As someone who waited many years for Little John to leave office it's stunning to see that he still can't keep his white-bred conservative right mouth shut. As a Prime Minister who sent his country to war against the will of the people it's just vomit-inducing to watch him still banging the same old drum which promotes hate and division in a country that is built (for my generation) on the foundations of multiculturalism and tolerance. I shouldn't even blog about him but I thought he would fade into utter obscurity and here we are less than 6 months later and he's still spewing his particular brand of generation 1880 wickedness.
The issue of generation is not worth total dismissal. Howard maintained power for 12 years for two reason : 1) He appealed to the older generation who generally vote in far higher numbers than their younger counterparts and 2) He kept the economy at an all-time high. While credit for the economic state of Australia cannot be placed elsewhere, one only needs to look at economic history to see that the country, and the world for that matter, were about due an economic recession. Given that he threw his lot behind a country headed for the economic grave it's no surprise that the new government has had to employ tactics such as raised interest rates to keep things in balance. Had his own regime maintained power the result would have been the same, so taking potshots at the new governments handling of the economy is an easy target aimed at people who have no knowledge or education regarding economics.
Grrrr... yes, he makes me damn angry.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
"...a country that is built (for my generation) on the foundations of multiculturalism and tolerance."
Are you kidding? Australia's foundations were built on the White Australia Policy and the exclusion of Aborigines. National foundations don't start with your 'generation'. And for the record, multiculturalism is a disaster, being rejected by western governments around the world, including Australia. Rudd's attempts to raise it from the dead are ridiculous.
Why did you use the phrase "white-bred"? Does racially abusing a white male make you feel clever? Anyhow - the phrase is 'white bread'. Idiot.
Actually the phrase is indeed 'white-bred' but semantics be damned on the Interweb I guess. For the record I AM a white male so I fail to see how racial abuse against myself is clever.
And you are right about not being founded on multiculturalism and tolerance. I'm very aware of Australian history funnily enough, having grown up there and pined for a government that would actually acknowledge the sins of the past (though there is still a LONG way to go but an apology is a start considering where we were 6 months ago). Additionally I qualified what I said by saying my generation. Having grown up in Melbourne I feel some sense of responsibility to say that it does indeed do a fairly good job of multiculturalism. This is not to say there aren't problems. Rednecks (on all sides) will always cause problems. But generally things are fairly good. But that's just my opinion, from 'my generation'.
IMHO, I would suggest that Canada is pretty far from having rejected the notion of multiculturalism but I guess we all have our own experiences and perspectives.
Cheers.
Post a Comment