Aussies have their nation-hating, left-wing, rural white-despising folks too:
What to do about the redneck problem? Should we deport this
troublesome minority who are so out of step with the values of
mainstream Australians? Should we lock them up and charge them with
anything, just to send them a message?Maybe it’s time for a new
bumper-sticker campaign. The university town of Austin in Texas had a
great one. The stickers said: “Keep Austin Weird”.Maybe it’s
time for a new flag. Or maybe we should reclaim the one we have. I saw
something last month that gave me an idea for how we could do this. At the Meredith Music Festival in Victoria, someone was flying the
Australian flag upside down. To me, it suggested a kind of affection
for the country which does not take itself too seriously, which
embraces unconventionality and change, and which has a sense of humour
and playfulness ? rather than the symbol of chauvinistic, ocker,
mean-spirited nationalism that the flag has become.
