You're reminded you live in Australia when...

[Harry Hughes]

I thought Neo-Nazis had actually become more of a problem in Russia than in Germany itself.
I did some reading about that, seems to be a Neo-Nazi movement in Russia in full flight.

Speaking of Footscray, crazy how shit changes.
When I was a young kid, predominantly Asians. Now with the rapid influx of Africans, I swear sometimes when I go there I think I'm walking through a black American ghetto

 

[Ermz]

Funny you mention The Simpsons. I've heard of guys using it to learn English. Seems its entertainment value belies its true significance.

I understand your reasoning there too. That's why the onus is on the government to avoid situations like that before it's too late. There is never enough fore-thought though. Immigration seems to just open the floodgates and let these people pool together, creating enclaves that want no contact with the outside.

 

[Bekanor]

Anyone besides me remember the decade and a half before the Cronulla race riots where nobody did anything about violent ethnic gangs and you weren't racist just for being white and seeing a problem that leftist guilt tripping wasn't going to fix?

 

[Notuern]

Dude, it is the exact same situation. I my example above it's dangerous for white German kids to be in the same schools in those areas due to interracial violence.

During a brief period of time, we where not allowed to sing our own national anthem in the schools(Not even on our National Day.), because it was considered "racist".
But due to the complaints, its allowed in most schools, but not in the schools located in "the ghetto's"..
We have areas in Sweden where they start fires, only to wait out the firefighters so that they could throw rocks at them.
The cops dont go in to these areas without having a fuckin' army backing them(At least 12 cops with protective gear.).. and everyone that criticizes how this thing is being handled are called racist, and that we shouldnt be so judgemental of them..

My brother got stabbed in the back of his head with a bottle 7 times.. the guy who did it was an illegal immigrant(Did it for no other reason then that it was "fun".).
Turns out he had slaughtered a man with a machete the week before, and just a few hours before attacking my brother he broke a guys legs with a crowbar.
Guess what happened?
He got sentenced to 4 years in prison(Good behavior = 2 years.)!
So instead of sending the fucker back to his home country, the government decided that its a good idea putting this guy in our prison, paying for him with our tax money.. and handing him a visa, so that he is free to roam the streets when he get out!

And as ive already said, in Sweden its not ok to criticize how the government handles the immigration, because then you are a racist! o,0
I am absolutely positive that we will see a racist/nazi government in Sweden within the next 20 years because of this.

 

[plague_rider]

I'm 1/4 Filipino and I was ALWAYS at parties in year 11 and year 12

dude i don't know if you have the same Fosters adverts as us, but we got these ones where it shows people having australian great grandparents or whatever...

you seen them??

 

[Harry Hughes]

No one really drinks Fosters here dude (I don't know anyone, literally no one, that drinks it), so we don't really get Fosters advertisements/commercials.

 

[Harry Hughes]

During a brief period of time, we where not allowed to sing our own national anthem in the schools(Not even on our National Day.), because it was considered "racist".
But due to the complaints, its allowed in most schools, but not in the schools located in "the ghetto's"..
We have areas in Sweden where they start fires, only to wait out the firefighters so that they could throw rocks at them.
The cops dont go in to these areas without having a fuckin' army backing them(At least 12 cops with protective gear.).. and everyone that criticizes how this thing is being handled are called racist, and that we shouldnt be so judgemental of them..

My brother got stabbed in the back of his head with a bottle 7 times.. the guy who did it was an illegal immigrant(Did it for no other reason then that it was "fun".).
Turns out he had slaughtered a man with a machete the week before, and just a few hours before attacking my brother he broke a guys legs with a crowbar.
Guess what happened?
He got sentenced to 4 years in prison(Good behavior = 2 years.)!
So instead of sending the fucker back to his home country, the government decided that its a good idea putting this guy in our prison, paying for him with our tax money.. and handing him a visa, so that he is free to roam the streets when he get out!

And as ive already said, in Sweden its not ok to criticize how the government handles the immigration, because then you are a racist! o,0
I am absolutely positive that we will see a racist/nazi government in Sweden within the next 20 years because of this.

That is REALLY fucked up bro:zombie:
I can imagine a similar thing happening in Australia.
Not so much whites vs non whites (because there are tons of guys like me, who are really Aussie but aren't technically white skinned), but assimilated Australians vs the rest

 

[Deus.exe]

Immigration seems to just open the floodgates and let these people pool together, creating enclaves that want no contact with the outside.

Contrary to popular belief it's actually really fucking hard to immigrate to Australia. My wife and I were toying with the idea of coming back for a year or two a few years ago (She is German). Even though we've been married for 5 years she still had to prove that she was worthy enough (bank statements, medical exams, proof of future employment, University certificates, etc) to even enter the country on a temporary spouse Visa.

The problems discussed earlier are usually cause by 2nd and third generation immigrants that never really with Australian nor their parents national identities. A lot of the time their parents will proudly say that they are Australian as they had to go through many hardships to get there. Their children have never had to deal with that.

 

[plague_rider]

oh aye i know, some friends of ours moved over there and informed us that the british view of austrailians is slightly off

funny ads though

 

[Ermz]

And as ive already said, in Sweden its not ok to criticize how the government handles the immigration, because then you are a racist! o,0
I am absolutely positive that we will see a racist/nazi government in Sweden within the next 20 years because of this.

Really sorry to hear that. Hard to believe how similar it is to here.

It is always extremes with people. Either the government seems to be way left or way right. One comes as a reaction to the other. Nobody seems wise enough to take the middle ground.

@Deus.exe: I find that pretty funny to be honest. I wonder if they had these 'worthyness' tests on present citizens, how many would actually check out.

 

[slashvanyoung]

You Aussies need to seriously quit the whining.

And I mean that with all due respect.

I don't know if it's the remoteness of your "beloved" landmass, government, society, infrastructure etc. or whatever it is creating this - may I call it - 'illusion' of being in a 'special' situation of 'misfortune', but (from what you guys are constantly laying down here) you're not. Not at all.

Those exact 'problems' you're describing are the same in virtually all civilized, "western" societies.

Exchange Lebanese with Turkish people and you have Berlin. Exchange them with Pakistani and you have London. Exchange them with Algerians and you have Paris. Exchange them with Afro-Americans and you have New York/Harlem... I think you get the idea.

Asians make up a large percentage of university students also anywhere in the world. Hell, even in my back of the woods...

Sustaining a living is hard because grocery, rent and energy prices are ludicrous? Oh yeah, then welcome to Scandinavia!

A 'Dual Rectifier' is as much out of reach for a regular guy/kid over here as it is for you. But Americans are so much better off concerning this? Tell an American how lucky he is scoring a Mesa cab for a few hundred bucks when he just got the news that he won't be able to cover the costs for his cancer treatment because his insurance dropped him for no apparent reason.

I might have to spend a fortune on some luxury/convenience goods but at least I don't have to fear going bankrupt every time I'm getting sick.

Nobody gives a crap about arts? Venues go down, your aimed-at profession of working in the music industry gets no public/governmental support whatsoever, you have to drive for hours to reach the next passable studio to track drums, making a living either being an engineer or musician is almost impossible? Welcome to EVERYWHERE.

That list goes on and on.

I'm by no means saying that there aren't fucked-up things in Australia and that you don't have the right or reason to complain about. But PLEASE stop pretending that your situation is so much "different". It's not.

When I come on here and read some stories from our fellow Sneapsters who live in fucking shithole slums in South America, Asia or even Eastern Europe... then I'm grateful for not having too. Because over here you at least have some standard of living and perspective.

If Australia is that unbearable, then why don't you guys get the fuck out? It's not that impossible, especially if you can go on student exchange programs etc.

But I warn you, that experience might be highly sobering.

And now, get back at mixing!

 

[J.DavisNJ]

It's easy to see how our world is going to shit when political correctness blatantly trumps the facts stated in statistics about the crimes committed by various ethnic groups. It's been bad here for years, but I've heard recently how bad it's getting in Holland, Sweden, and Belgium.

Assimilation is key, as Ermz has pointed out. I work in Newark, NJ, which is known as the "car theft capital of the world" and is known to have much gang violence, primarily among blacks. I've heard the same sob stories over and over again from these pieces of low life scum who commit robberies, murders, sexual assaults, carjackings: "I grew up with no father, had no direction, turned to a gang. White man is keeping us down, we need to stick together." Boo-fucking-hoo, cry my a river about your past. It's 2010, and even though you live in a shithole, you have the same opportunities as the rest of us. How is it that the black people I work with (many from the same city), have succeeded and became cops, lawyers, judges, etc?

People only keep themselves down in these situations. Sure, racism exists and always will, but when we have a black president, a black head of the Republican National Committee, and various black people holding high positions in office, what REALLY can you complaining about regarding your race?

Sorry, went a little off topic, but hopefully you guys understand what I'm trying to say.

-Joe

 

[Keeper of the Seven Cheese]

You're reminded you're in Australia when you like to have a whinge about Australia even though you know it's not bad at all comparatively to anywhere else in the world.

 

[Ermz]

Cool post, slash. I agree with you that many of these situations have parallels all over the world. We are all people after all, and the same mistakes are repeated ad nauseum . Of course there are horrible slums and 3rd world countries out there. My condolences to any that have been born into that. It shouldn't be thrust upon anyone. My country turned into a warzone when I was 5. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to remain there. But that doesn't change the point that a country should strive to be the very best version of itself. I'm just tired of watching our taxes going to waste on vanity projects, or 'progressive' initiatives that go over budget or outright fail due to someone cutting corners in some pivotal area or another.

We are in the western world. We need to be setting examples for the rest to follow. I would not be on this forum if I did not believe in excellence across all my pursuits. I hold this country and its residents to the same standards, and I am disappointed at almost every turn. How can we hope to survive as a species in the coming era of over-population and inevitable global disasters if we settle for mediocrity and don't strive to improve ourselves from the inside out?

I honestly don't care if the situation is the same elsewhere. I can't speak from experience there. All that says to me is that we fail across the board. If I were still living in Berlin and ran into the same issues, I would be protesting just as I am now. The point is that you DON'T settle for mediocrity. You don't just say 'oh it's so commonplace, that's fine'. You have to keep fighting the good fight.

Sure we may not be starving and dying in AIDS-ravaged Africa, but does that mean we have to get complacent and just be content with the status quo? I've lived in everything from villages to apartments to basements during artillery strikes to commission housing to rental properties to houses and back. No matter where I end up, I will always be pining for a better situation. Why is that so wrong?

As far as the analogies go, let me spice them up:

Sustaining a living is hard because grocery, rent and energy prices are ludicrous? Oh yeah, then welcome to Scandinavia!

Add to that inflation with wages that don't match, goods unproportionately more expensive to the rest of the world & housing rates that have jumped $75,000 in the last 3 months alone and you're getting into the ballpark.

Asians make up a large percentage of university students also anywhere in the world. Hell, even in my back of the woods...

This doesn't really bother me. I'm not sure when it became an issue. I think the crux of the problem is that our universities are gearing themselves to take internationals because they will pay ludicrous amounts. Our educational institutions are businesses, and we continue to wonder why there are local trades shortages and we have to keep importing workers from abroad. I wonder if it has to do with under-educating citizens, maybe.

A 'Dual Rectifier' is as much out of reach for a regular guy/kid over here as it is for you. But Americans are so much better off concerning this? Tell an American how lucky he is scoring a Mesa cab for a few hundred bucks when he just got the news that he won't be able to cover the costs for his cancer treatment because his insurance dropped him for no apparent reason.

We get both the benefit of paying $2,000 for the Mesa cab as well as going bankrupt as soon as we need medical care. Our waiting lists are humongous. Private care costs a small fortune, and woe be to you if you actually need any degree of competence. As mentioned earlier, I have pissed away hundreds of dollars getting half-arsed diagnosis' from GPs and specialists that ultimately care about nothing other than the paycheck. 'Too bad, you'll have to live with it' seems to be their go to answer. You can tell they got into the profession for the love of helping others.

Nobody gives a crap about arts? Venues go down, your aimed-at profession of working in the music industry gets no public/governmental support whatsoever, you have to drive for hours to reach the next passable studio to track drums, making a living either being an engineer or musician is almost impossible? Welcome to EVERYWHERE.

You have to agree that being on a secluded island in the middle of the pacific amplifies those issues somewhat. At least in the EU or US there are actual markets to appeal to. It would be fine for artists here if they actually had a chance. But they don't. The only artists I know from here that have had any degree of international success have had to build that support base from abroad, rather than within.

I plan to get out, as per your suggestion, but it's a matter of amassing funds and being able to guarantee a stable living elsewhere in the world. That largely involves consolidating an international reputation and a steady flow of international work. It's very easy to get 'entrapped' here financially.

 

[Notuern]

*long post*

I do agree with you about that its not a unique situation, but it is something that we all are pissed of about(And need to do something about as well.).
Just because it isn't a unique problem that doesn't make it less of a problem.

Oh, and about not being afraid of going bankrupt every time you're sick, thats basically where we are in Sweden right now..
People are deemed fit for work even if they have have to be fed through a tube in their stomach and need help to go to the bathroom.

Thats the social security we are paying 25% of our income for over here.
Of course the income is only a small part of the tax we are paying, we are paying 1.5US$ a liter for our gas(~40% tax + 20% consumers tax.).. all that to get beat up if we get sick or loose our jobs.

But i still have to agree with you, and i do consider my self lucky that im not living in some eastern European ghetto.. but we are spending a holy shitload of money for absolutely nothing over here.

 

[Ermz]

Also, I'm a little bitter because I never got the life experience of indulging in some of those frat-party sluts going round the states...

 

[HeadCrusher]

Good post slash.

About money going to nothing: Well, that's politics and lobbys. Again, I do believe that's a problem of Globalisation. If we still lived in small communities (literally villages) does problems would be solved more easily.

Ermz: As for the perspective of a musical career: The situation isn't really any better in Europe. Unless you are from Germany, Sweden or England you are basically fucked. If I were to take my chances (and I might) moving to Berlin for example wouldn't be any more of a hazzle for you than it is for me.

Btw it's interesting that the Swedisch health care system seems to be fucked. I was always under the impression that social benefits in Sweden are great.

 

[updog]

In here, the health care system is pretty twisted. It's fine if you're fine, but have any kind of larger physical or mental problems and you just can't be helped. You'll end up being thrown around from place to place, arrogant doctors think all your problems are mental because your parents have split up (yes, even the physical pain must have been caused by that, THERE'S OBVIOUSLY NO OTHER WAY) and they don't send you to other doctors because they only do it if they aren't capable of helping you themselves, and fuck yeah they all think they're some sort of super-doctors who can save the world...

I'm fortunate enough not to have mental or physical problems that need professional help, but I keep hearing about this stuff from different people. It's not too impressive.

That reminds me, we had a bogus doctor out there with no medical education. He worked for months I think he's no worse than the rest of them doctors.

 

[FloridaRolf]

btw where have you been born, Ermin?

 

[Soundlurker]

If there was one place universally accepted as the best place to live in, everyone would have went there and in doing so would have ruined it. That's been happening from the very beginning of mankind. Someone finds a great place and when everyone learns about it it becomes a hell hole forcingsome of its residents to search for a better place. If they do find a better place the story is repeated and the whole thing starts over and over again.

There will always be compromises you have to put up with. It's just a matter of choosing a place that has cons you don't mind too much and/or pros that you value a lot.