Ban alcohol, ban porn, they can't handle it, damn immature teenag.... oh, Aborigines

[Nugog]

Originally posted by Japher
demonstrated that they are relatively independent

And what universally acceptable, cross culture measure would you use for this?

[Caligastia]

Originally posted by Nugog


From what I saw, alcohol is a huge problem.

It is hard to describe, without being labeled "racist", but there does seem to be a propensity towards alcoholism in the Aboriginal people.

From memory, none of the Aboriginal's who worked in the organisation I was involved in (a private one, not a government one) drank at all. I can remember a few conversations regarding it, and the general opinion, from the team members who were Aboriginal, was that alcohol was one of the biggest problems their people faced. This was their opinion - not mine.

But their opinion probably does not count, as they were trying to make something of their lives..........

That makes them almost as bad as White people....almost.

[Nugog]

Originally posted by Caligastia
That makes them almost as bad as White people....almost.

Yep - that was also part of their problem - their families felt the same way............

Was all quite sad and depressing really.

[Caligastia]

I love the David Lange quote in your sig...never heard that one before. Funny that a Labor PM would say such a thing.

[Nugog]

It comes from near the end of his time a PM - he was getting rather cynical at the time.........

But it is beautiful as it is so true - of then and now.

[Bkeela]

Of course these changes won't solve the massive, almost hopeless problem facing remote indigenous communities of outback Australia. There is a Federal election, likely in September, and Prime Minster John Howard, thanks to Industrial Relations reforms, looks to be facing defeat.

Most Australians, those living in the capital cities anyway, are not as racist as foreigners, especially ex-tourists, self-righteously like to believe. Their main exposure to Aborigines is to be molested for cigarettes or money in town, or else see documentaries on TV highlighting their desperate plight. Because there is nothing they can reasonably do about the situation, they pay their taxes and put it out of mind. Therefore, anything that could improve things, such as Howard's new initiative, could attract voters back to his cause.

There is no doubt that Aborigines are Australia's deep shame. We murdered them like stray dogs during early settlement days. We caused the genocide of all Aboriginal inhabitants in Tasmania. We destroyed an entire generation thanks to enforced relocation of children. In recent times we have just thrown money at them and looked the other way, hoping things might improve, but they have gotten much worse. To the point where they probably have the lowest standard of living anywhere in the entire world.

Australians pride themselves on their sporting achievements and general reputation, so this issue is a deep stain of guilt upon the soul of your average Aussie.

The only solution to the problem will come from grass root initiatives. The communities need to rouse from their petrol sniffing induced daze and want change.

I agree though that a ban on alcohol is essential. It might be racist - whatever. One thing is sure - the resistance to alcohol that whites have inherited through natural selection during several thousand years of agrarian society - the aborigines totally lack. Alcohol to them is as destructive as crack cocaine or heroin is to the white.

[Nugog]

Originally posted by Bkeela
Of course these changes won't solve the massive, almost hopeless problem facing remote indigenous communities of outback Australia. There is a Federal election, likely in September, and Prime Minster John Howard, thanks to Industrial Relations reforms, looks to be facing defeat.

Most Australians, those living in the capital cities anyway, are not as racist as foreigners, especially ex-tourists, self-righteously like to believe. Their main exposure to Aborigines is to be molested for cigarettes or money in town, or else see documentaries on TV highlighting their desperate plight. Because there is nothing they can reasonably do about the situation, they pay their taxes and put it out of mind. Therefore, anything that could improve things, such as Howard's new initiative, could attract voters back to his cause.

There is no doubt that Aborigines are Australia's deep shame. We murdered them like stray dogs during early settlement days. We caused the genocide of all Aboriginal inhabitants in Tasmania. We destroyed an entire generation thanks to enforced relocation of children. In recent times we have just thrown money at them and looked the other way, hoping things might improve, but they have gotten much worse. To the point where they probably have the lowest standard of living anywhere in the entire world.

Australians pride themselves on their sporting achievements and general reputation, so this issue is a deep stain of guilt upon the soul of your average Aussie.

The only solution to the problem will come from grass root initiatives. The communities need to rouse from their petrol sniffing induced daze and want change.

I agree though that a ban on alcohol is essential. It might be racist - whatever. One thing is sure - the resistance to alcohol that whites have inherited through natural selection during several thousand years of agrarian society - the aborigines totally lack. Alcohol to them is as destructive as crack cocaine or heroin is to the white.

To all of the above.

From what I saw while I was there, the current welfare regime was making things worse not better. More money will not solve this - and the issues are incredibly complicated, by both historical and present day political environments.

One thing is for sure - things as they stand are not getting any better - and this is not all of "white" Australia's problem to deal with.

And wjile the proposed alcohol ban is technically "racist" as it is directed towards one race/indigenous group, I would strongly suggest that those who deride it live in an outback camp for a while - then they may well see why some direct action needs to be taken.

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Nugog


From what I saw, alcohol is a huge problem.

As it is amongst bogans, poor whites, the First Nations in Canada, Scots and Irish...


Alcohol doesn't provide a solution to being poor or destitute but it certainly dulls the pain for a while.

Given that all Kooris/Aborigines weren't even properly Australian citizens until the late 1960s, that their children were forcibly removed and given to white parents, that they were cut off from traditional languages and culture, forced to become Christians, and robbed of valuable land and brutalized by a corrupt police force and government in Queensland (for instance), it's a wonder that alcohol and drug abuse isn't even more prevalent.

The franchise:

The first Solicitor-General, Sir Robert Garran, interpreted it to give Commonwealth rights only to people who were already State voters in 1902. So no new Aboriginal voters could ever be enrolled and, in due course, the existing ones would die out. The joint Commonwealth/State electoral rolls adopted in the 1920s give some idea of the number of Aborigines who voted for their State parliaments but were barred by the Commonwealth. The symbol ‘o’ by a name meant ‘not entitled to vote for the Commonwealth’ and almost always indicated an Aborigine.

Garran’s interpretation of section 41 was first challenged in 1924, not by an Aborigine but by an Indian who had recently been accepted to vote by Victoria but rejected by the Commonwealth. He went to court and won. The magistrate ruled that section 41 meant that people who acquired State votes at any date were entitled to a Commonwealth vote. Instead of obeying that ruling the Commonwealth passed an Act giving all Indians the vote (there were only 2 300 of them and the immigration policy would see there were no more) but continued to reject Aborigines and other ‘coloured’ applicants under its own interpretation of section 41.

Some of the Commonwealth officials got even tougher. They came to believe that no Aborigines had Commonwealth voting rights. Besides refusing new enrolments they began, illegally, to take away the rights of people who had been enrolled since the first election in 1901.

It was not until the 1940s that anyone began to battle for Aborigines’ political rights. Various lobby groups took up their cause and in 1949 the Chifley Labor government passed an Act to confirm that all those who could vote in their States could vote for the Commonwealth. The symbol ‘o’ disappeared from the electoral rolls. But not much was done to publicise the change and most Aborigines, told for so long that they couldn’t vote, continued to believe it.

http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/Australian_Electoral_History/aborigin.htm

This is a kick:

There’s an irony there. Some of the strongest opposition to Aboriginal rights came from the outback. But equality with the Aborigines has brought its white settlers better electoral services than they ever achieved on their own.

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Nugog


From what I saw, alcohol is a huge problem.

It is hard to describe, without being labeled "racist", but there does seem to be a propensity towards alcoholism in the Aboriginal people.

That shouldn't be surprising; having a much longer history of habitual heavy drinking, Europeans (with descedants) have had more time to breed out those most susceptible to alcoholism.

[Heresson]

Australia

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by Caligastia
Physical readiness does not equal mental readiness.

Surely if God made them physically ready...

...old enough to bleed, old enough to breed...

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Heresson
Australia

Beats a country run by intellectually challenged antisemitic homophobes any day.

[Dinner]

If they think alcohol is so bad then ban it nation wide. Just don't say darky can't drink but the rest of us can.

[Nugog]

Originally posted by molly bloom


Beats a country run by intellectually challenged antisemitic homophobes any day.

[MOBIUS]

Originally posted by molly bloom


Beats a country run by intellectually challenged antisemitic homophobes any day.

A country run by intellectually challenged racist homophobes...?

Seems about the same to me.