A Nation of Racist Drunks?

[Creator002]

A majority of racists I've met are Aussies, but on the other hand the nicest people I've ever met are Aussies too. Then again, I'm an Aussie living in Australia, so...

Jokes aside, I feel a little insulted to be known as a dumb and racist person due to other people's idiocy. I'm never mean to anyone who isn't to me first. Especially call centres and house-to-house doorknockers. They're just doing their freakin' job.[footnote]I'm not even rude to the religious doorknockers. I let them say their piece then say thanks and bid them farewell.[/footnote]
But many of my classmates and former friends are racist, ignorant and generally closed-minded to quite a large degree, so I can see where these reports are coming from.

 

[Spineyguy]

To be perfectly honest, the Aussies are drunks and racists, but they don't have as big a national drink problem as the UK, and there are parts of Europe that are far more racist.

That depends on what you consider a drink problem.

Sure, in the UK people have really bad problems with getting smashed constantly.. that happens here in Aus as well.

But, while growing up in the UK, I never witnessed the number of people who are seriously unable to consider socialising without a drink in their hand. In the UK, telling people I don't drink was met with a shrug. Here it is met with a look that makes me feel like I confessed to buggering small cuttlefish in my spare time.

I'm not sure when or where in the UK this shrug was, but I get seriously weird looks when I tell people I have never been drunk, several people have actually asked me how I enjoy myself without alcohol, you'd think it was a facetious question but it's really not.

I think the attitude to drinking varies enormously depending on where you are in the country, and that's the case for both Australia and Britain. I have met fourteen year-old kids who can't make it to midday without a can of cider, and many of my school friends (I say friends, but it's something of an overstatement) consider it not only acceptable, but necessary to binge-drink four or five nights a week, it's depressing that we have reached that stage in our civilisation's fall into decadence, but that's the way it goes. This isn't a 'my country's more disgusting than yours' argument, but I would be inclined to say that in terms of the abuse of alcohol, the UK is worse. Aussies, Italians, Germans and many other nationalities consume more net alcohol than Britain does, but it's the way in which it is consumed that is the issue here.

I will enjoy the occasional pint of quality ale, good wine with a meal is great, a scotch in the evening can really help you wind down, but the way drinking has evolved in our society is simply not sustainable.

 

[Continuity]

OP, if it's any consolation, I immediately thought you were talking about dear old Blighty when I read your thread title.

You're not the only one... damn tabloids.

 

[Treefingers]

So yes, I do think Australia is racist, but that we're conditioned to believe that we're not. All that stuff about this being a multicultural society, how we're told from the day we're born that we Australians are an accepting bunch while simultaneously, it seems, being told to hate anyone who isn't a nice, white, Australian-born citizen, it's all there just so we can feel better about ourselves and feel good while simultaneously being incredibly prejudiced. Now, there's a big chunk of Australian society that aren't racist, but going by the official polls when it comes to the whole refugee business it's obvious that the number of racists in this country could actually be in the majority.

This.

I had a couple of Aussies visit me (in Auckland) a few months back, all they could say for most of the day was "Wow there's SO MANY ASIANS here!" They later moved on to going on and on and on about how Aborigines are a terrible blight on society, following their rant up with "Oh but I hear you guys are much friendlier with your natives...?" apparently not realising that I myself, am Maori (native NZer).

I was quite stunned. Their racism shocked me, of course, but even more shocking was how casual and open they were about it.

I've also spent quite a lot of time abroad, travelled through Europe and lived in the UK for a while. I met a lot of Australians on the way. Us NZers and Aussies seem to be everywhere heh. But I've never met an Australian who was able to bring up Australian Aborigines in anything but an extremely negative light, and they always felt that their opinion was 100% reasonable and justified. (Not all Aussies I've met brought the 'issue' up of course, but any who actually did, it was negative.)

There?s a reason for that and it has nothing to do with race.

Oh the irony...

 

[Azahul]

Ok I find that really offensive. Yes we have a drinking problem here but not everyone is a drunk and I haven't met anyone that could be called a racist. The reason they find Australians rude is because they get called about 10 times a day (no that is not an exaggeration). I doubt that Australians are any worse than other countries. And to the people saying the 'stop the boats' thing proves Australians are racist it is not the fact that they aren't white that people have a problem with, it's that they basically end up with more rights than Australian born citizens and it isn't fair to people who go about things legally.

I'm... not sure what you're talking about here. Illegal immigrants most certainly do not get more rights than Australian citizens, in fact, Australia does its very best to ensure that they don't get what few rights they do have, to the point that we've skirted with breaking (and actually broken, I am sure) UN resolutions, including violating the basic human rights of any refugees we catch that don't carry a form signed in triplicate stating that they have refugee status. And if you mean refugees that are here under legal refugee status, well, god forbid that someone fleeing their country with nothing but the clothes on their back in order to escape death, persecution, and so on be given a few extra benefits to help them set themselves up in a foreign country.

The "Stop the boats" campaign is, fundamentally, xenophobic. There's no way around that. While I won't deny that illegal immigrants, while in my mind perfectly justified, are breaking the law, it is an issue that is vastly blown out of proportion by politicians and the media. It is the most trivial issue that has virtually no effect on the vast bulk of Australians, to the point where it shouldn't even be in the news, let alone making headlines (obviously, it's a good less trivial to people that are refugees). It's not like the issue is even factually correct. The statistic is what? 30 times more illegal immigrants arrive by plane than by boat? If you want to be xenophobic, at least get the mode of transport right.

Frankly, I admire refugees. Your average "boat person" is a man or woman brave enough to act to save their family by risking their own life, spending all the money they have, abandoning their home and most of their possessions, everything they've ever known, in order to escape to a country where, they hope, they won't be persecuted because of their skin colour, beliefs, social status, whatever. And you know what? I'm sometimes ashamed that they come to this country, because honestly it seems that a decently sized portion of Australia can't offer that.

 

[Ninjamedic]

In my local paper, the Sunday Mail, one article disturbed me. In India, call centers are training their staff on how to deal with Australian customers, saying we're quote "the dumbest continent in the world," we "drink constantly" and are "quiet racist." One comment that got me was that we are "technologically backwards." Now as someone who has 5 consoles, a smartphone and a tablet device, I felt insulted. What do you lot think?

Here's the link to the story http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/indian-call-centre-staff-told-australians-are-dumb-drunken-racists/story-e6freqmx-1226100445960

Aren't we supposed to be the drunk racists?

 

[iamjustme]

I was about to angrily dismiss this claim.

But then I remembered that Australia IS a nation of Racist Drunks, there's the yearly Australia day violence, the incidents with Indian students and I haven't even mentioned Aborigines yet.

You mean the Cronulla riots? Cause Cronulla is a shit hole full of racist dicks, not the entire country.

Actually none of the things I mentioned had anything to do with those riots, most were in cities.

Care to give examples other than the Cronulla riots then? That was a one off thing and I don't recall any particular reports of Australia Day violence before or since that are attributable to anything other than general drunkeness (rather than anything specifically race related).

Then again, having recently moved out to the back of beyond, I can quite confidently say that rural Australia is very much full of racist drunks. And I live in what is, historically speaking, the most multi-cultural town rural Australia has to offer.

 

[Treefingers]

So yes, I do think Australia is racist, but that we're conditioned to believe that we're not. All that stuff about this being a multicultural society, how we're told from the day we're born that we Australians are an accepting bunch while simultaneously, it seems, being told to hate anyone who isn't a nice, white, Australian-born citizen, it's all there just so we can feel better about ourselves and feel good while simultaneously being incredibly prejudiced. Now, there's a big chunk of Australian society that aren't racist, but going by the official polls when it comes to the whole refugee business it's obvious that the number of racists in this country could actually be in the majority.

This.

I had a couple of Aussies visit me (in Auckland) a few months back, all they could say for most of the day was "Wow there's SO MANY ASIANS here!" They later moved on to going on and on and on about how Aborigines are a terrible blight on society, following their rant up with "Oh but I hear you guys are much friendlier with your natives...?" apparently not realising that I myself, am Maori (native NZer).

I was quite stunned. Their racism shocked me, of course, but even more shocking was how casual and open they were about it.

I've also spent quite a lot of time abroad, travelled through Europe and lived in the UK for a while. I met a lot of Australians on the way. Us NZers and Aussies seem to be everywhere heh. But I've never met an Australian who was able to bring up Australian Aborigines in anything but an extremely negative light, and they always felt that their opinion was 100% reasonable and justified. (Not all Aussies I've met brought the 'issue' up of course, but any who actually did, it was negative.)

There?s a reason for that and it has nothing to do with race.

Oh the irony...

Care to explain what you mean by that?

Well unless I misinterpreted your (not particularly elaborative, so apologies if i'm mistaken) statement, I'm guessing what comes next is a comment along the lines of: "But Aborigines actually are all drunken layabouts looking for a handout!"

Thus confirming my initial post, hence the irony.

 

[lolmynamewastaken]

YES! i thought this was going to be about the UK. i well didn't spend the last week drinking and looking for jews...
for the record, i didn't want to do anything TO the jews, except compare their population to the student population of Aberystwyth.

 

[AngloDoom]

Well, I guess you have reasoning to be angered about this. I would know, we Americans get similar criticisms.

Sorry to pick only you out, but it's the latest one I've seen in a series of "Ha, you think you've got it bad!" comments.

If I'm honest, England see's American's as rather softcore in their drinking habits. The fact that in some places you're not allowed to be drunk in public is shocking to most here. I walk past several clubs to get to a friend's house - I'd say we see at least a hundred drunk people at that time.

America, as far as I've ever heard, isn't ever called a country of alcoholics - just intolerance and self-centered views.

This title, however, immediately made me think "Australia"...and half my family are from Australia.

Please don't make this about America - you're only helping to reinforce the self-centered stereotype that we know is wrong.

EDIT: Captcha: oveyar isecp1b

What?

 

[Treefingers]

So yes, I do think Australia is racist, but that we're conditioned to believe that we're not. All that stuff about this being a multicultural society, how we're told from the day we're born that we Australians are an accepting bunch while simultaneously, it seems, being told to hate anyone who isn't a nice, white, Australian-born citizen, it's all there just so we can feel better about ourselves and feel good while simultaneously being incredibly prejudiced. Now, there's a big chunk of Australian society that aren't racist, but going by the official polls when it comes to the whole refugee business it's obvious that the number of racists in this country could actually be in the majority.

This.

I had a couple of Aussies visit me (in Auckland) a few months back, all they could say for most of the day was "Wow there's SO MANY ASIANS here!" They later moved on to going on and on and on about how Aborigines are a terrible blight on society, following their rant up with "Oh but I hear you guys are much friendlier with your natives...?" apparently not realising that I myself, am Maori (native NZer).

I was quite stunned. Their racism shocked me, of course, but even more shocking was how casual and open they were about it.

I've also spent quite a lot of time abroad, travelled through Europe and lived in the UK for a while. I met a lot of Australians on the way. Us NZers and Aussies seem to be everywhere heh. But I've never met an Australian who was able to bring up Australian Aborigines in anything but an extremely negative light, and they always felt that their opinion was 100% reasonable and justified. (Not all Aussies I've met brought the 'issue' up of course, but any who actually did, it was negative.)

There?s a reason for that and it has nothing to do with race.

Oh the irony...

Care to explain what you mean by that?

Well unless I misinterpreted your (not particularly elaborative, so apologies if i'm mistaken) statement, I'm guessing what comes next is a comment along the lines of: "But Aborigines actually are all drunken layabouts looking for a handout!"

Thus confirming my initial post, hence the irony.

Not all of them but that?s a serious problem in aboriginal communities.

Hey, look! It's almost like I can predict the future.

 

[MissDK]

Wait, wait, wait!

Are you sure they didn't say "America" instead of "Austrailia"? Because I could swear that the only nation that can be labled as a nation of racist drunks was America.

no, america is labeled as fat and racist assholes.

edit:sorry i forgot rednecks.

Yeah, as someone who dates a foreigner who's been to more than 21 European countries, calling us "Drunks" isn't correct when you take into account how much other western nations drink compared to us. Especially Denmark and Australia.

Well Europeans might drink more, but because we are raised with a healthy debate about alcohol we get addicted less that Americans.. Or so I think.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alcohol_use_disorders_world_map_-_DALY_-_WHO2002.svg

 

[lSHaDoW-FoXl]

Seems to me the Indians got it just about right.

I'm just kidding, that's more of a reputation The U.S has gotten. But don't worry though, up here in Canada I'm sure Canada's reputation isn't a lot better. If I'm correct we're probably seen as technologically backwards drunken manly men that go about hunting dressed up in fur coats.

But you know what? I wouldn't be surprised if drunken backwards racist's are the people running Australia, given the ridiculous (and ironic) laws that get passed all the time. Seriously Australia, you used to be cool. You used to be a friggin' feetle colony, one gigantic continent that was full of our most insane, badass, and twisted convicts.

Overall it's simple, white people like to be seen as racist drunkards. Meanwhile Indians are seen as tech support st- Whoops, I just realized the people being racist actually fit in a stereotype them self, now how ironic is that?

 

[Nobby]

India is hardly the most objective place in the world to be commenting on Australia. They've had sort of a love/hate relationship with Australia for a while now. The fact that the Indian people who have most regular contact with us are telemarketers constantly harassing us to switch to their phone plan or whatever means that the perception there is absolutely going to be tainted by the huge amount of people here who, when constantly annoyed by phone calls are eventually going to snap and hurl abuse down the phone.

That's not to say there aren't racist people here. There absolutely is the disgusting taint of it but it's predominantly in areas that where previously the home of only one ethnic group, whether it be Anglo, Lebanese, Chinese, Greek, etc.