My belief is that treating people I don’t know with respect and learning and following their culture will at least get me some form of it back. Of course, I’m prepared to encounter assholes but I maintain consistency because I know the majority will reciprocate somewhat. It’s worked so far no matter where I’ve been in the East and the West.
Progressives, I feel, simply don’t understand this, and their efforts are actually scaring new immigrants into thinking racism is lurking everywhere so they’re not safe, hence making them further merging themselves into their own groups to feel safe.
This is true for Australia from what I’ve seen. There will of course always be racist assholes who will treat you differently if you’re clearly from a different background, but most of the time if you integrate into the culture and learn to take some shit you’ll just be treated as an Aussie and not some label like Indian-Australian, Chinese-Australian, etc. You will still get a lot of racist jokes said to you (especially if you work a blue collar job as I mentioned), but it’s kind of a back-and-forth playful banter thing that you’re expected to return. When you work in a job like this, you’ll be surrounded by a bunch of different cultures (in my current job I’ve worked with Vietnamese, Chinese, Eritrean, Nigerian, Indian, Bhutanese, New Zealand Maori, Thai and a bunch more), so rather than dancing around the issue of race you just acknowledge it and make jokes about it.
I’ve been to Singapore(s) airport. Seems like a very scenic, beautiful country.
The only Asian country I’ve been to for a long enough period of time to adequately explore was Japan. I fully intend to go back to Europe and check out part of Asia come late 2021. I want snow dammit…
Progressives want to feel morally righteous, so they’ll get offended on someone else’s behalf even if the ‘victim’ thinks it’s fine. There’s a common joke: “Australia, where you call strangers mates and mates cunts”. The closer your relationship to someone, the cruder and more offensive the jokes tend to get. I’m sure some progressives would absolutely lose their minds if they came into my workplace, where it’s just a bunch of different nationalities all giving each other shit.
Edit: It also makes for some interesting cultural exchanges and education, e.g. a white Aussie guy at my work asking a Bhutanese guy to teach him swear words in his language that he can then use against another Bhutanese worker
I remember being in Belgium. This one kid way fascinated by how callously Australians tend to use this particular word. When calling to me, my name from that day forward was “my cunt” as opposed to “my mate” or “unreal24278”. It was hilarious
It’s easy to forget that in most parts of the English speaking world it’s one of the most offensive words to use. I always have to be careful when on the internet or abroad, it’s just so ingrained.
I think there’s a big difference between roasting your friends individually about cultural differences (after you’ve talked about and understood them) vs laughing at a whole group of people because of some racial/cultural thing. I guess it’s a fine line that’s hard to explain.
For example, when I made friends with some Vietnamese people I gradually learned about their culture and they learned about mine (my family are Russian immigrants and I moved to Aus when I was a young kid). It was only after we became good friends that I started giving them shit about eating dogs (and some worse stuff) and they in exchange started giving me shit about krokodil, alcoholism, Putin, HIV, etc. If I just went up to a random Vietnamese guy and started saying that then he’d be well within his rights to beat the shit out of me.
Progressives lump all of this together as racism and “it’s never ok”, but to me it just seems the way that guys talk and every culture does it.
I do now understand why Australia is fucked up, now. After a discussion with @unreal24278, he told me all about the authoritarianism and horrible actions of the government and police, but then he went about defending the very policies and ideas that brought them to that state. It was a people’s mandate that brought about the intense crackdowns on liberty. If you don’t want draconian authoritarianism, you can give them no quarter. But if you go around talking like, “Yeah this is fucked up, but hey, they are only doing it to save lives or help people.” then go ahead and forfeit your rights.
What people don’t understand is that despotic authoritarianism does not happen for no reason. This time it’s covid.
“Hey, we got a major problem here! The only way to save your life and the lives of others is to give us complete control over your life.”
When the people say, “Oh my, covid is dangerous! We better do what they say.” That’s it. That’s the beginning of authoritarianism. Once you cede power to the government, you never get it back. And people just rolled over and bent the knee without even thinking about it.
I was thinking, ‘how could Australia get so bad?’ The answer is, the people of Australia wanted it. They gave their rights happily to the government in the promise that the government will keep them safe. And the government cannot keep you safe. No one is safe, danger is everywhere, all the time. But now, you’re still not safe and all your rights have been taken from you. It’s shocking how easy it is for authoritarianism to take over, just like that.
All it takes is one crisis. I will never have to wonder again how people like Hitler, Stalin, Mao got it done. The people freely gave it to them in exchange for safety and they got the opposite.
More or less. When it comes to government enacted nanny state regulations Australians are a remarkably complicit bunch.
Our government isn’t authoritarian in nature if referring to legitimately impeding pivotal civil liberties required to live out an quality state of life. That being said, the federal and state governments tend to be overbearing, enacting policies steeped in infantilism. The nanny state is strong… and will forever be strong…
When The Empire ruled over us all and left it’s legacy behind.
It’s a question of whether the government chooses to EXERCISE IT.
And the government HAS TO “GIVE IT BACK”, as in stop exercising it once said emergency has ended by the same law that allows them to exercise these powers IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Which is why you will see something like an EXPIRATION DATE for these powers to cease being exercised.
I wouldn’t really compare it to Hitler, Mao or Stalin. Australia has a kind of soft authoritarianism, where the people are laid back and don’t really give a shit, so regulations are progressively added by successive governments without people really noticing. Then one day you look back and think “holy shit, 40 years ago you could buy rifles at Kmart, and now the police are arresting people for possession of gel blasters.” I’m very envious of the 2A and American gun/hunting culture, but it simply doesn’t exist here and no one gives a shit about gun rights. I guarantee if you ask people on the street about gun control, 9/10 would be for it. Even the people who jump through all the hoops to get guns are usually fudds who think that having a bolt action is enough and no one needs an assault rifle.
That said, COVID has made me re-evaluate some of my positions. I was pretty heavily libertarian, but seeing some of the shit going on in the US and elsewhere makes me think that a lot of people are just too damn stupid and selfish and there’s a role for government to step in sometimes. COVID hit Australia around March and my state (Western Australia) closed the border and locked down pretty quickly. I’m an “essential worker” so I kept on working and had to wear a mask for a bit. By May everything was pretty much back to normal. I haven’t worn a mask in months, I’m going to the gym normally, everything is open, people are mingling the same as usual. In a state with 2.6m people we’ve had a total of 800 cases and 9 deaths.
I view COVID as a practice run for potentially much worse shit down the line, and pretty much the whole world has failed. If we ever get a pandemic with the right combination of attributes (symptoms take a while to develop, easy to spread, high mortality rate) and people are protesting on the streets and spitting on food because a shopkeeper asked them to wear a mask, we’re not going to make it as a species.
Exactly what I was saying. You’re willing to cede your liberty for safety. And apparently that’s why Australia has eroded as it has. Talking to another Aussie he said the same stuff like you.
But here’s reality, the worst places in the U.S. for covid are the areas that are run like you are suggesting, it’s doesn’t help anything it only makes covid itself worse. Plus gives little side effects like despair, misery, loneliness, etc.
So if you are willing to give up your freedom for the appearance of security, you have neither. It’s a modifacation of the famous quote, but its true.
The reality, is we go about our business, do what we do and its fine. If I was unaware of the news, I wouldn’t suspect too much. Like I said before I would rather die of covid than live in fear of it. Living in fear is just death with a pulse.
Covid is not the existential threat they said it was. So there is no need to take extreme measures. I am beginning to think the whole thing was a lie. I am not there yet, but if people keep authorities keep acting authoritarian, it may cause me to believe some unhinged shit. The response is not proportional to the threat.
I am sad for Australia. I wanted to live there for a couple years, but hell I don’t even want to vacation there now.
I was hoping, you the people, would have had enough and vote these authoritarian assholes out of office. But it’s apparent to me, that what you are getting is the will of the people and not an over extension of government.
If the government and the people are in lockstep, then you get what you get.
It’s a beautiful country, one of the most beautiful on Earth. But it’s your country to do as you wish and if you wish for hard draconian rule, then you get hard draconian rule.
There is enough liberty minded people here to fight for our individual freedoms. Fortunately, I am not alone.
Something tragic is building here, I don’t think there is anything to stop it. The pressure is super high and there is no release valve and literally everything, including the constitution is on the table. But, that’s the price of freedom. Sometimes you have to fight to get it, some times you have to fight to keep it.
People in the Democratic Republic of Congo are truly blessed. I you live in Kivu province, there are no taxes and no agents of Big Government oppressing you - it’s basically a libertarian paradise.
Energy production is in private hands (locals renting out diesel generators) and so is health care. You can enjoy the sweet nectar of unrestrained liberty and virtually everyone is a self-employed entrepreneur, including socially mobile youngsters who charge a toll for using privately controlled roads.
If it wasn’t for those welfare queens of the UNHCR and UN freting over “endemic violence” and “mass scale murders and rapings” it would be paradise.
The US isn’t exactly some beacon of freedom and liberty. Australia doesn’t have the TSA, the Patriot Act or 20+ different alphabet agencies running surveillance on their own citizens (we only have a couple, and their agents aren’t even allowed to carry guns). Look at all the insane shit that happens in the US - Northwoods, Bonus Army, Fast and Furious, Waco, Ruby Ridge. If you make enough waves and the government decides to fuck you, they can step in and fuck you at any time. That’s not liberty.
Guys, just to make it clear. Especially the paranoid dudes lol.
The mods didn’t censor the “What is racially offensive thread”.
So relax. No one’s arbitrarily censoring anyone here.
I requested for it to be deleted:
"Can I request that this thread be deleted please?
I reread the thread and found the majority of it just was a worthless exchange between myself and another party,
I was intending to have a meaningful discussion at the expense of revealing a lot of personal infromation that I would not have otherwise revealed but it looks like such a discussion cannot be had on such a topic.
It’s a worthless thread and the risk/benefit ratio clearly isn’t worth it even for others to participate in a topic like this.
Was it ever this laid back though? Supposedly gun laws present in circa 1970s Australia were still stricter than the majority of present era US states.
It was pretty laid back, though probably still not as good as the US.
At 3:36: “If you’re 18, have a driver’s licence, and are willing to pay a $2 fee + $300 for the average rifle, it’s yours.” By comparison if you pulled the same stunt that he did at the start of the video today, the TRG would be called and the city would go into lockdown.
