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I can't comment on how Australians treat Aborigines because I have never been to Australia, nor have I ever met an Aboriginal. I'm just saying that we're more than capable of passing judgement on the rest of the world, whether it's necessary or not.
I don't think that's fair. Considering nobody alive now had anything to do with what happened back then, and considering what happens now is none of our business, I think we're very capable of passing judgement. Remember, it is our 'systematic destruction' of indigenous contries all over the world that is probably responsible for your presence on this forum. If you're appalled by this, I suggest giving back all of the land to the Aborigines immediately.
John Howard said he didn't want to say sorry because he felt no personal responsibility for what happened to the aborigines, but I personally feel it's a cop-out. I'm actually an immigrant to this country, technically, and am grateful to be Australian, but at the same time, I realise who the original inhabitants of this land were and I realise that they were displaced to build modern Australia. So Australians from country is benefiting from what happened to the aborigines. This isn't unique to Australia of course; everywhere people are conquered and displaced or marginalised, but I think saying sorry for at least the atrocities which led to the life you have now shows at least a humility. Of course not all will agree with me and many will agree with Johnny - it's not necessarily a feeling of guilt, just an acknowledgement of what was done. Not a dwelling on the past, but just a remembrance of it, and then a getting on with living together. It's too late to 'give Australia back' so we have to make the best with what we have now.
Last edited by The Postman; 01-28-2014 at 06:25 PM..
Reason: grammar and 'people from every country'
I can't comment on how Australians treat Aborigines because I have never been to Australia, nor have I ever met an Aboriginal. I'm just saying that we're more than capable of passing judgement on the rest of the world, whether it's necessary or not.
Yeah I'd say what your country did is not really relevant. One can, as a human being, say what is right or wrong, but also, one can say things out of ignorance. I think Mac15 and P London have said some rather ignorant things about America and Australia.
Yeah I'd say what your country did is not really relevant. One can, as a human being, say what is right or wrong, but also, one can say things out of ignorance. I think Mac15 and P London have said some rather ignorant things about America and Australia.
Well, I think its quite relevant.. However we can acknowledge its not the current situation today.
.... most people are capable of understanding this.
Well, I think its quite relevant.. However we can acknowledge its not the current situation today.
.... most people are capable of understanding this.
Well yes, of course racism isn't as blatant as it was in colonial times, but at the same time I feel racism and resentment on both sides still lingers. Aboriginal on white and other racism is also a topic which seldom gets mentioned. It's pretty common to hear about stories of aborigines assaulting white people etc but that doesn't really get on the news much. Actually this maori girl told me she used to live in South Hedland (a rough area of Port Hedland, in the Pilbara of WA) and was frequently bashed up by aborigines purely because she was half maori/half white. Of course that doesn't mean all aborigines are racist it just means it's on both sides, and that the culture there is pretty rough. Drug use is prevalent too. Funnily enough one of the boys in the family I mentioned above was half Maori/half aborigine, a pretty unique mix... Yes, a lot of their situation can be traced back a long way (segregation, barred from employment, their traditional way of life destroyed), and it seems they're still not very integrated into mainstream society. Indeed many don't even want to, yet few have the skills or the land for that matter to live off the land. The culture is definitely more preserved up north, but even in many remote missions (my mum's worked in a few) and towns like Katharine which are majority indigenous and most don't even speak English, many subsist on a diet of greasy fast food and soft drink, instead of their traditional diet. Many die 20 years earlier on average than their non-aboriginal counterparts and suffer a host of health problems.
I don't think that's fair. Considering nobody alive now had anything to do with what happened back then, and considering what happens now is none of our business, I think we're very capable of passing judgement. Remember, it is our 'systematic destruction' of indigenous contries all over the world that is probably responsible for your presence on this forum. If you're appalled by this, I suggest giving back all of the land to the Aborigines immediately.
What is happening now is a direct result of what happened in the past, you cannot bury your head in the sand and ignore that fact,
Yes I do have the British to thank for my existence, my mother is an immigrant from Kent
What is happening now is a direct result of what happened in the past, you cannot bury your head in the sand and ignore that fact,
Yes I do have the British to thank for my existence, my mother is an immigrant from Kent
Exactly. And it goes back further than Australia. NONE of us would not be alive if not for wars, conflict, murders, rapes...I can ASSURE you of that fact.
What is happening now is a direct result of what happened in the past, you cannot bury your head in the sand and ignore that fact,
Yes I do have the British to thank for my existence, my mother is an immigrant from Kent
Maybe it is a direct result - but it isn't the concern of the British today, because Australia is a sovereign nation and deals with its own internal problems. If racism is still strong against Aborigines in Australia, then that is a problem you guys will have to deal with, and not us. We have our own problems to contend with!
But as I said, I don't know the situation in Australia well enough to accurately comment.
"Nor is he without an argument when we reflect on America’s embrace of abortion on demand, homosexual marriage, pornography, promiscuity, and the whole panoply of Hollywood values.
Our grandparents would not recognize the America in which we live.
Moreover, Putin asserts, the new immorality has been imposed undemocratically."
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