Tim, you’ve perfectly expressed my own views on this. Thank you. Being a non-aggressive skeptic is a quality we should all aspire to - we used to do it so well as a society
Why not have Australia Day on Wattle Day which has traditionally been 1 September? We already have green and gold as our national colours. We could then all celebrate the land we love
What gets right up my nose is the fact that when they imported jingoistic nationalism, they gave away our sovereignty. We became committed members of the global American empire. Now we fund the US navies deployment of boomers in the Pacific, in the form of Aukus, and embarrassingly turn our back and ignore US interventions anywhere on the planet, including the current genocide.
Fantastic article Tim. The last four paragraphs really did hit home.
Can't put all the blame on John Howard though, as there was a large part of the population, media etc. that were all too happy (and/or gullible) to go along with him and the jingoism.
As a kid (back in the 60's/70's), had no idea about the Invasion Day side of things. That was never mentioned...anywhere. But I always felt 26 Jan was more a Sydney thing and never got into the whole celebration side of it (even the Bi-Centennial in 1988 was meh).
JWH, in deep reflection, is when the rot started - highly refined jingoistic deceit to keep conservatives in power and then entrenched by MSM - mostly Murdoch media.
'And what has it got us, this fully loaded enactment of patriotism jammed down our throats by successive governments?' Hear, here.
Labor's had no choice but to go along with the cringey crap as part of the subservient half of the duopoly.
I wrote to our local knock-and-drop newspaper in response to their screaming "Tradition trashed?" headline "I am reminded of Samuel Johnson’s statement in 1775 that “Patriotism is the refuge of a scoundrel”. Johnson in fact prized patriotism highly and had published The Patriot the year before. He regarded patriotism as a single-minded love of one’s country, a person who has “for himself neither hope nor fear, neither kindness nor resentment, but refers everything to the common interest”. The scoundrel he refers to is William Pitt the Elder who was then leader of the Patriot Party which had split from the Whig Party. This scoundrel is someone bending something pretending to be fair and good to his personal nefarious purpose."
Tim, you’ve perfectly expressed my own views on this. Thank you. Being a non-aggressive skeptic is a quality we should all aspire to - we used to do it so well as a society
Why not have Australia Day on Wattle Day which has traditionally been 1 September? We already have green and gold as our national colours. We could then all celebrate the land we love
That's very well said thanks Tim.
What gets right up my nose is the fact that when they imported jingoistic nationalism, they gave away our sovereignty. We became committed members of the global American empire. Now we fund the US navies deployment of boomers in the Pacific, in the form of Aukus, and embarrassingly turn our back and ignore US interventions anywhere on the planet, including the current genocide.
We have little to be proud of.
Today is a day for contemplation.
What do we, as a mob, actually stand for?
When I examine the history, I think, not much.
Thank you Tim, your clear thinking and recollections of how we were was refreshing, especially on this morning.
Fantastic article Tim. The last four paragraphs really did hit home.
Can't put all the blame on John Howard though, as there was a large part of the population, media etc. that were all too happy (and/or gullible) to go along with him and the jingoism.
As a kid (back in the 60's/70's), had no idea about the Invasion Day side of things. That was never mentioned...anywhere. But I always felt 26 Jan was more a Sydney thing and never got into the whole celebration side of it (even the Bi-Centennial in 1988 was meh).
Was always happy to have the day off though!
You've written a ripper mate.
JWH, in deep reflection, is when the rot started - highly refined jingoistic deceit to keep conservatives in power and then entrenched by MSM - mostly Murdoch media.
'And what has it got us, this fully loaded enactment of patriotism jammed down our throats by successive governments?' Hear, here.
Labor's had no choice but to go along with the cringey crap as part of the subservient half of the duopoly.
In a word, Brilliant!
Great stuff Tim.
Spot on analysis.
Love the painting of Sydney too.
Made me homesick.
Brilliant, Tim. Grateful to you for having written this up.
Well said Tim!
I wrote to our local knock-and-drop newspaper in response to their screaming "Tradition trashed?" headline "I am reminded of Samuel Johnson’s statement in 1775 that “Patriotism is the refuge of a scoundrel”. Johnson in fact prized patriotism highly and had published The Patriot the year before. He regarded patriotism as a single-minded love of one’s country, a person who has “for himself neither hope nor fear, neither kindness nor resentment, but refers everything to the common interest”. The scoundrel he refers to is William Pitt the Elder who was then leader of the Patriot Party which had split from the Whig Party. This scoundrel is someone bending something pretending to be fair and good to his personal nefarious purpose."