Home » Australia » Australia May 2001

It's always most difficult to talk about your home, but I'll take up the challenge and try and describe my birthplace, Australia, to you.

Australia May 2001

Nickjenkins
2003-11-20 15:37:40

Displayed times (last time: )

/>

The space in Australia is vast. In the outback the space between towns is so huge that you could cheerfully drop a couple of European countries into it without anyone being the slightest bit wiser. Most of Western Europe fits into my state alone. In terms of land area Australia is the sixth largest country in the world at 7.6 million square kilometres but this is divided up between only 20 million people.

The immeasurable geographic space adds up to an equally enormous personal space. People respect one and another to a large extent. Australia doesn't suffer the same class prejudices that beset the British or the similar capitalist discrimination that is endemic in the American society.

This doesn't mean we don't have our share of unhappiness, dissent and injustice. Anyone with any knowledge of Australian history can point to the awful acts visited upon the aboriginal population by well meaning, small minded, white, anglo-saxon Chritians. There acts of 'kindness' mainly consisted of taking children away from their families in order that they be raised in a 'proper' Christian way.

And similar injustices are perpetrated today, I'm sure. However, having lived in both the USA and Europe I think I can confidently say that Australia is less rigid, less socially stratified and less steeped in bullshit than either of those two societies. If you think differently - fair enough, you're entitled to.

An American travel guide on Australia that I read once commented that on "no account should a male get into the back of a taxi if they are travelling alone". This is a bit startling to moste people but absolutely correct. In Australia if you ride in the back of a taxi that means that you think you're too good to talk to the driver, too important. If you did this in the USA you'd probably be shot and in somewhere like the UK you'd ...