australia.. the dumb blonde

Byrnzie

catefrances wrote:

id be interested to know how many australians you know to have formed this opinion.

Practically every Australian I've ever met has expressed racist views regarding the Aboriginals.
Are you denying there's widespread racism against Abroginals in Australia?

redrock

stardust1976 wrote:

Well, aside from the hats, and the ability to stop cattle (and dobermans!), dead in their tracks with a little hand signal, it's not THAT far off for a lot of guys here. And like I said, MOST people are happy to have our little country portrayed like that. We like to play on the impression that we have kangaroos and koalas as pets (even though koalas are really quite nasty!), and that all we do is drink and surf, etc etc... Funny though, that a couple of years back one of our tourist campaigns that showed our stunningly beautiful lifestyle and landscape was not allowed to be shown on American TV because of the word 'bloody'. Which is pretty much part of our vernacular, and not considered a profanity by any stretch of the imagination. Now that tourism campaign played to a stereotype, and we ourselves loved it. Pity it was probably only seen here IN Australia.

Which I think is fine. But then people can't take offense when reading about other's perceptions. Dumb blond or not! I do remember the 'where the bloody hell are you' advert. It was shown in the UK. But I know 'bloody' is a bad swear word in the US!

stardust1976

Byrnzie wrote:

stardust1976 wrote:

there are big problems with alcoholism and other things such as petrol sniffing within Aboriginal communities here. Crime, poverty, violence, and low education standards along with poor health usually ensues.

stardust1976 wrote:

Germaine Greer is a moron, who doesn't live here, and gets off on pretending she is making a difference, when in actuality all she is doing is creating publicity for herself. Just my opinion, but I am allowed that opinion.

She's not a moron, she's a preofessor at Cambridge University, and author of dozens of acclaimed books. She also spent the first 30 years of her life in Australia.
Still, it's always easier to engage in character assassination than to engage with ideas and arguments.

stardust1976 wrote:

I have yet to meet someone who says they don't like Australians, or who says that they wouldn't like to visit here, or who says they hated it when they did visit. I think our attitude, our environment, and our collective intelligence makes us who we are, in terms of our country, and I think that an awful lot of Aussies play up to that stereotypical image of us. I know I do.

I have no problem with Australians. But nearly every Australian I've ever met has expressed racist, derogatory views about the Aboriginals. Of course not all Australians are racist, but it would be dishonest to deny there's a problem over there.

My opinion of Germaine Greer is just that - my opinion. Just because she lived here till she was 30, doesn't make her Australian. She chooses to live elsewhere. Just because she is a professor doesn't make her any more intelligent than me.

My opinion of Aboriginals is not racist - it comes from experience. Have you ever stopped in a town that even the local police are scared of it's inhabitants? I drove through a particular town in outback NSW, and I nor my children could leave the car to even use the bathroom. We were stalked, and felt extremely unsafe there - there is not a single non aboriginal resident living there. THe town is in absolute disrepair and neglect and the money that IS poured into it, is used by the residents to fund mostly alcohol consumption. Come and live in one of the outback towns in Western Australia for a week, and tell me we are all racist. My personal experience has given me the views I now hold. THat doesn't make me racist - it makes me a realist. THere is a difference.

stardust1976

redrock wrote:

stardust1976 wrote:

Well, aside from the hats, and the ability to stop cattle (and dobermans!), dead in their tracks with a little hand signal, it's not THAT far off for a lot of guys here. And like I said, MOST people are happy to have our little country portrayed like that. We like to play on the impression that we have kangaroos and koalas as pets (even though koalas are really quite nasty!), and that all we do is drink and surf, etc etc... Funny though, that a couple of years back one of our tourist campaigns that showed our stunningly beautiful lifestyle and landscape was not allowed to be shown on American TV because of the word 'bloody'. Which is pretty much part of our vernacular, and not considered a profanity by any stretch of the imagination. Now that tourism campaign played to a stereotype, and we ourselves loved it. Pity it was probably only seen here IN Australia.

Which I think is fine. But then people can't take offense when reading about other's perceptions. Dumb blond or not! I do remember the 'where the bloody hell are you' advert. It was shown in the UK. But I know 'bloody' is a bad swear word in the US!

Agreed wholeheartedly - 100%. Personally, I have taken no offence to the opinions of other people in regards to our country.

Byrnzie

stardust1976 wrote:

Just because she is a professor doesn't make her any more intelligent than me.

It doesn't make her a moron either.

ONCE DEVIDED

Byrnzie wrote:

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

Yep I would think that americans would think such things

I'm not American.

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

NOW GERMAINE GREER
hasnt had anything to do with australia for somthing like 40 years.

Not true.

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

sure our history isnt pretty, we have done some bad things to our indignous people, a lot of people are racist. but no more than any other society.

The problem with aboriginal health is in a large part down to alchaholism, the aboriginal people survived here for 50 thoasand years before we showed up, they were only introduced to our ills 200 years ago. it seems that they have a lessr tolerence to alcholism then standard society.

we aussies are no better or worse than the rest of the world
and that stupid fat arsed dumb POM greer can go fuck herself

Same thing I always hear from Australians whenever the Aboriginals are mentioned: The Aboriginals are alcoholics. Like I said, you brush them under the carpet.

the aboriginals do have a problem with alchaholism. its a fact mate. and its a problem that needs to be addressed to help them.
The aboriginal peoples have taken care of this beatiful place for 50 thoasand years. we have managed to stuff it in 200 years. we need the knowledge that was handed down. we need to adopt practices more in line with how they coped with this land more so than the European way.
we are all aussies from whatever background.
I want any person to have the same oppertunities I have
I wnat them to be able to grab whatever dream they wat to acheive
their are obstacles at present.
1 big one is alcahol
drugs as well
the way our government works is to throw $$$$ in benifets, creating a society of people who dont need to help themselves, who stay on benifets.

ONCE DEVIDED

Byrnzie wrote:

stardust1976 wrote:

Just because she is a professor doesn't make her any more intelligent than me.

It doesn't make her a moron either.

so she can write papers based on what experience.
she would need to be here for that.
she hasnt been

catefrances

Byrnzie wrote:

catefrances wrote:

id be interested to know how many australians you know to have formed this opinion.

Practically every Australian I've ever met has expressed racist views regarding the Aboriginals.
Are you denying there's widespread racism against Abroginals in Australia?

well steve considering ive not travelled to every nook and cranny of this vast land im going to have to decline to express a blanket opinion...cause that would be ignorant of me.

having said that what i will add is im sure there are racist people in australia as there are in a lot of other countries... it would be an anomaly if there werent. and yes it amuses me when anglo australians speak of multiculturalism here and fail to address that it was the first fleet of british settlers that made it so.

australia is a settler nation and as such treated the indigenous like .. well.. less than animals. they saw no value in them and in our history we do have deliberate exterminations in more than one guise including massacres. we did everythign we could to wipe out their culture. we stole the land theyd lived upon for millenia and shifted them ever further away from their traditional lands. we stole their children. we refused to acknowledge them as people unil recently. and yes there are still problems and no i have no idea when we will come to peace with our past. but it is an ongoing process and i believe that in time we will be able to. our situation is not unique.

ONCE DEVIDED

My opinion of Germaine Greer is just that - my opinion. Just because she lived here till she was 30, doesn't make her Australian. She chooses to live elsewhere. Just because she is a professor doesn't make her any more intelligent than me.

My opinion of Aboriginals is not racist - it comes from experience. Have you ever stopped in a town that even the local police are scared of it's inhabitants? I drove through a particular town in outback NSW, and I nor my children could leave the car to even use the bathroom. We were stalked, and felt extremely unsafe there - there is not a single non aboriginal resident living there. THe town is in absolute disrepair and neglect and the money that IS poured into it, is used by the residents to fund mostly alcohol consumption. Come and live in one of the outback towns in Western Australia for a week, and tell me we are all racist. My personal experience has given me the views I now hold. THat doesn't make me racist - it makes me a realist. THere is a difference.[/quote]

well said
The problem Im sure like me you would want to be resolved in a positive way. I was stoked in our recent national election that we finally have an aboriginal member in the house of reps.
1 day soon maybe a prime mininster

sure their are racists, same as their are apologists. so many shades of grey in between. Just like everywhere else

ONCE DEVIDED

catefrances wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

catefrances wrote:

id be interested to know how many australians you know to have formed this opinion.

Practically every Australian I've ever met has expressed racist views regarding the Aboriginals.
Are you denying there's widespread racism against Abroginals in Australia?

well steve considering ive not travelled to every nook and cranny of this vast land im going to have to decline to express a blanket opinion...cause that would be ignorant of me.

having said that what i will add is im sure there are racist people in australia as there are in a lot of other countries... it would be an anomaly if there werent. and yes it amuses me when anglo australians speak of multiculturalism here and fail to address that it was the first fleet of british settlers that made it so.

australia is a settler nation and as such treated the indigenous like .. well.. less than animals. they saw no value in them and in our history we do have deliberate exterminations in more than one guise including massacres. we did everythign we could to wipe out their culture. we stole the land theyd lived upon for millenia and shifted them ever further away from their traditional lands. we stole their children. we refused to acknowledge them as people unil recently. and yes there are still problems and no i have no idea when we will come to peace with our past. but it is an ongoing process and i believe that in time we will be able to. our situation is not unique.

we are a young nation. we will get their soon enough.

Byrnzie

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

so she can write papers based on what experience.
she would need to be here for that.

Why?

When's the cut off point when someone's opinions can be dismissed just because they've lived in another part of the world - despite the fact she makes regular trips back there and keeps up to date on political and cultural developments?

one year?
two years?
10 years?

I've not lived in England for four years so can my comments on anything to do with England all be dismissed out of hand now?

Byrnzie

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

the aboriginals do have a problem with alchaholism. its a fact mate. and its a problem that needs to be addressed to help them.
The aboriginal peoples have taken care of this beatiful place for 50 thoasand years. we have managed to stuff it in 200 years. we need the knowledge that was handed down. we need to adopt practices more in line with how they coped with this land more so than the European way.
we are all aussies from whatever background.
I want any person to have the same oppertunities I have
I wnat them to be able to grab whatever dream they wat to acheive
their are obstacles at present.
1 big one is alcahol
drugs as well
the way our government works is to throw $$$$ in benifets, creating a society of people who dont need to help themselves, who stay on benifets.

Fair enough.

stardust1976

Byrnzie wrote:

stardust1976 wrote:

Just because she is a professor doesn't make her any more intelligent than me.

It doesn't make her a moron either.

No, possibly not. But it depends on what your definition of moron is - mine is someone who promotes their own agenda over any other, and tries to fool others into believing that opinion is based absolutely, totally and utterly on fact, without considering other valid and relevant circumstances. Which is why I will again state, that is my opinion of her. If she wants to be critical of the way our country is run, and managed she should choose to live here, emerse herself in the nation, and find another way of having input, such as running for a position in Government, where she may actually be able to find out the opinions of the people who actually live here, and therefore would know more on the subject than she does. Travelling back to a place does not give you the same level of knowledge as living there does. Just because I've been to America twice in 4 years, doesn't mean I can tell people how they should live, does it?

Byrnzie

stardust1976 wrote:

just because I've been to America twice in 4 years, doesn't mean I can tell people how they should live, does it?

Doesn't mean you can't tell them how to live either. Just because you dont live somewhere doesn't mean you can't have any knowledge of the place or voice any opinion on it. This is the 21st century, not the 14th century.

stardust1976

Byrnzie wrote:

stardust1976 wrote:

just because I've been to America twice in 4 years, doesn't mean I can tell people how they should live, does it?

Doesn't mean you can't tell them how to live either. Just because you don't live somehow doesn't mean you can't have any knowledge of the place or voice any opinion on it. This is the 21st century, not the 14th century.

Fair enough, but a little arrogant.

Byrnzie

stardust1976 wrote:

If she wants to be critical of the way our country is run, and managed she should choose to live here, emerse herself in the nation, and find another way of having input, such as running for a position in Government, where she may actually be able to find out the opinions of the people who actually live here, and therefore would know more on the subject than she does. Travelling back to a place does not give you the same level of knowledge as living there does.

Germaine Greer
'...I have to admit that if I hadn't been studying in England, if I hadn't been living in the genuinely multicultural society of postgraduate students in Cambridge, I might never have grasped the absurdity of Australians mounting street demonstrations against the South African Springbok tour in 1971. And might never have glimpsed the Australian situation from an international perspective.

It was not until I was half a world away that I could suddenly see that what was operating in Australia was apartheid: the separation and alienation South Africa tried desperately and savagely to impose on their black majority, we had achieved, apparently effortlessly, with our black minority.'

catefrances

Byrnzie wrote:

Germaine Greer
'...I have to admit that if I hadn't been studying in England, if I hadn't been living in the genuinely multicultural society of postgraduate students in Cambridge, I might never have grasped the absurdity of Australians mounting street demonstrations against the South African Springbok tour in 1971. And might never have glimpsed the Australian situation from an international perspective.

It was not until I was half a world away that I could suddenly see that what was operating in Australia was apartheid: the separation and alienation South Africa tried desperately and savagely to impose on their black majority, we had achieved, apparently effortlessly, with our black minority.'

that was nearly 40 years ago steve. and i might add growing up in the 70s as i did, i came into contact with many indigenous peoples simply because they 'lived amongst us.' they werent the majority but they certainly werent invisible. and yes i know this wasnt the case everywhere.

cincybearcat

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

If we are the dumb blonde of the world
what are the Americans
the dumb ugly ignorant chick

Why exactly is this relevant to the thread?

How about all the other countries...what are they?

personally, i've never been to Australia...but I'd love to go. I don't know if Australia is a dumb blond, a smart blond, a dumb or smart brunette, dumb this or smart that...I do know she looks beautiful and I'd love to find out how smart she is.

catefrances

cincybearcat wrote:

ONCE DEVIDED wrote:

If we are the dumb blonde of the world
what are the Americans
the dumb ugly ignorant chick

Why exactly is this relevant to the thread?

How about all the other countries...what are they?

personally, i've never been to Australia...but I'd love to go. I don't know if Australia is a dumb blond, a smart blond, a dumb or smart brunette, dumb this or smart that...I do know she looks beautiful and I'd love to find out how smart she is.

well dont come during our summer.. the whole country shuts down to surf, swim and bbq. which means the most difficult question youll face is whether to stay in the water or come out and reapply your sunscreen.

Jason P

Yahoo Serious did not do Australia any favors. I think he personally set Australia's image and culture back 50 years.