we don't have many africans because we didn't import millions of them as a commodity back in the slave-tradin' days. the ones we have came here of their own accord (largely). this is not our fault. however we do have large asian and eastern european/mediterranean populations, so to equate our lack of africans with a society of homgenous whitefellas would be a fairly long bow to draw. while i must admit out relationship with our indigenous australians has been completely fucked since we invaded their country, the same could surely be said of america. and how many times have the noble deeds of american colonists been glorified on the silver screen, as they battled the heathen "Injuns" in their quest to open up north america for other white colonials. both our countries should be ashamed of our histories in this regard, but for an american to cast stones like this is an affront.
sure, racism exists in our country. racism exists in all countries. but that is to show only one side of the coin. the truth is that much of australia is tolerant and embracing of a diverse range of ethnic groups. there will always be reactionaries like Hanson and opportunists like Howard, more's the pity. but there are plenty in australia who are passionate in denouncing these views. you just need to read the opinion pages and letters to the editor in the Age (melbourne) to see this.
As for our culture being barren, i don't think it's fair to look at our american tv on commerical networks and comment based on that. like america, australia has a "cheesy crap" element to its culture. but like america australia also has a strong literary and artistic tradition that goes back well over a century. without reeling off a list of australia authors, poets, playwrights and artists who have been ignored by the author of the above column, trust me they do exist. lots of them. just like there are lots of great american artists through that country's history. and it is important to remember that our country IS a young one, and a small one. how can we be expected to have an artistic and cultural tradition as extensive as a country a couple of hundred years older and with 10 times the population? if you want to compare "high" cultural traditions, then compare america's with those of britain, italy, france or germany. all of these countries have individual cultural traditions spanning centuries, dwarfing american culture. and yes, i do find it offensive that a country that practically invented the talk-show, entertainment-weekly style celebrity shoes, hollywood, jerry springer, oprah winfrey, wheel of fortune, nike and all the rest can criticise another country for adopting it. sorry, but what's good for the goose is good for the gander, as they say. that stuff is all populist crap, whether you invented it or not it's still garbage. and it sells by the truckload everywhere in the westernised world.
so yes, australia has its problems. i can admit that. we need to improve our stance on refugees, the environment, missile defense (oh wait, that's one of america's), and lots of other stuff. but to completely disrespect our culture and achievements as a small and young nation is fairly ill-informed. and here's my last snide remark: i think someone's jealous cos in 2000 we put on the best olympics ever, and salt lake city is currently in the process of putting on one of the worst ever. hahaha you guys fucked it up.
