Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Patriotic flaggers worry academics

Here's a classic example of what Australia Day has become in the hands of the liberal political class. The lead article on the Melbourne Age website last night was about residents of Perth who fly the Australian flag on their cars in the lead up to Australia Day:

They are a regular sight across Perth as January 26 approaches - drivers flying Australia Day flags from their cars.

But the popularity of the annual trend might be about to fall, after research from the University of WA found drivers with Australia Day flags are likely to be more racist than those with un-adorned cars.

As I wrote on Monday:

You would think that Australia Day would be time for a little patriotic pride. Unfortunately, that's not how it's treated in the media. The media is obsessed in the week leading up to Australia Day with endless handwringing about whether Australians are racist or not. They just can't leave the issue alone...

So what constitutes "racism" according to the academics? It seems that the flag flyers are a little less likely than others to embrace an open-bordered multiculturalist view:

Professor Fozdar said 43 per cent of those with car flags said they believed the White Australia Policy had saved Australia from many problems experienced by other countries, while only 25 per cent without flags agreed.

And 56 per cent of people with car flags feared the Australian culture and its most important values were in danger, compared with 34 per cent of those without flags.

Professor Fozdar said 35 per cent of those with flags felt people had to be born in Australia to be truly Australian, while 23 per cent believed that true Australians had to be Christian, compared with 22 per cent and 18 per cent respectively for the non-flag group.

Interestingly the flag flyers came from a wide variety of backgrounds:

Professor Fozdar said there was no clear link between education, gender, ethnicity, citizenship, voting pattern or income and flag flying, although her survey showed a slightly higher likelihood of younger rather than older people adopting the practice.

The whole thing makes me think that in five years' time if you wave a flag on Australia Day you're likely to have a team of anthropologists from the local university come knocking on your door.

Edit: Neil Mitchell has a column in today's Herald Sun making much the same point. He complains that:

Australia Day has developed into "kick an Australian Day".

And that:

the negative navel-gazing seems to have overtaken the party to the point that the event is turning sour.

11 comments:

  1. This is so sad. These flag waving guys and girls aren't even that political but if they're continually pushed I'm sure they will be. Is flag waving and sporting events to be criticised next? I have to say I'm not a flag waver but it's Australia day and this is ridiculous.

    Can I ask how long has the public display of flags on Australia day been going on for? I don't remember it as a kid.

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  2. Jesse,

    My recollection is that Australians didn't do much flag waving as an expression of national sentiment, except perhaps at the cricket. National sentiment expressed itself in a number of ways. On Anzac Day there was a quiet, but deeply felt, sense of remembrance. There was an Australian "dreaming" based on a sense of distance from anywhere else and a love of a relaxed outdoors lifestyle. Australian men had a positive sense of identity based on a tradition of being pioneers, soldiers and sportsmen. There was a settled lifestyle in many suburbs and towns which encouraged a feeling of heritage and connection to the past. There was a stronger sense of connection to the UK (including a rivalry with the UK). Community celebrations (e.g. Christmas) had a bit more resonance than they seem to now.

    It seems to me that to allow a genuine sense of communal feeling to develop you need to have the men throwing at least some kind of a protective wall around the community - in the sense of allowing a way of life to peacefully develop over time - one in which people don't have to worry that the most beautiful buildings or places will be sold off and knocked down, or that the demographics will suddenly change, or that family life will suddenly be thrown into chaos.

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  3. I heard the Professor is a Muslim. Farida Fozdar.
    Also what would she think of the multicultural promotional pictures of muslim girls in Australian flag burkas.
    Racist little muslim girls...

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  4. I don't know how seriously to take it, but someone told me that in England, flying the Union Jack is "frowned upon" because it means you support the BNP (so you're a racist).

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  5. Academics and lefty journalists have no idea how out of touch they are on this issue.

    I have to seriously upset people because of the amount of Australia day BBQs that are on, I can only usually go to 2 of these lovely events before a booze and meat induced snooze in the sun.

    It is easily the most popular public holiday amongst the under 30s.

    Which is surprising considering that it was just an excuse to listen to JJJ's hottest 100 a decade or so ago.

    The elites keep hating and young people keep cheerfully ignoring. Much like the banned but constant beach balls and Mexican waves at the cricket.

    Gives me hope :-)

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  6. I heard the Professor is a Muslim.

    Apparently she's an Indian-American-Bruneian Baha’i! And the author of some very important academic papers, such as “Sperm milkshakes with poo sprinkles”. And no, I'm not making that up. That's when she was still Farida Tilbury, but she changed it, presumably because it wasn't sufficiently multi-cultural.

    Good to see taxpayers' money being spent so wisely on people like her.

    See http://bunyipitude.blogspot.com/2012/01/dusted-with-poo-and-grants.html

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  7. “Sperm milkshakes with poo sprinkles”

    Oh good god.

    I actually saw my neighbour take down his car flag based on the opinions of an animal like that?

    Someone is going to pay.

    I have never liked car flags, but I bought my first set today.

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  8. Thoughts on this piece below?

    You say Australia, I say invasion

    Post-colonialism at work?

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  9. Die bad robots!!

    I'm having this exact discussion on a comments thread. I can't believe the number of homos who have bought into this invasion day crap.

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  10. I think the delegitimisation of the concept of Terra Nullius is not logical.
    Look at regions of the world that had an established civilisation. The British (Europeans) did not colonise these areas. Like India, China etc.
    They colonised specifically areas of the world with large amounts of untouched land.
    If anything it was respectful and non-confrontational.
    Compare it to our "comeuppance" dealt on us by our multiculturalist overlords. Areas that are already civilised not Terra nullius are being colonised and enclaves are forming. This is hostile and confrontational.

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  11. I find the mixed ethnicity thing interesting....

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