rocketpig said:
FaRmLaNd said:
rocketpig said:
ConnorJCP said:
rocketpig said:
ConnorJCP said:
I pray Australia never becomes what the USA has become.
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You mean it's not already? I've met some pretty damned intolerant people from Australia, especially if they're from rural areas. They stack up unfavorably even to the most redneck of Americans.
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No, its not even half as bad as the USA.
USA is still pretty split up between the states.
In USA alot of people believe in religion, and are extremely hypocrite when it comes to their 1st amendment and they tend to forget the rest of the world doesnt share it.
Although ever since Howard lost the election, Australia is becoming worse though. (IMO)
But no, it is not nearly as bad as The USA.
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I look at Australia, see rampant racism against aboriginals, a lack of same-sex marriage rights, limited abortion legality, and if they had any Muslims, I'm sure they'd have more than their fair share of Islamophobia just like America or Europe.
So, what makes the USA twice as bad again? Religious people? Because the way I look at it, those American religious zealots aren't getting their way much lately (or ever, really). You see a lot of negativity from American press because the nutjobs always rise to the top. Really, we're no more or less progressive than most of the rest of the western world.
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America certainly isn't twice as bad.
Same sex marriage will happen sooner rather then later (especially given the balance of power thats partially held by the greens), the majority of the population supports it, its just a matter of time.
Abortion is subject to state laws and is more open in some states such as the Australian Capital territory where its completely free and less so in others. Thats the price you pay for having state based laws.
A larger percentage of Australia (though some reports I read said its roughly the same percentage) is Muslim then in the US and we don't have significant issues except for the odd thing here or there.
I would agree that racism towards the indiginous Australians is certainly an issue, especially in the Norther Territory and in rural areas. However steps are continually being made to combat this, the thing is , since such a small percentage of the populace is Aboriginal its easy to go for years without running into an Aboriginal person. Out of sight out of mind unfortunately.
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That's really my point. Any country that is multi-cultural has its fair share of problems and I have a hard time looking at any country and saying "well, they're pretty much problem free" outside of some of the northern Euro countries who don't have to deal with as much multi-cultural influence as the southern Euros. It's pretty easy to be problem-free when people share the same background and have major connections in heritage. People hear more about the US' problems because we're bigger and more powerful. Plus, our free speech, political system, and media tend to favor letting the loudmouths get the most face time. After awhile, they'll fade off into the background and go away, only to be replaced by the next loudmouth. Given our governmental structure, the nutjobs rarely get any kind of real power.
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Certainly.
It is a mistake to malign the US when most of those problems are as you say present in all countries that aren't homogenous. Sydney, the city I live in is the 7th most ethnically diverse city in the world. Whilst white people of Celtic and Anglo-Saxon background certainly are the largest ethnic groups, walking down the street you'd see pretty much every ethnicity represented. From European, to Asian to Middle-eastern etc. The fact that modern metropolitan life in the west has been so successfull is quite amazing considering what the world was like even 60 years ago.
