asprilla

There are certainly lots of varying opinions. Ask your Aussie bogan on the street in downtown Cairns what he thinks about aboriginals, and he'll give you a interesting summation, complete with plenty of colourful language. He'll probably have been affected by things he has witnessed directly, and maybe even have been a victim himself.

Ask your civil servant working on "community issues" and you'll hear a different story. A more politically correct story, that is.

The aboriginal people in Australia are looked down upon by every other race. Why? Partly because most of them do not share our values and ideals. But mostly, because too many of them drink, do drugs, don't educate their children, and rob people. Why do they do this ? Perhaps they've always carried on this way. Or perhaps (and here is a more realistic answer) they've gone a bit downhill over the past couple of hundred years because we came along. Is that their fault, or ours? Perhaps that's "all in the past" and we should ignore it.....

I'm not sure where I am heading with this .... but you say in your post that they are "a lost people". Are they ? Some of them, probably. But I'd like to think that not all of them are that way.

asprilla

Perhaps, perhaps not. Is it your fault if you are born with red hair, or long legs, or a keen intellect, or perhaps you* are just a bit dim? No, that's not your fault. That's just the way things are.

What I'm suggesting is that perhaps indigenous people have far less capacity to adapt to this kind of change, than we think they should have.

I'm not for one second trying to make them blameless for the things they do. I'm just saying that there are probably good reasons as to why most races are able to adapt to change, yet some aren't.



* not you personally !

quoll

Indonesian?

asprilla

No of course not. I acknowledge that the damage has been done and it is pretty much irreversible. There is no way that we could leave Australia and expect things to "return to the way they were".

asprilla

Well there isn't one source of the truth. But to cut a long story short, if you look at the statistics for things like theft, assault, suicide, abuse of all kinds, and if you are able to break them down into aboriginal and non-aboriginal cases, you will see a glaring difference between the two groups.

Some aborigines integrate with the rest of society, have jobs, houses, lead western style lifes, educate their children. These are the aborigines that the Australians don't mind. Because they kind of blend in just like everyone else does.

Victoria has a very low percentage of aborigines per head, approx 0.5%. Whereas in NT it is approx 30%. Qld and WA are both approx 3.5% population.

In general, you don't find white Australians talking too fondly about aboriginals. Particularly white australians whose line of work brings them into contact with aboriginals.

sonlymewalter

Why because I have an opinion? Strange you should think it's poor form for a moderator to have their own opinion. You claim to represent the unheard and yet at the same time vilify anyone with voice of their own

I can see there's a common thread of playing victim here. Must be in your genes....

So who said that then? I've certainly not heard it. Another baseless victim statement.

Muslims and Aborigines are two completely different sets of circumstances and bear no resemblance at all.

Who says this? Another mis quote to strengthen a non existent arguement

Australia would be a wasteland.

You can never go back and certainly can't go forward in a positive way if it's all about feeling sorry for the past. Maybe we should reinvent evolution
Get over it and move on. Educate, create a healthy living, build a power base and beat the whites at their own game. Now that IS where the Muslims have got it right. Maybe the Aborigines need to take a leaf out of THAT book

scottishcelts

Maybe not, but think of all the free booze you'd get

sonlymewalter

There are ignorant and stupid people in all walks of life who pick on minority groups but let's face it the majority people are not like that.

All I read in your post is that everyone should feel sorry for aborigines not moving on because someone somewhere is picking on them.

Stop playing victim, pull your socks up and make a difference mate

asprilla

victim statements?! must be in my genes? Oh dear. I think you have just lost a lot of credibility on this website. I know that you have certainly lost my respect.

Just for the record here's your 'opinion' on aborigines. OK, so let's keep crying, getting pissed and sniffing petrol. Nice. Would you actually voice that opinion in public with aboriginal people ? I thought not. So why do you think it is ok to say it on here?

Of course you are entitled to your own opinion, I didn't suggest otherwise. I just didn't expect it to be so poor.

stevenglish

Blimy, you got a bee in your bonnet aint ya? my muslim/aboriginal statement was purely for arguments sake as I said. Any conquered people told to 'just get over it' would react the same.

They suffered 170 years of murder and abuse, after millennia of peaceful existence, and whilst I agree that the only way is forward, I also think you're being flippant about a very important subject. Everyone is entitled to their view not just you

asprilla

The first line of your post makes me laugh, given your recent posts.

The second line, well clearly you can't read. I don't think that everyone should feel sorry for aborigines. Why not try going back and actually reading what I said instead of "all I read in your post."

As for this "Stop playing victim" business, I can only think that this comment is (again) your inability to read and understand anything that veers a little too far from "simple".

sonlymewalter

So mate. How do you know I'm not an aborigine?

What this is really about is you can give your opinion, but you deride anyone else for theirs. You play the victim card instead of taking responsibility and anyone who challenges this is "poor"

Thank goodness all the aborigine's I know do the exact opposite and prove themselves to be much better than that and some of the finest people I know

sonlymewalter

Australia has said sorry for the past and all I'm saying is we now need to move on in a positive way

asprilla

Well, other people can decide for themselves just by reading up the page.

Either I am
a) giving my own opinion and deriding anyone else for theirs, and playing the victim (as you suggest).

or
b) I am deriding your opinion only, based on one of your comments.

Gibbo

As is usual with threads which discuss the plight of the aboriginal, this is going around in circles. There have been a good number of posts that would have enlighted the OP on the subject- but alas they seem to have disappeared.