There's a lot of respect for those who have displayed the "Anzac spirit", for those who have fought bravely, but there's always going to be a whole lot of anger too.
War is ugly.
And we continue to fight other people's wars.
We've done so for the last 100 years.
We do it to establish ourselves internationally, to gain respect as a nation who will lend support to our allies.
But that whole idea is completely fucked when the Northern Hemisphere wouldn't have a clue and couldn't give a shit about what goes on in our region.
So although I have utmost respect for those who have died to make this beautiful country what it is, I have to say, Australia acts kinda pathetic sometimes.
It's like she's in a relationship with someone who's more popular and she wants to be popular too. So she sacrifices her integrity and turns a blind eye on what she always stood for.
We're never going to be the type of people who bow down to a leader - that's definitely un-Australian! We criticise the hell out of both sides of Parliament - and that's how it should be. Hell, I think there's good and bad policies, smart and dumb people, great ideals and stupid ideals on both sides of government. But hey, we shouldn't bend on our values - we need to keep that up - keep questioning everything.
Blind respect for the actions of a leader is not an intelligent thing to have.
You know, I used to be so intimidated by people. People in high up positions, corporate leaders, those who are responsible for policy changes, those who have a lot of control. But getting to know such people better just makes me think - they're all just people.
They make some pretty good decisions, and some pretty stupid decisions and it's up to us to question every action they make because their actions have such a resonating impact on us.
Today is about reflecting on the meaning of war.
War is complicated.
It's certainly not something I can sum up in a blog post (while my Anzac biscuits bake in the oven). But I guess war is useless if we don't learn from it. And reflecting back to Gallipolli in World War I, I wonder how much this nation has learnt.
"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them."
3 comments:
It's a bit like what Tony Blair is doing in Britain...blindly following whatever America is doing in an effort to gain some kind of influence in the world.
Ultimately, the majority of people in Britain have lost any respect for politics in this country, since the war in Iraq.
But I can see what you mean about Australians not really affecting the Northern hemishphere.
Australia is in an odd position.
Caucasian coloured people and English speaking, so by that standard you should be a significant player in international politics.
But I think the fact that your leaders appear (it seems that way to me anyway, although admittedly I haven't actually paid much attention to Australian politics) to follow the American line in an effort, as you say, to fight their wars and gain some sort of kudos by doing so.
If don't know what the natural resources in Australia is like, but probably if the country established it's own identity in what is a very diverse part of the world (what with China and India etc so close), and built links with those countries, you'd be a force to reckoned with.
Everyone says that Chin and India are the latest growing market forces...Australia should take advantage of the close proximity to gain influence.
Just use it in a sensible way, eh?
*By the way, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I don't even know if it made any sense. However, I know what I mean.*
I know what you're talking about, and yes, we are in a very awkward position. Our neighbours don't really like us, and we're trying to suck up to people who don't care about us. If Australia was a person, she'd be such a loser!
You write on this subject much better than I can. x
Well said.
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