There’s way, way more to it than that, and while I agree that shipping a bunch of poor people and political prisoners to the other side of the world may not initially have been particularly “honourable”, and some of the early stuff that happened here was horrific, in the end, the “freed” convicts and their descendants lived much better lives than they would have, in the British Isles, AND the descendants of the surviving Abos (who were, by some accounts, already dying out when whitey arrived), today, live MUCH better lives than their very late Stone Age ancestors (roughly, what, 20,000 years behind the rest of the world) could ever have dreamt of, and have, since at least the mid-1960s…
Can we stop putting leftist spins on things?? History is not simple, and it is not black and white. It’s messy, and complicated, and violent, and at times fairly horrific. But that does not mean that we cannot be proud that our ancestors survived, fought, and made this place what it is, or that we should not, or cannot, be proud of what has been achieved by the modern nation formed in their footsteps…
Fuck, I’m on a roll, this last 24 hours, particularly around this topic, if I do say so myself, lol…
By the meme standard, many of the British colonies in North America would qualify as prison colonies. Didn't the majority of Australian settlers choose to go there?
Yes, correct. Though it depends what time period we are talking about, and which colony (because Australian states were settled semi-separately, remember, and were governed *entirely separately for half a century or more)…
South Australia was 100% free settlers, initially, which means that the NT was, too, because clearly they were originally one and the same…
Convict transportation ended entirely in the 1850s. Most settlers came after that time (gold rush!! Very much like California.), and many of our cities were settled after that…
Notably Canberra, Darwin, Alice Springs, Townsville, Cairns, etc.
All of those came after transportation had ended.
And if we’re going on where the majority of the population, including me, draw our roots from? Then yes, you’re even more correct.
I’m told my family were all free settlers. I don’t think “we” arrived here until after the Anti-Transportation League had already won. Hence my complete lack of any… Generational guilt over any of this shit. Although, again, I’m not 100% sure on all those details.
I do know that my family, at least on one side, was very actively involved in advocating for the rights of the Abos, more than a century ago, so honestly..? Fuck anyone who has a go at me for not “playing along” today…
I’ve dated Aboriginal (so they claimed) girls, too. Most of them were more interested in, say, cheerleading, or dance, or classical music, or acting, or just… Living life, than the “activist” shit their families pushed on them. There were exceptions, but those girls were fucking crazy…
So… Things just aren’t that clear cut, basically, now are they? 🤷🏻♂️
Anyway, you’re right on all points. I have more to say about North America, but this will do, for now.
Side note: I just looked the cheerleading violinist up.
She’s so wholesome, I love it. Miss her, honestly.
She has woven seaweed baskets in the local (state level) museum, that her activist mum used to have her make. That’s as “close” as she ever got to her “Aboriginal heritage”, lol…
And she seems so much happier and more well-rounded than at least one activist ex (Nessa Trumbull-Roberts - I think she probably passes criteria for “notoriety”, here)…
kinda wish (for you and the other sane aussies' sakes) that ya'll would embrace your inner Mick Dundee, lol.
(kidding aside, is that movie that bad? I realize that's maybe 5% of the population, but it's basically a story about an australian version of a cowboy, right?)
No, your country didn't legitimately exist until you started accounting for the racial sins of your fathers on All Saint Floyd's Day aka World Globohomo Inauguration. Truly, the generations that follow us will look upon the 2020s as the Age of Social Justice Enlightenment.
To be fair, I do not think the foundation of a prison colony is anywhere near honorable
This is a slightly contentious point, I feel…
There’s way, way more to it than that, and while I agree that shipping a bunch of poor people and political prisoners to the other side of the world may not initially have been particularly “honourable”, and some of the early stuff that happened here was horrific, in the end, the “freed” convicts and their descendants lived much better lives than they would have, in the British Isles, AND the descendants of the surviving Abos (who were, by some accounts, already dying out when whitey arrived), today, live MUCH better lives than their very late Stone Age ancestors (roughly, what, 20,000 years behind the rest of the world) could ever have dreamt of, and have, since at least the mid-1960s…
Can we stop putting leftist spins on things?? History is not simple, and it is not black and white. It’s messy, and complicated, and violent, and at times fairly horrific. But that does not mean that we cannot be proud that our ancestors survived, fought, and made this place what it is, or that we should not, or cannot, be proud of what has been achieved by the modern nation formed in their footsteps…
Fuck, I’m on a roll, this last 24 hours, particularly around this topic, if I do say so myself, lol…
By the meme standard, many of the British colonies in North America would qualify as prison colonies. Didn't the majority of Australian settlers choose to go there?
Yes, correct. Though it depends what time period we are talking about, and which colony (because Australian states were settled semi-separately, remember, and were governed *entirely separately for half a century or more)…
South Australia was 100% free settlers, initially, which means that the NT was, too, because clearly they were originally one and the same…
Convict transportation ended entirely in the 1850s. Most settlers came after that time (gold rush!! Very much like California.), and many of our cities were settled after that…
Notably Canberra, Darwin, Alice Springs, Townsville, Cairns, etc.
All of those came after transportation had ended.
And if we’re going on where the majority of the population, including me, draw our roots from? Then yes, you’re even more correct.
I’m told my family were all free settlers. I don’t think “we” arrived here until after the Anti-Transportation League had already won. Hence my complete lack of any… Generational guilt over any of this shit. Although, again, I’m not 100% sure on all those details.
I do know that my family, at least on one side, was very actively involved in advocating for the rights of the Abos, more than a century ago, so honestly..? Fuck anyone who has a go at me for not “playing along” today…
I’ve dated Aboriginal (so they claimed) girls, too. Most of them were more interested in, say, cheerleading, or dance, or classical music, or acting, or just… Living life, than the “activist” shit their families pushed on them. There were exceptions, but those girls were fucking crazy…
So… Things just aren’t that clear cut, basically, now are they? 🤷🏻♂️
Anyway, you’re right on all points. I have more to say about North America, but this will do, for now.
Side note: I just looked the cheerleading violinist up.
She’s so wholesome, I love it. Miss her, honestly.
She has woven seaweed baskets in the local (state level) museum, that her activist mum used to have her make. That’s as “close” as she ever got to her “Aboriginal heritage”, lol…
And she seems so much happier and more well-rounded than at least one activist ex (Nessa Trumbull-Roberts - I think she probably passes criteria for “notoriety”, here)…
kinda wish (for you and the other sane aussies' sakes) that ya'll would embrace your inner Mick Dundee, lol.
(kidding aside, is that movie that bad? I realize that's maybe 5% of the population, but it's basically a story about an australian version of a cowboy, right?)
No, your country didn't legitimately exist until you started accounting for the racial sins of your fathers on All Saint Floyd's Day aka World Globohomo Inauguration. Truly, the generations that follow us will look upon the 2020s as the Age of Social Justice Enlightenment.
of course not, there's five completely different continents to cover
(couldn't resist, sorry😁)