Best Country in the World

[BayView]

Not necessarily against this idea provided chasees can punch back. Would make great TV; better than Idol anyway.

I remember watching a piece of footage last year about a journo who was filming a loser who had just left the Courtroom after being convicted of some infringement; road rage or something - can't remember that detail....

Young bloke about 25, looked like a feral bogan; he walked past the cameraman and journo and tipped a can of coke or red bull or whatever all over the cameraman's head, kept walking, flipped them the bird and gave them a mouthful.

The cameraman said something back to him, and the feral turned around and walked back to the journo and started to abuse him, and gave him a shove.

A real tough guy/smart @rse/hero.

So, the journo dropped everything, got into a scuffle with this fool, and then ended up wrestling him to the ground, sat on top of him and punched the hell out of him....all captured on film.

Perfect.

 

[BayView]

How about all the Aussie expats in the middle east?

Yeah; it's a massive exodus from here to there.

I'm sure they're all sitting around in their own little square kilometre of space, only talking English and plastering English signs all over their suburb and tearing down the local language ones.

How long before they ended up in the klink if they did that?

One thing about here; at least we allow a lot of things that are from other cultures despite what the folk who reckon we are so racist go on about.

All those 2nd and 3rd gen folk who cry about how bad we treat the immigrants here - or how bad you reckon I am and so on; no-one made anyone move here, and no-one is stopping you from going home.

 

[Fifth]

All those 2nd and 3rd gen folk who cry about how bad we treat the immigrants here - or how bad you reckon I am and so on; no-one made anyone move here, and no-one is stopping you from going home.

The thing about being a 2nd or 3rd generation Australian is that Australia is our home. Where exactly do you expect us to go 'home' to?

 

[Ideo]

Yeah; it's a massive exodus from here to there.

I'm sure they're all sitting around in their own little square kilometre of space, only talking English and plastering English signs all over their suburb and tearing down the local language ones.

How long before they ended up in the klink if they did that?

One thing about here; at least we allow a lot of things that are from other cultures despite what the folk who reckon we are so racist go on about.

All those 2nd and 3rd gen folk who cry about how bad we treat the immigrants here - or how bad you reckon I am and so on; no-one made anyone move here, and no-one is stopping you from going home.

No, but they tend to congregate with fellow Colonials and brits and not do anything with the local community. Or is that ok?

How about people from the UK who only meet up with other Poms and talk about how much better Australia would be with a Marks and Spencer and Greggs? Is that ok?

Oh, and I'm at least 6th generation. Where should I head back to? Scotland? England? France?

 

[nhg]

We get it pretty sweet here, however for those with drive and a good head on them, they can make it anywhere (admitadly it helps if you are raised by a family who instills in you a great mindset).

As far as business is concerned, Australia seems fairly backwards, too much red tape, and a far from the most motivated work-force.

All in-all though, doesn't really matter where in the world we live in these days, we are all in this together.

 

[BayView]

No, but they tend to congregate with fellow Colonials and brits and not do anything with the local community. Or is that ok?

Get togethers are great; slightly different to what I was gettin' at.

I got invited to a do that the Aussies in L.A had at a pub one time when we lived there.

It was a good night, and everyone went off to do their normal thing afterwards.

They came from far and wide, so definitely no enclave and it was certainly not a congregation.

How about people from the UK who only meet up with other Poms and talk about how much better Australia would be with a Marks and Spencer and Greggs? Is that ok?

Most of the ones I come across reminisce about "back 'ome", yet won't go back.

The thing about being a 2nd or 3rd generation Australian is that Australia is our home. Where exactly do you expect us to go 'home' to?

Dunno; anywhere you want; just quit crying about how bad Aus is towards immigrants.

There are a few 1st gens here on SS....crying.

At least we let em in, and we welcome all who want to be an Aussie..

How great is our Country?

 

[willair]

For anyone that's has travels you wake up real quick just how lucky we all are in this country,plus you can drink the water,if you don't want to work there is sit-down money,free food medical dental,lucky country for some..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa7M1cRThc4

 

[Melbournian]

Without a cent on them, a person in Australia has access to:

Fresh water (everywhere!)
Free food (charities, churches, even just begging on a corner will get you a feed)
Emergency medical assistance
Possibly a warm bed
Freedom of speech (we whine about PC gone mad, but at least we're allowed to talk smack about the PM without getting executed)
Freedom of religion (I whine about not being able to buy liquor on Christmas and Easter but, once again, at least I'm not executed for my heathenism)

So without a cent, we're staying alive. Not much of a life, but at least a life.

But most people without an income are eligible for benefits which is enough to upgrade the lifestyle a bit. Hopefully this will cover:

Accommodation (depending on your circumstances and nous, this could be anything from third worldy to quite nice)
Utilities
Basic fees and materials required for education
Filling out prescriptions
Clothing
Toiletries
Etc.

Charities will sometimes help with the above (scripts, clothing, education).

Truthfully, there will probably be enough money left over for some basic entertainment and small luxuries.

So, without a job, we're not only staying alive but we can also afford some treats. Yay!

My point is, Australia is one of the best countries to be poor in. There's an expression along the lines of 'don't judge a country by how its rich live but by how its poor live'.

i understand where you are coming from however - obviously if you are in this forum you would want to get ahead in life by working or investing.

If you're talking about minimal living -- that yes Australia would be the best country in the world to be poor coz the hard taxpayers are all paying for it.

bear in mind having a roof over the average aussie's head is getting expensive. not to mention increases in utiltlies, rates etc etc.

 

[BayView]

i understand where you are coming from however - obviously if you are in this forum you would want to get ahead in life by working or investing.

LMAO!!!

I was trying to picture the average feral bogan down at the local Royal Oak public bar, in the blue shearer's singlet and thongs...getting up to go home and log on to SS for a bit of stimulating social intercourse on property/shares investing, instead of suckin' down another pot/schooner and sifting through his pile of scratchies.....

"See ya boys! ofta git sum wealth creation tips".

 

[LoneWolf]

lmao!!! :d

i was trying to picture the average feral bogan down at the local royal oak public bar, in the blue shearer's singlet and thongs...getting up to go home and log on to ss for a bit of stimulating social intercourse on property/shares investing, instead of suckin' down another pot/schooner and sifting through his pile of scratchies.....

"see ya boys! Ofta git sum wealth creation tips".

lmfao!!!!!

 

[julie]

facts are useful at times

You haven't been to L.A then.

You clearly can't read; as stated; I've lived in Ireland and the USA, but visited a few others; went to Hong Kong twice. Looks good from far.

I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to visit any SEA Countries...unless I was in the market for a mail-order bride - but I'm not.

And I've visited Richmond heaps and lived in Box Hill for 8 years, so I've had a fair bit to do with the culture. Chinatown is a good spot though for nice food.

Been to Bali and Fiji a few times each on Hols; great holiday destinations, but let's get real; they're third world.

I'm a 52 year old cynical, judgemental, intolerant, elitist, and hate most humans. So, why would I read, watch or listen to anything mainstream these days? I spend most of my time trying to escape the ruling species of the planet, and pick the eyes out of the remaining selection to fraternize with.

Aus definitely has it's faults, but overall it is a bloody great Country to live in - that's why half the world is trying to get in - and it will ultimately wreck the joint - like England.

I mean; you can't even whack up a bloody Xmas tree at school anymore for fear of offending some fool.

Where to, then? - if here is so cr@p and other places are so ace?

I feel the need to correct the myth about the xmas trees and public schools. I am a teacher in sw sydney (high multicultural student base) and we quite happily had christmas trees in every classroom and in every public school. We also enjoy all of the celebrations of other cultures.

 

[Corey Batt]

The Mrs work place almost didn't have Christmas decorations so not to 'offend' all the international workers within the office. This was under the directive of the HR manager.

She ended up voicing the stupidity of this decision, and thankfully they were able to decorate and have a christmas party, as opposed to 'end of calender year party.

NONE of the employees had an issue with celebrating christmas, and many could not understand why the HR manager wanted to be so PC.

A lot of hoo-ey over nothing.

When I was in uni I worked in a warehouse which was a combination of blue collar low socio anglo + Indian, African, Asian immigrants. Upper management implemented an initiative where they wanted to fly flags of the countries of different staff members. Upper management kicked it off by putting up an Australian Flag, a UK flag and a Welsh flag (nationalities of the exec management - who many were parachuted into the job from overseas recruiters) and encouraged floor staff to request to have their home countries flag put up.

No one requested a flag be raised, and one (Indian) staff member put a complaint into national to have the initiative ended, stating it was superfluous as Australia is a country of 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc gen Australians, no need to put flags up show that. They were in a sense trying to 'create' multiculturalism in an environment which was nothing other than a cohesive mix to start with. Initiative ended.

My father isn't an Australian citizen, my mother is 1st gen. Just as 'dinky di' as the rest.

Leave it be and it works out just fine. A part of being Australian in many cases is having a strong cultural grounding which is not just Australian.

 

[weg]

I am a teacher in sw sydney (high multicultural student base) and we quite happily had christmas trees in every classroom and in every public school. We also enjoy all of the celebrations of other cultures.

My first child went to a particular school in SA -till year 4, which was the year we pulled him out- that introduced this.

We went from a pleasant evening (so not compulsory to attend if it wasn't your thing) of Christmas celebrations for students, family and friends on the school lawns, to no mention or sign of Christmas and calling it International Night .

The bizarre thing was that the school was a Catholic school with about a 95% Christian population.

 

[sanj]

It's so incredibly silly Weg, growing up in Singapore one of my favourite things was all the different celebrations, we'd go to muslim friends homes during hari raya, same with chinese friends during chinese new year, they'd come over during diwali etc.

seems incredibly silly to aim for this sea of beige instead of celebrating and enjoying the different cultures. incidentally this is part of my issue with "assimilation" as i posted on previous page.

 

[Fifth]

We get it pretty sweet here, however for those with drive and a good head on them, they can make it anywhere (admitadly it helps if you are raised by a family who instills in you a great mindset).

As far as business is concerned, Australia seems fairly backwards, too much red tape, and a far from the most motivated work-force.

All in-all though, doesn't really matter where in the world we live in these days, we are all in this together.

Humbug! If you’re born into an impoverished family in an impoverished region and you have little to no education and are forced to work very long and hard hours to support your family, how on earth are you expected to get ahead with ‘drive’? Yes, success stories happen everywhere, but in some places the success stories are few and far between and simply impossible for some individuals regardless of ‘drive’.

And, no, we are not all in this together. Just visit the famine-ridden regions of sub-Saharan Africa and tell them we’re all in this together.

 

[Fifth]

Dunno; anywhere you want; just quit crying about how bad Aus is towards immigrants.

There are a few 1st gens here on SS....crying.

At least we let em in, and we welcome all who want to be an Aussie..

How great is our Country?

I have never cried about how bad Australia treat immigrants, though I do disagree with some of comments made on this thread. As previously stated, I think Australia is a fantastic country to live in and I feel very lucky to have been born an Australian. We’re a nation of immigrants so I’d be a hypocrite to consider Australia anti-immigrant. Some countries don’t even allow foreigners to become citizens or to own property etc., so we’re definitely not in competition for the xenophobic cup.

However, isn’t it a bit rich to tell 2nd or 3rd generation Australians who have different views to you on immigration that they should ‘go home’? How many generations must we be here before we’re allowed to voice our opinions on various topics? The most ridiculous part is that you criticise and complain about this country more than anyone else on this forum - everything from the tattooed unwashed masses to the oppression of the political martyr Andrew Bolt.

My mum migrated from Europe as a child before she had any say in the matter. She is an Australian. My dad is several generations Australian. Is my dad more entitled to criticise Australia than my mum? Where does that leave me? Do I have the right to criticise any aspect of this country without being told to ‘go home’ or should I act the part of the servile, humble immigrant?

 

[weg]

Agree sanj. That's more acceptance, not like some practices (way of thinking) that highlighting discrimination and 'offence' that usually doesn't exist in the first place, and which often just makes things worse.

Btw, the Vietnamese which were 10-15% of the school population were very well accepted, so no issues of any kind. - helped that they always had a spring roll stall operating at all sports days and celebrations .

 

[Newbieatlife]

Dunno; anywhere you want; just quit crying about how bad Aus is towards immigrants.

There are a few 1st gens here on SS....crying.

At least we let em in, and we welcome all who want to be an Aussie..

How great is our Country?

Aboriginals aside, Australia is a nation of immigrants regardless of whether you're 1st gen, 10th gen or a direct descendant of captain cook.

who are "we" and what do you mean by "let them in?"

One thing about here; at least we allow a lot of things that are from other cultures despite what the folk who reckon we are so racist go on about.

Are you aboriginal? Again, who is this almighty authority "allowing" a lot of things from "other cultures"?

 

[sanj]

Kudos Fifth, agree 100%.

 

[Ideo]

Kudos Fifth, agree 100%.

What he said.