Falkland Islanders to hold referendum over sovereignty

[Tupac Shakur]

cos I notice you mention aboriginal children being taken away but you don't mention why

Did you really want me to explain that Australia was trying to eradicate Aboriginal culture by stealing Aboriginal children from their families and raising them as whites? Thought I was doing ya'll a favor by not being specific, since the explanation makes your country look even worse.

[Alexander's Horse]

er no, there were assimilationist aspects to the policy, which was wrong and failed, coupled with the belief at that time that aboriginals were a dying race, but actually the overriding motivation was trying to give aboriginal kids a chance at a better life - away from the grinding poverty, alcoholism, disease, incarceration and sexual abuse of aboriginal communities.

The road to hell as they say is paved with good intentions.

Since children have been returned, outcomes have been little better although there are some bright spots. But most aboriginal kids, especially in remote areas, now face the same old problems, mostly inflicted by their own dysfunctional communities. If you have a solution, please let us know.

[Tupac Shakur]

Good intentions my ass...

The report concluded that "indigenous families and communities have endured gross violations of their human rights. These violations continue to affect indigenous people's daily lives. They were an act of genocide, aimed at wiping out indigenous families, communities, and cultures, vital to the precious and inalienable heritage of Australia".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bringing_Them_Home

If you have a solution, please let us know.

You got me. I can't think of a good solution to the problems of a people you mostly eradicated and a society you almost completely destroyed.

[regexcellent]

They didn't have much society in the first place.

[Alexander's Horse]

I'm not going to defend the indefensible but the claim of genocide in that government report is pretty ludicrous and merely a sop to the far left and the aboriginal "industry", which is killing aboriginal people by patronising and infantalising them just as effectively as the settlers ever did. When will we ever learn?

[Tupac Shakur]

I'm not going to defend the indefensible

Thank you. That's all I ask.

[Alexander's Horse]

my point and that report are not in conflict, as I mentioned, the belief was that the aboriginal race was dying out, that was racist, and racists did use the policies to try and speed aboriginality into oblivion. The children were taken, or rather in some cases given up voluntarily, to "rescue" them. It only made matters worse in the long run, though there were some success stories. The same or similar policies were pursued across the english speaking world at the time.

[Tupac Shakur]

Give credit where credit is due; the Kiwis have been pretty racially tolerant for a British-descended country. I doubt they would've been that different from Australia if the Maori hadn't forced them to play nice by being complete badasses, but they've mostly behaved themselves since the British finished their land grab in New Zealand.

[Alexander's Horse]

There is a simple reason for that - the Maoris were stronger and better organised, they got the treaty of Waitangi after the Maori wars. No difference in the pattern really.

[Tupac Shakur]

The Maori are so awesome. God bless the few native peoples who managed to teach the racist, genocidal Brits a lesson.

[Tupac Shakur]

**** yes.

[Alexander's Horse]

well no, as I said, you seem to suffer from reverse racism, the Maori were no better than anyone else

[Tupac Shakur]

Get those Puritans.

[Tupac Shakur]

[Tupac Shakur]