6 ms·

Whilst I mostly agree, I think the key difference is that the US has a majority control of international media, and whilst they love to hype up domestic concern

by wepple 10y ago

Whilst I mostly agree, I think the key difference is that the US has a majority control of international media, and whilst they love to hype up domestic concerns for viewer ratings, they're significantly more reckless when talking about "not-America". The fact that you level Australia and the US has both "safe and stable"; the US is an order of magnitude more troublesome than Aus (As someone who has lived in Australia but currently lives in & loves the US)

knz 10y ago
I grew up in New Zealand and have visited Australia many times (and still have many friends and family living in Australia). I now live in Minnesota. Is it really any better there? Australia has it's own history of crime related violence, corrupt police, poor treatment of Aboriginal people, poverty, child abuse, drug crimes, and offshore detention centers. Australia is also another major country that seems to ignore environmental issues. Australia only has 12% of the population that the US has - I suspect that if the population was larger the similarities would be even more apparent. I love visiting Australia but there are definitely some issues under the surface there.
- wepple 10y ago
  Yeah actually you make some fairly valid points. In some ways, Trump reminds me a lot of Abbott (who's name escaped me so I googled "stupid australian prime minister" and was rewarded with the first result), and while organized crime in Aus is a lot less controlling, if Australia were US-scale it would be. My gut feel is still that Australia is more forward thinking; gun control and healthcare aren't an absolute nightmare. Then again Australia won't touch marriage equality because of a strong enough pocket of conservative religious people in smaller towns. Hello from fellow Kiwi who's lived in straya for a few years (amongst other places) and somehow currently landed in new york :)

by wepple 10y ago

knz 10y ago

I grew up in New Zealand and have visited Australia many times (and still have many friends and family living in Australia). I now live in Minnesota. Is it really any better there? Australia has it's own history of crime related violence, corrupt police, poor treatment of Aboriginal people, poverty, child abuse, drug crimes, and offshore detention centers. Australia is also another major country that seems to ignore environmental issues. Australia only has 12% of the population that the US has - I suspect that if the population was larger the similarities would be even more apparent. I love visiting Australia but there are definitely some issues under the surface there.

wepple 10y ago
Yeah actually you make some fairly valid points. In some ways, Trump reminds me a lot of Abbott (who's name escaped me so I googled "stupid australian prime minister" and was rewarded with the first result), and while organized crime in Aus is a lot less controlling, if Australia were US-scale it would be. My gut feel is still that Australia is more forward thinking; gun control and healthcare aren't an absolute nightmare. Then again Australia won't touch marriage equality because of a strong enough pocket of conservative religious people in smaller towns. Hello from fellow Kiwi who's lived in straya for a few years (amongst other places) and somehow currently landed in new york :)