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The Forum > General Discussion > Why is Aussie society becoming politicised?

Why is Aussie society becoming politicised?

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I look back down the years and I see many changes.
One does when comparing yesterdays with today.
Even 20 years ago politics seemed relegated to the occasional outing with State or Federal elections... then mostly backed off to a quieter place in the media.

Yet here we are in 2008 and we turn on the television and in pours politics...firstly Americas!

I mean "What is US politics doing here up-front on Aussie television and in the Aussie newspapers"?
Hillary, Hillary, Hillary, Obama clashes with Cain, Cain clashes with Obama, the Alaskan girl fights off all complaints..."What is this stuff in the Australian media"?
Why is America everywhere?
Our own politics is enough to dumb down any brain.

Did we lose something?
Are we being subliminal-ed, conditioned?
Have we forgotten the small man and woman-in-need to focus on politics.
What are our eyes off...that we are now on this "politics"?

Are more noble values being lost because we are getting so politicised?

I dont mind the yanks in support of Australian Defence but what do their pollies have to do with Australia?
Posted by Gibo, Wednesday, 17 September 2008 6:21:14 PM
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We used to be governed by the born to rule conservatives.

Then we got rid of them and sucked up to Uncle Sam.

I've heard it said that we are about to become an official State of the USA.

Not happy about the ANZUS Treaty. It was a pact so that its members came to each others aid WHEN THEY WERE ATTACKED. Today, the USA is the agressor. It has laws that allow it to eliminate opposition in other countries by entering that country to carry out that supression. Then it expects us to come running to its aid.

I lived for five years in the middle east and there the Yanks are known as the sons of dogs (dogs being very low lifes)
Posted by phoenix94, Thursday, 18 September 2008 10:56:59 AM
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phoenix94

You infer we are a State of the USA and then write
'I lived for five years in the middle east and there the Yanks are known as the sons of dogs (dogs being very low lifes)'

Funny how all these USA haters want to come here to live but next to none want to go to the Middle East to live. The disguised hate is nothing short of hypocrisy!
Posted by runner, Thursday, 18 September 2008 11:05:49 AM
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When you don't understand what happened yesterday, you are unlikely to understand what is happening today or what happens tomorrow.
Posted by Bugsy, Thursday, 18 September 2008 11:22:35 AM
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Politics and the entertainment industries have merged. Since politics has become more entertaining the news/entertainment industries supply us with more of it. It's cheaper for them than paying for actors, sets and so on to make their own content. As the centre of the entertainment universe, the US does entertainment politics better than anyone else. It's live soap opera.

On the serious side of things, in a globalised world the result of the US election will have global consequences which should concern us. The small man and woman in need currently defaulting on their mortgages and losing their homes is largely attributable to goings on in the US.

On the obvious side of things, OLO is a forum for discussing news and current affairs. If you hung around another forum which discussed, say, knitting, you could form the impression that Aussie society is becoming knitified.
Posted by chainsmoker, Thursday, 18 September 2008 11:49:24 AM
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Bugsy, I don't understand your comment in the context of this thread.
Posted by Austin Powerless, Thursday, 18 September 2008 12:11:20 PM
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chainsmoker makes an interesting point.

Gibo I am not sure that we are more politicised. Possibly we are angrier due to a perception in the last twenty years that governments have lost touch with the grass roots and the 'small man-women' in the street that you mentioned. Even the pensioners are politicising.

I would argue the 60s and 70s were more politicised (if I take your meaning correctly) with the Vietnam War and the Whitlam dismissal as examples.

People do seem angrier in modern times but perhaps it is because we are constantly exposed to it - because of Forums like this one and the birth of sensationalist current affairs programs like Current Affair and Today Tonight.
Posted by pelican, Thursday, 18 September 2008 1:20:24 PM
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I find politics quite boring. A number of years ago, when I was off work sick, I was watching a movie on VHS video tape (No DVD's in those days), and when the tape finished and was rewinding, the program was political debate live from Parliament House. I've seen more intelligent conversation and manners in pubs and clubs on Friday and Saturday nights. Needless to say, I turned the TV off.
Posted by Steel Mann, Thursday, 18 September 2008 1:35:23 PM
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GIBO.. we are becoming politicized because people are BULLYing us and.. I've never liked bully's :)
Posted by Polycarp, Thursday, 18 September 2008 5:34:21 PM
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Dear Gibo,

It could be due to the wider diversity of
our society today. There is a greater
demand for a wider range of news and
current affair programs.

Australians today are more "outward"
looking. More interested in what goes on
globally, and not just within their own
backyard.

Australians travel more,
technology has advanced - its become
a more competitive, more advanced society.

World politics is very much a big part of it.
Posted by Foxy, Thursday, 18 September 2008 5:40:46 PM
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Theres some good points here from all.
Its good to see how people view the situation.
I guess, maybe, Im overly suspicious of the USA...and that too may have a Hollywood background (Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View and so many others on bad "intelligence organisations").

I just get disturbed when I observe what looks like a subtle displacement of the Australian way of life by a greater power, even a friendly greater power.

Does the USA really want to own the world?
Perhaps we just have to let greater powers have their play and see what comes of it all.
Maybe I shouldnt get too upset with the USA...she's going to have her time with The Lord.
Posted by Gibo, Friday, 19 September 2008 7:47:39 AM
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Dear Gibo,

I think you'll find you're not alone
in worrying about the future and where
we're headed. I too, worry from time to
time. Especially, when the news that's
presented to us is often bleak.

But then something good happens, and
things balance out.

As far as the Us is concerned. I'm hoping
that with a new President - things may
change for the better.

Fingers crossed.
Posted by Foxy, Friday, 19 September 2008 11:38:54 AM
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Im with you Foxy...maybe a new President will change things. Maybe he will pull the troops out of Iraq and things will quieten down.
Posted by Gibo, Friday, 19 September 2008 12:51:25 PM
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I wouldn't worry too much about Australia becoming Americanised Gibo. We watch their TV shows and movies, listen to their music, watch their politics, eat their fast food, get involved in their wars, suffer the consequences of their bad economic behaviour, follow their fashions and pick up their language and spelling, but our attitudes are totally different.

Just about any survey on just about any topic you care to name will find vast differences between Australians and Americans. America may be all around us, but it hasn't entered our hearts and minds.
Posted by chainsmoker, Friday, 19 September 2008 4:00:50 PM
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I think our society is becoming more politicised because we are adopting US policies, and generally doing whatever they would want us to do. Our sovereignty is being sold by our own government..... Remember how Rudd recently killed a multi-billion dollar uranium deal between Australia and Russia?

It's a recent US policy/action.

18 September:
"The US has already shelved a civilian nuclear deal with Russia"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7623555.stm

Like John Howard, Rudd has made us something of a puppet of the USA. Our strategists and analysts must be afraid of departing from even some US policy and thinking/acting with some independence. Or they are generally idiots and cowards, afraid of their own shadows.

Also remember the debate about Georgia we had on OLO weeks ago? In the above article I linked to the USA is now acknowledging that Georgia was the initial instigator and aggressor, and "fired the first shots". Despite this our government continue to assert the opposite as if they haven't yet caught up with USA White House officials statements. This disjunction only proves that our leaders are relying on foreign powers such as the USA and UK to make decisions for them. The media of course have had ample opportunity to correct the record, but I have noticed they have not taken such an opportunity and have fallen in line with our government position. Our media are not at all honest with the Australian people.
Posted by Steel, Friday, 19 September 2008 5:47:53 PM
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