This is an excellent essay by an Australian reader lamenting the gulf between Australia's sunny public image and the crabbed, matriarchal reality. It echoes an interesting book I read by the Australian journalist John Pilger, I think entitled A Secret Country. This discussed the astronomical suicide rates for teenage boys in Australia long before the issue touched the pan-Anglosphere men's movement. That was my first intimation that Anglo-Saxon countries stigmatize males as a sex. It is certainly notable that prominent and influential feminists like Germaine Greer hail from Australia, that the country is presently led by a woman and that Australian feminism is especially well-integrated with the state.
Some countries of the Anglosphere are more Anglo than other countries of the Anglosphere. In fact, Australians are more Anglo than the English. Contrast this with Americans, where Germans, Scandinavians, Italians, Spanish and so on had comprised major components in waves of immigration. Whereas in Australia, the White Australia Policy was rendered defunct only in 1973.
To avert any ambiguity, let’s be clear… the “white” in the White Australia Policy related principally to Anglo whites, with “ten quid” cockney immigrants encouraged to settle here. Italians, Germans and other dubious nationals with funny accents were never a part of the “ten quid tourist” program.
It’s been proven to be fiction, but Americans like to entertain the notion that English was voted over German as the national language by only a slim margin. That they sometimes entertain this legend with such fondness suggests that the Anglo influence is not quite as entrenched as some suggest.
Consider Australian politics and laws, and that the Australian mode of regulation has been embraced by bureaucrats the world over. Perhaps they assumed that if draconian laws can work on a people as relaxed and fun-loving as Aussies, then they can be implemented with even greater ease in countries that appear less “democratic”.
Incidentally – the notion of the “easy-going Aussie” is a myth. “Easy-going” is a cultural red herring designed to keep interpersonal relationships at a fun, superficial level, to avoid all that nastiness that more spontaneous, less regulated people the world over are inclined to erupt into at short notice. The lie of the “easy-going Aussie” is great for politics, it makes regulation so much easier. For example, consider the following:
Australia introduced the world to draconian helmet and seatbelt laws:
http://www.tsc.berkeley.edu/newsletter/Winter04/australia.html
Our previous prime minister, John Howard, showed George W Bush what he can get away with. And through our Australian example, we brought Americans the Patriot Act and the Iraq war:
http://www.silencingdissent.com.au/
http://www.newsweekly.com.au/articles/2006oct28_b1.html
Australia has always had draconian anti-association laws, in one form or another:
http://www.umcwa.org/news.php
Which brings us to Rookh’s thesis regarding Anglo feminism. The good-girl/bad-girl duality is nowhere as strong as it is in Australia. The slut is a dominant women’s stereotype, with its dominant male counterpart, the “larrikin” (the English would be familiar with chads, cads and lads). Obviously it is incorrect to say that “good” girls don’t exist in Australia. They do. But they, like their male counterparts, are 2-dimensional personalities that equate morality with “niceness” and “proper behaviour”, not with courage or standing up for what you believe in. Traditionally, I believe that American culture, at least in the past, accommodated more of the latter. Unquestioning and compliant “proper behaviour”, by contrast, is Anglo to the core, and derives much of its momentum from a secular, materialistic, anti-religious perspective (quite in contrast to Puritanism). I believe that Anglicanism may reflect this more pragmatic, sterile approach to religion (but don’t quote me on this).
We have to worry about Australia’s creeping, insidious impact on world politics. Promotion-seeking bureaucrats the world over are inclined to sneak in regulatory practices that work in foreign countries, so that they can claim credit. And in this regard, Australia’s anti-democratic Anglo foundations, coupled with the attractive lie that we are a hedonistic, fun-loving people, is setting some draconian precedents. That’s my thesis, anyway. Puritanism is too opinionated for Anglo sensibilities, really. It is no accident that Australia (and its “seventh state”, New Zealand) has set major feminist precedents.
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