Watch any beauty queen pageant contest and not only will you see a bevy of beauties with fake tans, and manicured eye brows, but you will hear that every contestant seems to want the same thing.
"World peace."
The vain persuit of victory whilst tacking on somekind of conscientiousness. I find it quite hilarious. I'm sure they all really want to see world peace, but do we even know what world peace looks like? If it sprung up one day would we see it?
Just like all of us I have been incredibly moved by the images and footage coming out of Qld surrounding the floods. It's quite difficult to know how to respond when you see such devestation and there is no-one to blame or no finger to point.
It is refreshing to see however, the post disaster news stories come out as people band together to help each other out. After watching an ACA report on the volunteers (I NEVER watch ACA as it barely passes as journalism) I couldn't help but feel that little bit more Australian seeing thousands of people coming together to clean-up and repair Brisbane.
What also impresses me is how we approach such things with humor as is the larrikin Aussie spirit. I saw this image below and felt that little bit more Australian.
Wally Lewis statue outside the flooded Suncorp stadium.
I also saw this facebook status in the last few weeks as well:
"Come on Australia grab your shamwows...we've got a city to clean."
I don't know if we will ever see peace in the middle east. I don't know if we will ever eradicate racism from our communties. I don't know if the poor in Africa will ever see respite from famine and Aids. I don't know if children will ever be safe from slave labor or sexual exploitation. I don't know if we will ever see the end to human trafficing or the injustice of poverty around the world, and I certainly don't know if we will ever be safe from religious extremsim - but i keep hoping.
But one thing I do know, is that in Brisbane right now we are getting a glimpse of what world peace could be; a community of people coming together, helping each other out with good humor and hard work.
Check it out - there's world peace in Brisbane right now.
A.
Hey Andrew
ReplyDeleteHow is the Aussie spirit any different from any other nations' spirit? I think what you touch upon here is the human spirit. It's global, not Australian.
Australians make it sound like if Grant Russel and Todd Webb were Germans, Brazilian or even Saudi they would have started eating each other within half an hour.
The Chilean miners are an example of this global spirit. So are thousands of other stories from across the globe, some far more harrowing than what we've seen here in Brisbane.
In fact, stories from the field in SEQ are not all that nice. There has been neglect of the elderly, exacerbation of ongoing severe mental and physical health issues and eve looting. Some might call these acts "un-Australian" - another made up term to help us build an identity in a global world. The good news is that this un-human behavious is small compared with the good.
Mate, I do agree with you. However, the amazing stuff we see is not so Australian. It's human. And this is the best possible human attribute to touch upon if we are to have any shot at making this world a kick-arse place for all.
AB - Not so anonymous
Spoken like such a humanitarian...i agree with all you have written. But i do think there is something different about the Aussie spirit to other nation's spirit...
ReplyDeleteI'm just not entirely sure what, but I know its there...
I do however think this should be discussed over a beer the next time we are in the same state.
cheers brother,
A.