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OT: Human Rights Framework 30-Apr-2010 At 10:17:57 PM Hendo

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On 30/04/2010 Wendy wrote:
>We should be living in the bush and believing in the Dreamtime then.
>It's a bit holier then though to say anything like that in Australia.

It was inevitable that Australian aboriginals were to be displaced. It is not conceivable in my mind that the continent we live on would remain unconquered long enough for the aboriginals to develop to the point where they could repel others. Can you imagine the world today with a continent this size only occupied by aboriginals living in their traditional manner? If it wasn’t the English then some country; eg. the Dutch, French, Spanish or more recently Japanese or Americans would have taken over.

The aboriginals certainly don’t seem happy about what has happened to them, but the fact is they could not and did not prevent themselves being displaced. So that infact sounds like an argument to be proactive in protecting and maintaining your way of life, lest we turn out like they have. The difference is now that we have the power to choose who comes here and what they do, I’m sure the aboriginals would have liked to have this ability.

>And i think immigrants generally do a lot
>of integrating in our society and I struggle to think of a time when I've
>felt an immigrant imposed their culture on me in the way our culture in
>imposed on them. So they might want to use their language, follow their
>religon, keep in touch with others of their culture, celebrate important
>events, wear significant clothing to them - no skin off my nose.

I live in a part of Sydney that has been overrun by Asians. I do not want to live in an asian culture, however our political arrangements have allowed it to be forced upon me. I’m happy for these people to live in an asian culture, but do it in asia, not in my home. I don’t know your circumstances but if your home town became a place occupied >90% by another type of people living a different way of life, speaking a different language etc and you no longer feel welcome or at home, you would probably feel the same, it’s natural, it would be unusual to think the other way.

More broadly Sydney is divided into racial enclaves and the above has happened all over the place. Most places I go there are social groups based on race/culture. It doesn’t make for a cohesive society.