Large Scale Central

Yank vs Aussie

General Discussion
#1

With all the contributions from Australians on this forum during the US presidential campaign some of the comments had me scratching my head. So I decided to do a little reading on our social and cultural differences and found this web site very interesting.

The following link points out how Aussies in general feel about Yanks and vice versa and how our cultures differ. In NO way am I trying to offend anyone and if this link does not meet with your approval, please ignore or maybe you could offer another source.

This web site is informative, humorous and well done.

http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/yankaussie.htm

#2
David Ross said:
With all the contributions from Australians on this forum during the US presidential campaign some of the comments had me scratching my head. So I decided to do a little reading on our social and cultural differences and found this web site very interesting.

The following link points out how Aussies in general feel about Yanks and vice versa and how our cultures differ. In NO way am I trying to offend anyone and if this link does not meet with your approval, please ignore or maybe you could offer another source.

This web site is informative, humorous and well done.

http://www.convictcreations.com/culture/yankaussie.htm


Thanks David.

First of all let me say I am not an Australian.
I was brought to Australia by my parents as an 11 yo migrant in 1955.
My father was part of the brain drain from the UK after WW2.
When I first wanted to travel overseas in 1984 I discovered I would have had to wait 12 months for an Australian passport when I had to have it within 6 weeks. The British High Commision issued me with a UK passport within two weeks.
I am still a British citizen.

That surely is an interesting read.
There are some factual innacuracies including this:

“Preferential voting is another innovation that keeps extremists out of Australian parliament. The system forces voters to rank candidates in order of preference. When the ballots are collectively tallied, it is the candidate that is the least hated, rather than most liked, that represents the people. In the 1990s, the system kept the extremist Pauline Hanson out of parliament even though she won the most votes in her electorate.”

Yes we do have a preferential system in place for all Federal electorates of the lower house in which the elector is required to list all candidates in order of preference for the seats in the lower house of Parliament. If there is no candidate with an outright majority (more than 50%) the value of the lower selections are allocated to the next preferred candidate until one candidate has a majority.

The last part concerning Pauline Hanson is simply not true.
Pauline Hanson did indeed win a seat in the lower house. She served one term until she lost her seat at the next election.
She was considered such a threat to the stability of racial harmony, she was eventually convicted of falsifying her Political Party campaign monies and served a term in prison.
Many claim she was she was railroaded.
Upon her release Hanson tried once again to get elected. She was unsuccessful and has more or less disappeared from view.

The Senate is the upper house of review and the Senators are elected on a proportional preferential system which more or less guarantees that minor political parties can get representatives elected to the lower house.
This more or less guarantees the major parties cannot get an outright majority of Senators. This has the effect of tempering the more extremes of policies. That is the situation at the moment. Tha balance of power is held by The Greens, a member of a religious party and an independent.

Not all British citzens resident in Australia are allowed to vote. I am because I have been a permanent resident since before the law was changed many years ago.

It is now quite late as I write this and as yet I have not read the article all the way through. I will do so and if I come across other incorrect statements I will bring them to your attention.

Once again. Thanks for the link.

#3

Another incorrect statement.

“The different outcome can be attributed to different environmental influences. Australia’s poor soils and frequent droughts made the land unsuited to high-density farming communities. As a consequence, most colonial farmers lived an isolated existence with only sporadic contact with nomadic Aborigines for human company. It would have been unwise for these farmers to pick a fight with Aborigines when they didn’t have strong communities to back them up. Furthermore, the Aborigines offered these farmers their best hope for some friends, sexual partners, or farm hands. Friendship was more in their interests than conflict”.

Whilst it is true that many settlers did achieve a sort of racial harmony with the aboriginal population, there is more than ample documentary evidence that many aboriginals were simply slaughtered by many of the early settlers if they got in the way of White Settlement.
This is not just a few. Some massacres were counted in the hundreds. Some of the evidence was suppressed and has only come to light recently.

Having read on further I am now utterly mystified with the following.

“Even though there was relative little conflict between colonists and Aborigines, modern white historians, such as Henry Reynolds, Robert Manne and Lyndall Ryan, have fabricated evidence of conflict. The fabrication of history can be partly attributed to the continuation of ideological conflict that commenced in the penal era. By portraying Australian colonial society as awash with violence against Aborigines, the likes of Henry Reynolds, Robert Manne and Lyndall Ryan can demean Australians who have some national pride, which in turn asserts the superiority of their own ideological thinking”.

Thtav is simply incorrect. I can document the evidence that masacres did happen.
When was this written?

#4

My association with Australians has been limited to a week aboard the Australian Frigate HMAS Sydney FFG-03in 1982, a week of liberty in Freemantle/Perth in 1990, and an afternoon partying with the crew of Sydney in 1992 in Olangapo, RP.

The week aboard Sydney impressed me that the Aussie Navy are all highly professional in their approach to their work. Indeed, I adopted several of their ideas as my own, some of which are still practiced in the Pacific Fleet.

My week in Freemantle/Perth was spent riding the train from Freemantle to Perth and back. I attended services at a small neighborhood Anglican Church in Perth with some of my friends, and all of us (there were 5 of us) were invited into the people’s homes and lives like long lost cousins. I learned that one has to choose between Fosters and Swan, and that friendships can be made or ruined by that choice. :lol: Perth/Freemantle reminded me most of Bellingham, WA, my most favorite of all cities. I tried to find the model railroad community, but as only one other of the five of us was interested, there always seemed to be something else on the agenda.

As for the afternoon of partying in Olangapo, I learned that I am a lightweight compared to Aussies when it comes to partying. One thing that I found culturally jolting was that the Cox’n of Sydney (the senior enlisted man aboard the ship, similar to our Command Master Chief for the Surface Navy or Chief of the Boat on a submarine) was “Three Sheets in the Wind,” and dancing on a table in his skivvies. None of the Aussies thought that was unusual at all. In the US Navy, that would be a career ender. As the five of us were guests of honor, and the bheer was free, we declined to comment, and eventually joined him on the table, but kept our clothes on.

My sister taught elementary school in a suburb of Melbourne for two or three years. She had a friend that I almost married. I joined the Navy, she met someone else, and that was the end of that.

#5

Here is something from the site that I found mildly disturbing…

Although patriotism can unite Americans, it can also divide them. Each American subculture has a tendency to believe its culture is what America is about, and they will fight to preserve that culture by using the American flag as a rallying symbol. For example, many American Christians believe that America is about obeying god’s laws. Many atheists believe America is about escaping god’s laws. Texans may believe America is about the cowboy culture that refused to surrender at the Alamo. Californians may believe America is about the Hollywood dream. New Yorkers may believe America is about holding the golden lamp to the citizens of the world that want to breath free. As each subculture asserts its own respective definition of American patriotism, it can come into conflict with subcultures that have a different definition. In the past, such conflicts were dealt with by simply moving up the river to found a new town or initiating a civil war. In modern times, such an option is no longer available.

America has been described as the “Great Melting Pot,” where different cultures are melted into one, while at the same time, being allowed and encouraged to retain it’s individual cultural differences. So, while having a German name, and being of primarily of Norwegian and Welsh descent, I can freely say “Remember the Alamo,” celebrate St Patrick’s Day, be a practicing Christian, respect and defend the rights of those with differing views, and so on. We are all Americans, each and every one of us. No one subculture is what America is about. What America is about is to be free. Free to practice the freedoms mentioned and alluded to in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution.

Our Civil War, as bloody as it was, was a continuation and finalization of the constitutional convention.

#6
TonyWalsham said:
When was this written?
Tony, There are some references in the article indicating 2007.
#7

Steve,

This site seems to be of Australian origin and compares Australia to many other countrys besides the U.S. There are some other items in the article about the US that I might disagree with but as a whole it serves the purpose of showing the difference in the cultures in general.

If you click on the “home” link it will take you to the introductory page which talks about how they hurl insults as greetings. That simply reminds me of a day at work. But I wouldn’t greet a stranger that way.

I found the video of Chopper Reid interesting. :wink:

Steve Featherkile said:
Here is something from the site that I found mildly disturbing...

Although patriotism can unite Americans, it can also divide them. Each American subculture has a tendency to believe its culture is what America is about, and they will fight to preserve that culture by using the American flag as a rallying symbol. For example, many American Christians believe that America is about obeying god’s laws. Many atheists believe America is about escaping god’s laws. Texans may believe America is about the cowboy culture that refused to surrender at the Alamo. Californians may believe America is about the Hollywood dream. New Yorkers may believe America is about holding the golden lamp to the citizens of the world that want to breath free. As each subculture asserts its own respective definition of American patriotism, it can come into conflict with subcultures that have a different definition. In the past, such conflicts were dealt with by simply moving up the river to found a new town or initiating a civil war. In modern times, such an option is no longer available.

America has been described as the “Great Melting Pot,” where different cultures are melted into one, while at the same time, being allowed and encouraged to retain it’s individual cultural differences. So, while having a German name, and being of primarily of Norwegian and Welsh descent, I can freely say “Remember the Alamo,” celebrate St Patrick’s Day, be a practicing Christian, respect and defend the rights of those with differing views, and so on. We are all Americans, each and every one of us. No one subculture is what America is about. What America is about is to be free. Free to practice the freedoms mentioned and alluded to in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution.

Our Civil War, as bloody as it was, was a continuation and finalization of the constitutional convention.

#8

Americans are very patriotic people. Some of the patriotism can be attributed to the impressive array of American achievements that include…stopping Nazi Germany.

Given that the German war machine was directed first and foremost at the Soviet Union from mid-1941 on, the Russians have at least as strong a case as the Americans for “stopping Nazi Germany”.

The opinions expressed on the web site are just that - opinions. Having read through the article, I find it difficult to sustain much worthwhile comment about its analysis of either Australians or Americans.

#9
Dave Healy said:
[b]Americans are very patriotic people. Some of the patriotism can be attributed to the impressive array of American achievements that include....stopping Nazi Germany.[/b]

Given that the German war machine was directed first and foremost at the Soviet Union from mid-1941 on, the Russians have at least as strong a case as the Americans for “stopping Nazi Germany”.

The opinions expressed on the web site are just that - opinions. Having read through the article, I find it difficult to sustain much worthwhile comment about its analysis of either Australians or Americans.


I’m glad someone else noticed that sentence. I’ve heard it said that Nazi Germany was stopped by American know-how, British guts, and Russian blood. But even that ignores the contribution of many smaller military forces, eg. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, etc.

Interestingly, the US could claim the lion’s share of defeating Japan, but this wasn’t mentioned.

The section on the Australian accent was interesting. An Australian linguist (I forget her name) identified 4 distinct accents in Australia. There was “Broad” - spoken by country people. “General” - working class urban. “Cultivated” - middle class urban. And “Modified” - spoken by “old money” or the upper class. And that these don’t change from place to place, city to city.

My family is an example of how these accents can be present regardless of location. My mother speaks “broad”. My older brother speaks 50/50 broad/general (although it’s becoming more broad with age). My sister is “general”. While I speak maybe 75/25 general/cultivated (before moving to Canada).

The article was an interesting read but I agree with Dave. It’s just an opinion. That’s both a strength and weakness of the internet.

#10

My favorite Yank vs Aussie bit is from “Donovan’s Reef”

“He called us Limey’s!”

:lol:

#11

This one made me smile.

“They are not a nation of snobs like the English or of extravagant boasters like the Americans or of reckless profligates like the French, they are simply a nation of drunkards. Marcus Clark - English”