Indigenous perspective, I wonder if they felt their experiences were ‘egalitarian’.

"Even in the 20th century I’ll think you’ll find far more violence and genocide has been instigated by whites (Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Franco, Pinochet, Milosevic, etc.) than anyone else."

Wizofaus, I think you might find that Mao Zedong killed more than the combined total of those you mention; seventy million human beings is what I have read. But it is surreal to think that race might be considered as a determinant of a murderer, let alone a relevant factor in building a utopia.

Racism is a silly diversion which Jennifer Clarke seems sidetracked by. The idea that Australia needs more people, or how accepting immigrants might correct the distribution of wealth in the world seem to be accepted without question.

There is scant evidence that immigration provides any net per capita economic benefit for Australians, and the deterioration in housing affordability, services and infrastructure, at a time when Australia is riding a resources boom, would suggest that immigration is a strong driver of inequality.

So much for immigration correcting the balance. And the few making great profits at the expense of all Australians are being amply veiled from scrutiny by racist prattle. Without this diversion, they might have to answer the unanswerable and justify the unjustifiable.

Col Rouge: "There must be pixies at the end of your garden, who you like to play with, if you can interpret anything which I have written as “racist” in any way."

I suppose that supporting the "re-colonisation" of Africa mightn't necessarily be racist, but this certainly is:

"The majority of Australians are from “British” ancestral stock. That is where the inventiveness and innovation comes from.

So, until the Australian gene pool is diluted to the point where those inherited inventive traits are lost among the mass of inferior emulator and copyists traits, Australia will continue to fair above average in the innovation stakes."

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=6228#90147

Admittedly Col is cleverer than most of his cohorts here in concealing his racism with weasel words, but like the rest of them it comes bubbling to the surface every now and again, like noxious gas in a sewage pond.

When I migrated from The Netherlands I was perplexed as to how behind Australians were, at least by some 25-years it appeared to me.

My view is, that Australians are probably the dumbest people on earth! They do not even know what their true nationality is.
They pretend to know it all, yet they let themselves being conned by their politicians, time and again.
How on earth can anyone consider Australians to be smart if they allow a prime minister to unconstitutionally authorise a murderous invasion and in the process have mass-murder committed in another country and the Court even block any attempt to hold him accountable, but if you park incorrectly then they are willing to send to jail, if you don’t pay!

Look how John Howard unconstitutionally rob Aboriginals of their rights, and simply he merely has to make any excuse, and the masses will accept it rather then questioning his conduct.
Now, he claims to hold a referendum to change the Preamble of the Constitution to recognise Aboriginals, where the Preamble is not at all part of the Constitution, and so no referendum can alter the preamble in that regard.

When I grew up in The Netherlands it was very much an issue that the coloured people were living together in a house and then saved money to purchase it (In The Netherlands home ownership is not what one normally go for) and it was made clear that those blacks were buying up property after property and renting them out and making good money.
As such, from my experiences it is not that the whites are smarter then the black, but rather that it depends on the circumstances available to people.
Look at Iran, they have a constitutional council where legislation is first checked if it is constitutionally sound, where as in Australia we have legislation passed and applied regardless how unconstitutionally it might be and then the poor lacking monies have no way to challenge it because the way the Court operate! that is dumb!

Intelligence has nothing to do with the colour of the skin!