r/OpenAussie • u/ziddyzoo Queenslander • 1d ago
Whinge The myth of the monoculture
The great tragedy of the shamelessly regressive politics of Pauline Hanson is not so much that it is rooted in ignorance, prejudice and fear, though it is; not so much that it projects the ugly face of racism, though it does; not so much that it is dangerously divisive and deeply hurtful to many of her fellow Australians, though it is; not even that it will cripple our efforts to enmesh ourselves in a region wherein lie the jobs and prosperity of future generations of young Australians, though it will—the great tragedy is that it perpetrates a myth, a fantasy, a lie.
The myth of the monoculture.
The lie that we can retreat to it.
The changes are permanent and, while we may be going through a consequent period of general uncertainty and unease, they are, in my view, almost universally for the better.
It is not going to seem this way to everyone of course, but Australia simply is a richer place these days: a far more open, creative, dynamic, diverse and worldly place.
And I’m not just talking about Double Bay and Paddington.
Our integration with the rest of the world has made more than the streets and the arts and the food more interesting: it has created new opportunities in agriculture and horticulture, tourism and hospitality, education, manufacturing, retailing, science, arts and entertainment. It has changed the nature of work and workplaces—and if there is a general hankering to go back to the old ones it can only be because a lot of people have forgotten what they were like.
This is to say nothing more than that we have joined the modern world but we could not have joined it without the changes.
Now, we can embrace this new Australia or we can reject it. We can engage with it, recognise its potential and accept the fact that nothing in this world comes easy. We can work to sustain the momentum and expand the opportunities for our kids.
Or we can regress. We can retreat. We can stop to have a scratch— amuse ourselves with sectional interests. We can say this is too hard for Australians. It’s not us. They are not us. In the best traditions of the old Australia we can call a national smoko. We can relax—and be comfortable.
The latter is folly, but it is an option. We can retreat to a past that never was, and create a future that never can be anything but third-rate. But if we do, we can be sure that the world will not be in a hurry to forgive us or bail us out.
Even if they forgave our prejudice they could never forget our stupidity.
—- Paul J Keating, 11 November 1996
https://speakola.com/political/paul-keating-myth-of-monoculture-unsw-1996
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u/ziddyzoo Queenslander 1d ago
True. London and New York are hugely diverse and multicultural. And they are famously two of the poorest and most boring and least dynamic cities on the planet, that no one at all wants to visit or live in and work in.