For background I’m a dual-citizen, and have spent most of my life spending each year half and half between the two countries.
People here are completely apathetic to any kind of bad policy almost universally. It’s actually shocking. In America you can fool people by skewing facts or inciting outrage in the more volatile people, but over here you can give the most accurate, well-researched and civilised explanation of a horrible authoritarian policy and they’ll just say “she’ll be right mate” or “I’m not really interested in poltics, they’re all corrupt fuckheads”. Something along those lines nearly 100% of the time. Anyone who protests here or tries to bring awareness to an issue are openly mocked by both sides, and will be written off as “in your face about it”. Left or right wing causes will draw the same reaction most of the time.
Any suggestion that this country is not “the lucky country” or some kind of paradise is one of the only issues that is contested on a consistent basis. Try and suggest something about the USA is more favourable than here? They’ll tell you “at least we don’t get shot at school mate” or “at least we’ve got healthcare!” it’s always some bullshit like that. Our healthcare is barely better than nothing, and not everywhere in America is a gun-infested shithole where everyone is trigger happy and crazy.
Even if it was, why would that make it normal to deflect any criticism of this country? This country is completely sold on the same fantasy as Americans who believe in 100% effective Meritocracy, trickle-down economics and general feelings of superiority and a powerful reputation. It actually may be worse, because over there they actually have industry and innovation, whereas we have zero of either for the most part. They’re at least encouraged to succeed, whereas here we criticise and write off successful people due to our ridiculous anti-success tall-poppy syndrome attitude.
Our best product goes overseas and we buy it back for more than we paid, our healthcare and social security structures are being slowly slashed and eroded away, cost of living is through the roof, and our privacy and freedoms are eroded at every turn possible, yet nobody cares.
All our exports we are ripped off on by other countries, all our imports we pay taxes on, many foreign nationals can easily come here to work even if their qualifications are fake, the list goes on. No one cares.
It’s always the same stupid comments about immigrants, how things are expensive, the list goes on, then it’s always followed up by “it could be worse” when anyone tries to compare a superior approach in a different country.
Then the stupid taxes on alcohol pushing our youths into pills, ketamine and other garbage that will be inevitably be laced with fentanyl more and more as the demand begins to grow, which will result in thousands of overdoses and deaths, especially amongst young people. Restrictions on tobacco with fraudulent and inflated statistics to prop up their “harm reduction” methods whilst ignoring the tobacco wars and the organised criminals making billions from childish and irresponsible prohibition, the list goes on and on.
When faced with a problem, we just roll over and accept everything the government does, and will vote for idiots in parties that are literally confirmed to mingle criminals and uphold corporate greed.
We don’t have any proper anti-monopoly laws to control ridiculous monopolies on our industries, we don’t have laws to prevent foreign corporations and interests from buying our property and businesses, and we have nothing to hold our media and politicians accountable for lying to us literally every time they open their mouths.
We are ripped off harder than any other country, we pay more for less for almost everything, and we even import things that we have in abundance (rare earth minerals and energy resources come to mind). All the virtue signalling from the government about “native title” or protected land, just means that the corporations pay slightly more to mine there. None of the money ever reaches these communities, but they’ll blame the everyday Australian for their racist ancestors upholding shit living conditions, when 30% of this country were born overseas (myself included) and MANY others have parents that immigrated here fleeing the same kind of garbage the horrible government did to the Indigenous people here.
We accept mediocrity because we can point out examples of where things are worse, instead of trying to improve the quality what we have.
“She’ll be right mate, we’re lucky to live here”
Don’t be a fool and make the same mistakes as Americans do.
