https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-09-25/29402
"Why is Australia the most successful and most peaceful multiculture in the
developed world? How did an Anglo nation responsible for Aboriginal land theft,
anti-Chinese riots and the White Australia Policy mutate into the country with
arguably the least interracial violence in the developed world?
Simple: Despite the cherished myth of Australian individuality, we're far more
conformist than we like to think. Our conformism - visible in Australia's
intertwined culture of mateship, tall-poppy lopping and merciless teasing -
turns most second-generation migrants into Aussies within 12 years of
schooling.
What happens in schools is a neat inversion of the infamous assimilation
policies deployed by Australian governments until the late 1960s. The
authoritarian top-down ban on non-Anglo languages and cultural practices is
long gone, and what remains is a natural form of assimilation.
Children and teenagers the world over exert powerful pressure on their peers,
rooting out difference in all its forms through teasing and social exclusion.
Aware of their culture's conformism, Australian youths are amongst the world's
best at imprinting a generic culture on each other.
Visitors from overseas often comment on how seemingly harshly Australians treat
our friends. Friendly though the savaging is, it serves to bind the group - and
the nation."
Via Clarice Boomshakala Bouvier, who wrote “a quiet ramble from 2009 about
Australian conformism”
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
