Tomasz

America, America, promised land, shitty McDonald food, idiotic Halloween holiday and good movies
USA always has to stick its fingers into everything.
Who remembers suffering of Vietnamees, who cares ?
All we have to remember are those 2 towers that went down.
When America gets spanked everybody has to cry or at least pretend doing so.

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It is a capital mistake to theorise before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories, instead of theories to suit facts - Sherlock Holmes

411314

I didn't realize when I posted this it would cause such animosity.

I'm not doubting you, but could you please explain where you get that impression from?

I was only ever beaten once, but I was teased for as far back as I could remember in elementary school, through all of middle school, and my first two years of high school, and I would consider teasing a form of bullying. You have NO idea how outraged it made me. It used to make me so angry I sometimes beat up the people that were mean to me. I used to tell myself that I had every right to beat these people up because they deserved if for what they said about me. Thankfully, I've outgrown that. Of course, looking back (though I rarely admitted it to myself at the time) I think maybe part of it was that I was afraid the things people said about me were true. I wasn't sure how to form a social circle, so I worried that something was wrong with me. I feel better about myself now, and I think at least part of it is that I have good friends I see regularly. Now, when people are mean to me (which seldom happens now) I hardly care.

Me too. I used to be called the following a few times a week

• gay
  • which here is a slang term for "not cool"
• retard
• loser

What's wrong with having a cool false name you made up yourself over the internet? Anyway, you don't want to leave to much info about yourself over the internet. By the way, you forgot to separate the words "at" and "least" in your original post.

411314

I'm a vegetarian. There is video footage of why at www.meat.org, though I warn you, it is quite awful to watch.

Me too!

411314

[quote=Wulfric;25472]But isn't Australia a commonwealth realm with the same queen as Britain? Doesn't that also make you "prisoners of her majesty"?

WilliamBlue

I'm American and I believe we have the best government that money can buy (cheaply)

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When you dance with an elephant it's up to you to not get stepped on.
How can we be so arrogant and egotistical to believe that the whole Universe was created just for us?

Danlo

Correct...but I don't think most Aussie's see themselves as 'prisoners' these days. The queen is viewed by some as being an essential link to our origins as a nation, whereas others (myself included, and who I think are slowly becoming the majority) see her and the monarchy in general as a rather quaint, unnecessary and stifling institution.

Long live the queen!!

D.

romansh

William .... Are you sure one can buy it cheaply? If so, then the goverment does not know its own value, so how can it be the best? .......

Danlo ..... exactly how is the monarchy a stifling institution? Having a figurehead president versus a monarch, both very much a crapshoot. And with an external monarchy, the Aussies can always blame the whingeing pommes....

But I agree with you long live the queen..... look who is next in succession..... now there is a reason to be a republic

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There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. ........... Douglas Adams

Danlo

Despite our strong ties to England, many here see the monarchy as being old 'baggage' that is holding Australians back from establishing their own sense of identity and independence.

The monarchy is largely irrelevant to those that aren't baby-boomers (ie. post WWII) as there are no obvious benefits that flow through to Australia.

I guess the question is, "Does the cost of divorcing ourselves from the monarchy outweigh the potential benefits to Australians?"

I probably lean towards establishing ourselves as a republic, as I think it is the next step in our evolution as a nation, and will (hopefully) take away the tendency to use the monarchy/England as a 'crutch' (as you alluded in your post).

Mind you, it definitely won't stop us taking pot-shots at the Poms, that's a national past time that will never disappear!!

I suspect that the republic debate will ramp up again in the next couple of years, as we now have a Labour govt in power for the first time in a long, long time and they appear to be keen to shake things up and encourage debate around those sorts of issues.

D.

Wulfric

Despite being half British myself, I'm in favour of an Australian republic. As Danlo pointed out, we are being held back by our associations with the British monarchy. I don't really mind having a figurehead monarch as the head of the UK, and dear old Bess II isn't really suppressing us with her iron fist of fury, it's really more of a symbolic gesture that needs to be made IMHO.

I'm also interested in the idea of Wales gaining a greater degree of self-governance, along similar lines to our cousins in Scotland, though Wales is less gifted with resources and good agricultural land, so it could be a somewhat tricky ride. I favour a sort of commonwealth of British island nations, rather than a united kingdom *he says, with the naive smile of youth*

romansh

Danlo did not quite answer my question of the monarchy being stifling? How is the monarchy holding Australia back? Is it stuck in a time warp? I don't see Australia not evolving while it is in the Commonwealth. On my few visits I hear murmurings/complaints that Aussie is becoming more American? God forbid.

In Canada we have similar feelings, I think most people would vote to be a republic, but would like to avoid the issue all together. Canadians too complain about the influence of the USA, but would quite happily dismantle institutions that make them different.

You say it is a symbolic gesture that needs to be made. How is this symbolic gesture better than any other symbolic gesture that does not need to be made? ....Just asking from the scowl of aged cynicism ...

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There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. ........... Douglas Adams