Hey, any of you Aussies know which continent was named before it was discovered, and what the original name was?
Your joking right? Australia was assumed to be there before it was "found". It was called Terra Australis (not sure on the spelling) which means Great Southan Land
Close: Terra Australis Incognito (unknown southern land). Claudius Ptolemy theorized in 200 AD that the earth would tip over without some large southern landmass to balance out the northern ones. I didn't think it would be a difficult question for you, I just came across that whole earth tipping over story and thought it was interesting. I wonder if Ptolemy had any idea it would take 1500 years to prove him right. Here's some more interesting facts about Australia I came across: I didn't know the governor had ordered the extermination of Tazmanian Aboriginees. Wow. And the Kangaroo bit is pretty funny.
I actually knew all thatPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! You forgot about our most famous invention though, the hills Hoist. I know they are in the US because if you watch all the war movies like "we were solders" there they are in the back yardPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image! What you yanks dont know is that everyone one of those sold has a monitoring chip in it which spies on youPlease Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
wanted to point out some stuff i think has contributed to that. consider two major cultural icons, ned kelly and the anzacs. both are about fighting against overwhelming odds, rather than achieving glorious victories. i think supporting the underdog is considered more australian than rooting for a winner. being laid-back and taking it easy are also valued, perhaps there's disdain towards the effort expended, or little understanding of the motivation - "why try hard when you can relax?" keep in mind this is a generalisation of dinky di aussie culture, multiculturalism and the city/country gap = huge differences. the op also mentioned australia's lack of patriotism, i think its just expressed and recognised differently. a certain uni's students' feelings towards comical behaviour involving the flag are a poor indication of everyone's feelings of patriotism. i also think the fact that it was a flag is important, if the lecturer had taken a shirt with the pattern of the aust. flag and wiped his arse with it, making it clear the reason was the pattern upon it, i think the reaction would have been different.
Not really. Most Aussie's I've met rank among the most patriotic people I've ever encountered, as measured by the standard expressions and recognitions. I think the OP was just talking out of his ass on that point (as is the norm for him).
Is behaving in a way that is recognisably Australian really the same thing as being patriotically Australian though?
no not always, but i think many people embrace stereotypical behaviour as an act of patriotism. the best example i can think of is if i invited some friends around for a bbq, there'd be an element of celebration and pride of australian culture. on the other hand its just coincidence i enjoy the beach a lot, i'm not reciting the national anthem while i do it.
did you meet aussies outside of australia? perhaps while overseas we make a greater effort to convey our feelings to people, rather than practicing our own version patriotism.
Aussie Aussie Aussie My fathers side the family first came to Australia in 1830 from Cornwall England, basically relocated English gentry My mother’s side of the family was transported from County Cork Ireland for sealing a cow. That’s pretty typical of the Anglo-Saxon population of Australia at least the ones that have been here since the 18 and 19th centuries. During the 1st world war Australians were exceptionally patriotic toward Britain, we prided ourselves on being British subjects so that great percentage of Australians joined up to fight in WW1 to defend the mother country from the hideous Hun. This is not the case today and I think it all changed when the British outpost of Singapore fell to the Japanese. Churchill was unwilling or unable help Australia defend itself against Japanese invasion and was extremely upset when John Curtin the Australian Prime minister ordered all the Aussie troops back to defend Australia. It was the US navy that stopped the Japanese invasion feet in the battle of the coral sea. General Douglas MacArthur in command of the Australian military, which — following the isolation of the Philippines — was numerically larger than MacArthur's American forces; the Japanese were stopped in New Guinea. I think ever since then our relationship with Great Britain has been declining, but even 30 years ago Australians referred to a trip to the UK as “Going Home”, I think the last nail in the coffin came when England joined the European union. Australia however since WW2 has been growing closer to the United States, and why not the US actually helped to save OZ from invasion.
ScaryMonster, I completely agree, the U.S. seems to be in many regards filling the position that England once held in our psyche, although not everyone seems to be happy about the 'americanization' of Australian culture.
Yeah, never been to Australia myself. Probably. It's not exactly patriotism, but I also notice the lengths Canadians go to to identify themselves as such while travelling (flags on every piece of luggage, over-use of Canadianisms, making a point of criticizing the US, etc.). This can backfire on them, though, as they often end up in hostels/hotels/bars/beaches full of American tourists :]
Something to add to this list: attitudes towards government. Australians, along with the people of most other western democracies, believe that government ought to take charge of certain social welfare matters, including education and health care. Ask any Australian whether universal health care is a good idea or not and they will almost all tell you it is great. Yet Americans are currently being fed the story that universal health care would somehow make them worse off, and many are swallowing it hook, line and sinker. I was listening to the radio this morning (in Australia) and there were many callers who told stories of either themselves or their friends/family who moved out of the United States and back to Australia because they developed health problems that they could not afford to treat in the United States, but for which the government here would cover the majority of the costs. How Americans can think universal health care would be a bad thing is frankly mystifying to Australians, and I suspect to most Europeans.
They don't. Americans favor universal healthcare by overwhelming margins, when asked about it directly. The opposition shows up when it's equated with increased taxes, or "socialized medicine" (i.e., actual government delivery of healthcare, as opposed to insurance).
Nay, Americans do not prize individualism. That may have held true forty or fifty years ago, but not any longer. Today, Americans just prize haagen-dazs, as is evident by the disgusting number of slobs and slobettes we have running around. We're as complacent as ever and this country needs a wake up call, before our decline brings us farther down than Europe.
It seems to me that the current scare campaign will probably work. It always has before. No US President has managed to achieve universal healthcare, and a few have tried. If Obama manages it, that legacy alone will make him go down in history as a great President. But I have my doubts. The vested interests will probably win this battle, just as they always have before, and Americans in general will continue to suffer under a substandard health system that they could have had fixed if only they didn't fall for the lies.
