how can inequalities be reduced in australia? (1 Viewer)

[Comrade nathan]

I think the creator of the thread was talking about economic and social inequalities, not about how to make a unified Australian culture. I don't know why you people are so obsessed with Australian culture and immigrants.

 

[breaking]

not really nathan.

might be a bit hard to simply deport minority groups as nice as it would be we'd have someone bitching at us for ofloading all our shitkickers on there country ...... hmm..... were would we stick em?

 

[withoutaface]

I think the creator of the thread was talking about economic and social inequalities, not about how to make a unified Australian culture. I don't know why you people are so obsessed with Australian culture and immigrants.

Because when all the lebanese congregate in one part of the city, are only friends with other lebs etc, this creates a rift between them and anglos, whereby stereotypes are perpetuated because neither side really comes into contact with the other on a social basis. Same with a lot of other ethnic groups, essentially this leads to discrimination and economic inequality because of perceived social differences.

 

[Comrade nathan]

not really nathan.

Yeah i also missed this.

for one i thinnk that a deeper understanding of other cultures could be very benificial to breaking down the inequalities, any one else?

Well i think the thread was failed to begin with, without setting down what inequalities we are talking about. It was so open to interperation that there was no doubt the thread was going to turn into people talking about Muslims and completely ignoring the inequalities in Australia.

 

[frog12986]

I think that sly has a fairly valid point. To say that the 'Australian Culture' is a fallacy is essentially remaining ignorant to the society that has been built within these coasts. Of course Australia was founded upon the principles of immigration, but this does not detract form what these people subsequently forged; a thriving and commodity rich nation. To reject the way of life that the Australian has built, is to reject 218 years of history, much of which has been a never-ending struggle against nature, distance and authority. Consequently, its been this 'struggle' which has driven Australian Literature, Music and Industry. One particular attribute that does stand out in my mind, is the willingness of the "Australian" to strive to better themselves and their family; to begin with nothing and build a foundation for the future. Much like the story of Australia itself, we've had wave upon wave, upon wave of immigrants (up until about 15 years ago) venture to our shores with nothing, and build a solid grounding for their generation, and the the generations to follow. This above everything, I believe, is the greatest asset that we as Australians have established; The ability to derive a life from the depths of disparagement...not exclusive to the Australian ideal, but nonethelss and important component that is fundamentally responsible for the creation of the society that exists today.

As for equality..it is an outdated, idealistic concept that is flawed from its deepest foundings..

 

[outwide]

i intended originally to discuss the inequalities of australia untill someone stated that australia had no culture then the converasation turned


"As for equality..it is an outdated, idealistic concept that is flawed from its deepest foundings.."

thats a good point on equality.

stil the concept that aus. has no culture is fairly out there we do have some sort of a culture fair go, aussie battler, mate ship any of these ring A BELL yes i will agree that the princibals of culture on the global sense is slowly founding but australia was belt on these terms of culture , can't forget that.

 

[ButterflyFish]

of course we have a culture!!! it is impossible not to have one. think of our housing, our fashoins, the type of businesses. multiculturalism is part of our culture. all that is culture. i think you mean we dont have a national stereotype.

 

[withoutaface]

As for equality..it is an outdated, idealistic concept that is flawed from its deepest foundings..

Equality of outcome, yes. But relative equality of opportunity would be feasible once we do away with the idea that culture unites particular ethnic groups and start embracing our own individual preferences. To cling on to your own culture just because of tradition is moronic, and it fucks with the market when a group of people decide to do this, hence forming ghettoes and not really associating with people outside their ethnicity, because then they see people of different races as inherently different, when they're really not. If a culture of doing what feels good for you, rather than what others who look like you think feels good, was embraced, then noone would feel the need to form ghettoes and would associate with people outside their race in the same way that they do with those inside it.

In short, the solution is not multiculturalism, but it's not assimilation either. It's the encouragement of an individualist set of values.

EDIT:

of course we have a culture!!! it is impossible not to have one. think of our housing, our fashoins, the type of businesses. multiculturalism is part of our culture. all that is culture. i think you mean we dont have a national stereotype.

Example right here, I should wear red t-shirts because I feel I look good in red t-shirts, not because other Australians wear red t-shirts. I should build a house from bricks because it's practical and cost effective, not because everyone else in my street uses bricks.

 

[loquasagacious]

how can you say that australia doesn't have a culture? of cource it does it's been built up since colonisation all you have to do is look at some examples of Ausstralian concepts such as mate ship.

perfect example is in the pow camps in the vietnam war:

each country was given the same amount of food for all of the prisinors,

-- America laid it out and people ended up paying for there food no money no food, that simple. alot of americans died of starvation.


-- England worked the food through the chain of command, the higher roles in the army had first choice to the food and it went down like that through the ranks. many died from starvation

--AUSTRALIA shared the food out equally between all troops regardless of rank.

as if that isn't a prime example of a strong Australian culture???

That strikes me as extremely suspect.... don't get me wrong it sounds great, but maybe it is lets say not entirely true...

To me it smacks very much of the ANZAC legend which is just that, largely created intentionally and unintentionally however often far removed from the truth. I suspect this like the ANZAC myth to have its foundation not in fact but feeling good about ourselves (which is perhaps what culture is all about though....).

 

[HotShot]

Australia has mixed cultures, primarily its cultural is mostly pommish, a little americanish and finally a bit euro. In this sense it doesnt really have its own culture, just borrowed from others.

 

[Riewe]

Making everyone learn and speak english for starters?

 

[frog12986]

Australia has mixed cultures, primarily its cultural is mostly pommish, a little americanish and finally a bit euro. In this sense it doesnt really have its own culture, just borrowed from others.

And if you date it back far enough, those cultures have all been 'influenced' by those of the past..that view is so simplistic is really not worth the air..

 

[HotShot]

And if you date it back far enough, those cultures have all been 'influenced' by those of the past..that view is so simplistic is really not worth the air..

exactly, so how does adaptin to an australian culture get rid of inequalities? There will always be inequalities. Before asians came to australia, i am sure there were inequalities. For gods sake there is an 'inequality' between a four wheel drive and a normal car.

 

[tWiStEdD]

You've all pleased me a lot.
It seems like everyone believes equality to be a great goal but would be an awfully boring situation to be in. Intelligence is rife here!

 

[ihavenothing]

If people stopped panicking about inequalities maybe they would stop being so paranoid and wanting to radically change things that may lead to disaster and just enjoy who they are and what they have, because in reality Australia is a very well-off lucky country for nearly all its citizens.

 

[withoutaface]

You've all pleased me a lot.
It seems like everyone believes equality to be a great goal but would be an awfully boring situation to be in. Intelligence is rife here!

Again, equality of opportunity is desirable, as is not having tensions between groups because of the colour of their skin. Yes, difference will always exist, but it's best if these differences exist in a way that won't fuck with the employment market.