Australia.
Ok, we're not perfect and have a few skeletons in the cupboard. But
compared to a lot of other places we have done pretty good.
White Australia started out as a dumping ground for convicts and then became a land of hope for people who had no future in the UK. Our forebears worked hard to build a decent future for their kids.
They pulled together through famine, flood, fire, depression and war.
We talk of Aussie values - standing by your mates, sticking up for the underdog, giving a bloke a fair go. That's where we came from.
And, as we developed we began to do things for the next generation - universities, health care, education, and a social welfare net to look after those who had somehow fallen through the cracks through no fault of their own.
But somehow its all gone wrong. Now those government support systems that were meant to look after the battler, those down on their luck, or to give someone a hand up are seen as entitlements without obligations. No need to work, no need to go without, just squeal about entitlements, especially if it looks like they might be reduced or you might have to do something for them.
We are fast becoming a two tiered society - those who have and those who have not. Pull together - stand by your mate. What does that mean? The underdog - kick him in the guts while he's down.
Modern Australia - mate, we've come a long way.
White Australia started out as a dumping ground for convicts and then became a land of hope for people who had no future in the UK. Our forebears worked hard to build a decent future for their kids.
They pulled together through famine, flood, fire, depression and war.
We talk of Aussie values - standing by your mates, sticking up for the underdog, giving a bloke a fair go. That's where we came from.
And, as we developed we began to do things for the next generation - universities, health care, education, and a social welfare net to look after those who had somehow fallen through the cracks through no fault of their own.
But somehow its all gone wrong. Now those government support systems that were meant to look after the battler, those down on their luck, or to give someone a hand up are seen as entitlements without obligations. No need to work, no need to go without, just squeal about entitlements, especially if it looks like they might be reduced or you might have to do something for them.
We are fast becoming a two tiered society - those who have and those who have not. Pull together - stand by your mate. What does that mean? The underdog - kick him in the guts while he's down.
Modern Australia - mate, we've come a long way.
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