Hi PF members,
One thought on my mind of late is what Australia looks like externally - especially from an American viewpoint.
I know there is also a 'grass is greener' concept where I may be seeing living in the USA as far better than living in Australia and I was just wondering what Australia looks like externally - especially by Americans.
Why Americans?
I adore the American constitution - that it was made for the people and with the mindset that government can not be trusted. We have nothing like this in Australia. This is as far as I know unique compared to the rest of the world. American's from what I'm aware (well, at least a significant portion) value their freedom over perceived safety and see safety as much if not more a personal responsibility than a government one where in the rest of the western world it appears as though this is opposite.
Internally from my own perspective I have concerns that we're slowly seeing our rights dissolve and our government becoming detached from the people. Slowly our firearm are constantly being attacked. On a separate note (because it is strictly forbidden to ever use firearms with self defense here) - we have very little self defense rights to a point where it's basically nil. No castle law here. Hurt someone who's broken and entered your own house and you are essentially guilty until proven innocent. (The onus is on you to prove your innocents, and largely at the mercy of whatever prosecutor and judge combination you get).
Laws continue to be introduced that infringe on our free speech, and it appears that our governments are becoming more aggressive against law abiding citizens whilst turning a blind eye to major crime. As mentioned gunlaws are constantly targeted at the law abiding whilst ignoring criminals. Non firearm related - Doing as little as 2mph over the speed limit in a 60mph zone will now get you a fine for around $145USD. Get caught dealing drugs and you can get off with less than that! (I've seen this from Aussie police shows on TV).
More importantly - we have no bill of rights. Our country wasn't formed on mistrust of our government so our constitution isn't built with the mindset to keep the people free from the government. And while I see many people disprove of what our government is doing or the direction we're headed - people seem powerless to change the government's direction. We have some political parties that have started up to try and stop this but fear, apathy and selfishness seem to keep the majority of Australian's voting for one of the two major parties that both have us headed down the same road.
So, while I loved growing up in Australia I wonder at times if it's becoming a different country and think that an external perspective may shed a different viewpoint to what I'm seeing internally.
Don't get me wrong. I appreciate that we still have many great things here. We have a relatively safe nation compared to others (at present that is - I'm not convinced this will remain). We have a relatively good balanced health care. (There's of course room for improvement but don't let people fool you in saying that wretched Obamacare system you have is what we currently have here Australia). I can park my car on the side of the road in rural areas and have a sleep without fear of being attacked. But internally - I see that we are a nation of apathy. People don't seem to care about where Australia's going as long as it doesn't affect them.
So - from an American viewpoint - would you mind sharing your thoughts on Australia and Australians? Have you had much of an interaction with us? Have you observed our country headed in any particular direction from an external viewpoint that concerns you and if so to what point?