Dear Paul,

Can we learn something from Germany as far as their
history goes? Should we follow suit?

Foxy,
You & Paul1405 will never learn, that much you've proven by now ! But, if you are interested try to get your hands on the video documentary of Madagascar's prisons.
I'm sure you'll find it extremely confronting but I'm not sure it's enough to wake you up !

Come on Indy, Foxy is being rather even handed on this, don't put her in the same basket as me. I'm more likely to say I'd like to take the old Captain Cook and shove him where the sun don't shine. Foxy would never say that to you.

Ah Foxy! In Victorian times they had a penchant for erecting monuments/statues all over the place. A statue of Price Albert might pop up in the middle of the town square in some dust bowl in Australia. All for no other reason than the town, back in the day, wanted something nice in its centre, to offset the dust.

There's always controversy with there things. Ben Gurion, for some a Zionist terrorists, for others an Israeli freedom fighter, depending which side of the fence you are on. That applies to many of the past hero's/villeins.

There's always a case to be made, Tony Abbott, he was a Jesuit, Jesuits were involved in the slave trade in South America. John Howard, Howard was an active supporter of the war in Vietnam, our side committed war crimes in Vietnam, there goes Howard and Abbott.

Just as the winners write the history, they also erect the monuments. Rather than erecting anymore pigeon roosts, btw with some, pigeons have the right idea, I would like to see in parks and other locations more history being told through plaques and photos etc. Brisbane council through local historical societies has done a bit of that, far more interesting than some old bloke covered in pigeon poo.

As for the Germans, they suffered some embarrassment by losing the war, so monuments to the fuhrer might not have gone down all that well. Had they won, that would be another john dory!

The germans started the War but who made it a World War ?

I hear that these people want to tear down the statue of The Thinker (http://pearlsofprofundity.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/the-thinker-1.jpg) in the Vic Art Gallery since it represents everything the left is opposed to.

Foxy, you started the thread, so which statues were you thinking of possibly taking down.

I think that is a fair way to start debate.

Any other way will provoke an angry response.

And in this case, I don't that is fair