[LINK] Snobs and whingers: the new Australia

[Roger Clarke]

At 14:21 +1000 28/8/11, Kim Holburn wrote:
>http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2853464.html
>>  Snobs and whingers: the new Australia

The author can claim to be 'an entertaining writer', and 'not a snob'.

But did the author intend their petard to hoist them high up the 
'whinger' flagpole?

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>>  The tipping point came last week in an article I read in Crikey, 
>>in a piece that represented everything to me about just how 
>>pathetic we are. And it was an innocuous article for all that: a 
>>light fluff piece by a 17-year-old student about a trip to 
>>Canberra. The main focus of the article was how difficult it was 
>>for the author to find a good coffee. She was especially confronted 
>>it seemed, at how difficult it was to find a quality macchiato, and 
>>shocked to find a 'charcoal chicken' outlet in the city. "What is 
>>this"? You can hear her thinking, "the nation's capital or South 
>>Detroit?".
>>
>>  Yeah, you heard it right, a 17-year-old complaining about the 
>>scarcity of some boutique coffee choice and the horror of an 
>>unsophisticated food shop. And it was published.
>>
>>  I remember when being 'stuck up' or 'up yourself' wasn't good at 
>>all. It was the ultimate put-down. I remember at high-school that 
>>while you would be made fun of for a lot of things, most would soon 
>>be forgiven and forgotten by your peers. But being considered 
>>'up-yourself' was an unforgivable sin, warranting an immediate (and 
>>deserved) excommunication from the company of other teenagers. Now 
>>it seems we've come full circle. Now being poor, or down-to-earth, 
>>or insufficiently educated on different varieties of Colombian 
>>coffee beans is something to be derided. Now we call instant coffee 
>>drinkers 'bogans'.
>>
>>  And tell me something else - can a breakfast in a cafe be 
>>uncomplicated anymore? Does every dish we eat have to be 
>>insufferably pretentious? You can't sit down for breakfast without 
>>being confronted with choices like 'Madagascan vanilla quinoa 
>>porridge with a side of flambéed quinces'. Can't I just eat some 
>>eggs on toast please? You know things are getting bad when you need 
>>a working knowledge of French and an advanced diploma in food 
>>science before deciding on an inner-city breakfast.
>>
>>  To really understand how pissant Australians have become, just 
>>have a think about the environmental movement. On the one hand, an 
>>overwhelming majority of Australians think something has to be done 
>>to preserve the environment and cut down on carbon pollution. Fair 
>>enough. But on the other hand those same people are shocked and 
>>appalled when you suggest they have to make some sacrifices and 
>>take some personal responsibility. Sacrifice? Responsibility? You 
>>say this to an Australian these days and they look at you like 
>>you've just spat in their eggs Florentine.
>>
>>  I'm even willing to put a price on the threshold level for the 
>>average Australian whinge: three dollars. Why? Well, because this 
>>is the extra price we are not willing to pay on airfares. Three 
>>bucks extra on a domestic airfare - that's what a price on carbon 
>>will cost you. Three dollars doesn't even buy you a coffee - hell, 
>>it buys you half of one of those much-vaunted macchiatos. But this 
>>is front page news. The media works itself into a frenzy, howling 
>>at the moon at the thought of such an economic injustice. Three 
>>dollars extra for your dirty weekend up at the Gold Coast - the sky 
>>is falling! Socialism! The tourism industry will be destroyed!
>>
>>  Well, I'm past giving a sh*t. Your electricity bill is going up? 
>>Don't live in a McMansion with six bedrooms, a rumpus room and a 
>>home theatre. Bananas expensive? Buy an apple. Soy-milk Chai latte 
>>not flavourful enough? Give yourself an uppercut.
>
>.....
>
>>  Our whinging puts the poms to shame. We are getting soft. We 
>>stubbed our toe in the global economic crisis. America had its legs 
>>cut off and Iceland was drawn, quartered and fed to starving dogs. 
>>So stop whinging. This is the lucky country.
>
>....
>
>
>--
>Kim Holburn
>IT Network & Security Consultant
>T: +61 2 61402408  M: +61 404072753
>mailto:kim at holburn.net  aim://kimholburn
>skype://kholburn - PGP Public Key on request
>
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-- 
Roger Clarke                                 http://www.rogerclarke.com/

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Visiting Professor in the Cyberspace Law & Policy Centre      Uni of NSW
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University