4 ms·

> They trust technocratic experts to know what's best for people. And implement. It helps to be small & pragmatic. People (mostly) follow the rules and politic

> They trust technocratic experts to know what's best for people. And implement. It helps to be small & pragmatic. People (mostly) follow the rules and politicians (mostly) only implement rules with broad support. Police have wide discretion to apply laws and (mostly) do this to benefit public good. That's not to say we don't have problems, of course, but this particular law is seen as a compromise approach to public health that more-or-less works for everyone.

urthor 4y ago
I find the root cause is not so much size... and more so younger sibling syndrome. Australia/New Zealand have a... very, very, very deep-seated feeling of inadequacy, comparing themselves to large Anglophile nations. There's a genetic urge to "impress Mother England." For Australia, also a deep seated desire to prove they're not an island of criminals. For New Zealand... a deep seated desire not to be left off maps. It's not so much size... there's just a culture of needing to be a better place to live than America. To stop people moving away. Edit: root cause. Not benefit.
- elliotto 4y ago
  Your other statements about AU/NZ culture have been extremely questionable, but this one is just complete nonsense. The idea that there is a genetic urge to impress England is bizarre, typically about 50% of people support becoming a republic. Some recent data in [0] Australia's original status as a penal colony seems to be held onto as trivia externally but is entirely irrelevant in modern discussion (as it should be as it stopped 150 years ago). Thinking that this is something Australians think about suggests that you have a very outside perspective. I don't know what a culture of needing to be a better place to live than America means. I don't think being a good place to live is a culture, I think it's an objective of a society. [0] https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/support-for-republic-is-strong-enough-to-win-approval-in-bigger-states-poll-20220123-p59qiv.html https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/support-for-republic...
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- polemic 4y ago
  As we'd say here: "Yeah, Nah". This is a caricature of parochial English thinking of the colonies from the 50s, and is entirely divorced of what Australia and New Zealand are like today.
  - spoils19 4y ago
    As someone from a southern US state who faces similar "caricatures", there's no need to pretend and hide your feelings. Instead, I think we should join together against those who would oppress us and keep us down and uninformed in modern society.
    - HKH2 4y ago
      Time for Australia to become a republic? I wonder how people would vote if there were another referendum.
      - stubish 4y ago
        It would already be a republic if the last referendum wasn't nobbled by the government at the time, where the only choice was between the status quo or giving more power to the historically untrusted elected government. Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Australian_republic_referendum#Aftermath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Australian_republic_refer...: "With republican models of one form or another winning a majority in opinion polls prior to the referendum, it was expected that the republican referendum would pass. However, the question put was for a particular model of republic with a head of state appointed by Parliament. This was opposed by some supporters of a republic, who preferred a directly elected head of state. Some of these, such as Phil Cleary, advocated that republic supporters vote "No" in order that a future referendum could be put on the directly elected model. Some commentators—including the president of the Australian Republican Movement, Malcolm Turnbull—identified this split within the republican camp as a key reason for the referendum's failure."
  - TheHappyOddish 4y ago
    Completely agree, this bloke has no idea what's he's yapping about.
- HKH2 4y ago
  I'm Australian and I have never really had any interest in going to England. Australia is culturally downstream from America though, so you're right about that.

urthor 4y ago

I find the root cause is not so much size... and more so younger sibling syndrome. Australia/New Zealand have a... very, very, very deep-seated feeling of inadequacy, comparing themselves to large Anglophile nations. There's a genetic urge to "impress Mother England." For Australia, also a deep seated desire to prove they're not an island of criminals. For New Zealand... a deep seated desire not to be left off maps. It's not so much size... there's just a culture of needing to be a better place to live than America. To stop people moving away. Edit: root cause. Not benefit.

elliotto 4y ago
Your other statements about AU/NZ culture have been extremely questionable, but this one is just complete nonsense. The idea that there is a genetic urge to impress England is bizarre, typically about 50% of people support becoming a republic. Some recent data in [0] Australia's original status as a penal colony seems to be held onto as trivia externally but is entirely irrelevant in modern discussion (as it should be as it stopped 150 years ago). Thinking that this is something Australians think about suggests that you have a very outside perspective. I don't know what a culture of needing to be a better place to live than America means. I don't think being a good place to live is a culture, I think it's an objective of a society. [0] https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/support-for-republic-is-strong-enough-to-win-approval-in-bigger-states-poll-20220123-p59qiv.html https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/support-for-republic...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
polemic 4y ago
As we'd say here: "Yeah, Nah". This is a caricature of parochial English thinking of the colonies from the 50s, and is entirely divorced of what Australia and New Zealand are like today.
- spoils19 4y ago
  As someone from a southern US state who faces similar "caricatures", there's no need to pretend and hide your feelings. Instead, I think we should join together against those who would oppress us and keep us down and uninformed in modern society.
  - HKH2 4y ago
    Time for Australia to become a republic? I wonder how people would vote if there were another referendum.
    - stubish 4y ago
      It would already be a republic if the last referendum wasn't nobbled by the government at the time, where the only choice was between the status quo or giving more power to the historically untrusted elected government. Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Australian_republic_referendum#Aftermath https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Australian_republic_refer...: "With republican models of one form or another winning a majority in opinion polls prior to the referendum, it was expected that the republican referendum would pass. However, the question put was for a particular model of republic with a head of state appointed by Parliament. This was opposed by some supporters of a republic, who preferred a directly elected head of state. Some of these, such as Phil Cleary, advocated that republic supporters vote "No" in order that a future referendum could be put on the directly elected model. Some commentators—including the president of the Australian Republican Movement, Malcolm Turnbull—identified this split within the republican camp as a key reason for the referendum's failure."
- TheHappyOddish 4y ago
  Completely agree, this bloke has no idea what's he's yapping about.
HKH2 4y ago
I'm Australian and I have never really had any interest in going to England. Australia is culturally downstream from America though, so you're right about that.