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Comment by logicchains

1 month ago

>Is Australia particularly bad about it perhaps

I'm an Australian, and Australia is absolutely terrible in this regard. There's a saying: the problem with Australia isn't that it was founded by prisoners, it's that it was founded by prison guards. I've lived in quite a few countries and never found anywhere with as many smug and self-righteous people as back home. There used to be two kinds of Australia: the larrikin (fun loving, prankster) Australia, and the wowser (fun hating) Australia, but in recent years the wowsers have thoroughly won.

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logicchains

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alabastervlog  1 month ago

> larrikin

This has become a kind of stock character (or, at least, a stock archetype for characters) in Australian media, and can be seen in lots of e.g. Australian or heavily Australian-influenced films, often portrayed in a basically-positive, if imperfect, light. This sort of attitude toward life and behavior is on display among several characters in the Peter Weir film Gallipoli, for instance, including and especially Mel Gibson's. In that film, the wowser-est folks are mostly British, because national myth-making :-)

mvdtnz  1 month ago

I lived in Australia for five years and this is exactly the reason I left. Everyone is a stickler, NIMBYs own the cities and the police are always out to get you. Australians have an undeserved reputation for being "laid back" but they are absolutely the opposite. Any chance for a new rule or regulation is embraced by the population.

  • smelendez  1 month ago

    A laidback reputation can be a sign of an entrenched elite with a lot of leisure time.

    This is the case in a lot of the US South.

    • hilbert42  1 month ago

      "This is the case in a lot of the US South."

      I understand your reasoning re US South but 'laid-back' in the Australian context refers more to a 'laxadaisical' or 'couldn't-care-less' attitude—or that's what it used to mean. Class doesn't much enter the picture. :-(

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  • kelseydh  1 month ago

    Funny enough I'm experiencing the opposite: I moved to Western Australia and find the police presence much lighter than Canada or America.

    Traffic stops by police are virtually nonexistent because speed cameras already do the work of traffic enforcement for the police. Unlike North America, it is very rare to drive and actually see somebody pulled over by the police.

    The cameras are strict through. Demerits double on holidays and no amount of fine payment can get out of a license suspension.

hilbert42  1 month ago

"I've lived in quite a few countries and never found anywhere with as many smug and self-righteous people as back home."

This is pretty much my experience too although the UK would come close.

"…the larrikin (fun loving, prankster), …and the wowser (fun hating) …but in recent years the wowsers have thoroughly won."

Any Australian who's not aware of this hasn't been around long enough to notice it. Frankly it's horrible, I now feel as if I'm an alien and no longer belong here.

I've my own thoughts as to why this cultural shift has occurred in such a comparatively short time but there'd be little point me posting them here. I wonder if there's any proper research on this, if not then I'd suggest it'd be deemed politically incorrect/too hot to handle.