Quote:
Originally Posted by kangaroo.bruce
you don't get kids setting fire to wardrobes in the street just to get the fire brigade there for rock throwing oractice.
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Well, I dont know about that. I do know that all the overpasses on the Hume Hwy close to Sydney have barriers to stop kids throwing rocks on the passing traffic below - this in response to several deaths and serious injuries. Also on other overpasses on the highways in that area. Dont think I saw one bridge like that even on the M25. Aound here, our pet arsonists are much cannier, they like to play with matches on days of high fire danger - many of our lethal bushfires are deliberately lit.
In WA a bloke got killed while playing cricket with his family at Christmas because he refused to give a beer to a mob who approached him. Another bloke in Sydney died because someone took offence that they believed he was watering his garden on a day which the water restrictions didnt permit. There are stories and exceptions here too.
In general terms in answer to the original question my view is that if you like self centred, shallow materialism with a hyped up sense of patriotism then Australia is the place to be. In lots of ways it like an adolescent - loud, brash, self cented, knowitall-inuslar. For some folk that fits nicely with the way they think about life and so they settle well - at least for a while, many of them havent really given it that long and they are still at the stage of adventure and slagging off the place that they have left and maybe even magnifying the reasons why they have left - sort of cognitive dissonance really.
I know that I appear to hate Australia - I guess I am at the stage that many folk who are fed up with UK are at - every little thing becomes something to niggle whereas in the past I may have taken it in my stride and been able to look more objectively at the better points of the place. In fact, I am becoming to hate it, I admit it. In the same way that would be migrants, desperate to escape their lot, appear to hate UK. I never hated UK, I came here because it was an opportunity not to be missed, it is only now that I have realized that this is "it" this is all there is and I will die here that it has become almost unbearable.
There are many things in my life, personally, which Australia can never deliver - sure, the family and friends are right up there but I have family and friends here too so that isnt the issue. I value a whole lot of things about UK - the variety, the sense of community, the vibrance, the countryside, the history (I know Aus has history but I fail to get enthused by a dreamtime story and a few grinding stones when I could be in something more substantial in UK/Europe with a history relevant to me!), the freedom to do different things, the national sense of humour, the peace and quiet of the country, basically a sense of belonging rather than being in the limbo of a long holiday adventure.
There is crime everywhere, there are nasty people everywhere, there are immigrants everywhere, there are lovely people everywhere, Australia may have better weather but it also has the highest rates of skin cancer, very high mental health problems, horrific natural disasters like bushfires and floods, flies and mosquito borne diseases - swings and roundabouts really. You wouldnt believe the joy of walking in the rain on ground that gives under your feet - live in a drought for 7 years and it is amazing what floats your boat!
If you are one of the ones who comes here and 50 years down the track think it is still the best thing since sliced bread then good for you - checking out my mates, most of us are 30 years + migrants and most of us considerably jaundiced with the state of play here - most of us would go home if we could. Australia is not a good place to be old in.
as long as george wears a hat i think he will be fine
the only people who look like lobsters on the beach are the Brits...everyone else just stays in the shade because of you know what...
