tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post6121954478121948043..comments2024-02-11T19:28:27.997+11:00Comments on Personal Reflections: Australia's Aborigines - an introductory postJim Belshawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-49333534588185893922006-12-21T12:34:00.000+11:002006-12-21T12:34:00.000+11:00Thank you for your comment, Neil. You have some ve...Thank you for your comment, Neil. You have some very good material on that page.<br /><br />I absolutely agree with you comment on that page re honesty. To me, honesty is respecting the facts, the evidence. I may interpret them differently, but if you do not have the fact to begin with there can be no debate.Jim Belshawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10075614280789984767noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-619359713680647262006-12-21T11:41:00.000+11:002006-12-21T11:41:00.000+11:00Fascinating, Jim, and you have motivated me to rev...Fascinating, Jim, and you have motivated me to revise and republish my page on this (which was on Tripod) to WordPress: <a href="http://ninglun.wordpress.com/early-last-century/indigenous-australians/">Indigenous Australians.</a> By the way, I have also revised and augmented the family histories there.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-37728782703215651192006-12-21T06:39:00.000+11:002006-12-21T06:39:00.000+11:00Lexcen, I hope that I did not make you feel defens...Lexcen, I hope that I did not make you feel defensive, I think that you do try to discuss the crux of problems. The fact that your views are sometimes different from mine remains an important influence on the way I think.You have actually now generated more than a dozen posts of mine as I try to rease issues through.<br /><br />Your point on the stories is just my point as well - the constant negative drip feed. I agree with you that some of the aboriginal spokespeople add to the problem.<br /><br />I agree with this point too:<br />"It seems to me that instead of people trying to solve these problems the focus is on who is to blame. We seem to be going around in circles with each group blaming the other but no real solutions being considered".<br /><br />This really drives to the heart of my personal concerns. When an topic is presented as a series of apparently unsolvable problems,then we all give up. <br /><br />Now here I want to go back to a comment that you made elsewhere, about the aborigines you knew. Thinking about it, I know far more people with some aboriginal ancestry than I had realised. It's just that I don't really think of them as aborigines, just people. <br /><br />Take one of my eldest daughter's friends from school. Yes, I know that she has aboriginal ancestry. But what's relevant is that she is Helen's friend, that she is bright and attractive, that she is good at sport and I have watched her play in the same teams as Helen many times, that she is academically bright as well. In all, a complete all-rounder.<br /><br />To what degree are she and your Melbourne friends "typical" aborigines? I think that they are far more typical than most people realise, and that's a measure of success. <br /><br />My problem in all this is that I just don't know enough, and I don't trust much of the information that's presented to me, not so much because its wrong but because its partial.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24338064.post-57659278553169729522006-12-20T20:10:00.000+11:002006-12-20T20:10:00.000+11:00Jim, I have serious reservations when I read regul...Jim, I have serious reservations when I read regular articles by spokesmen who attempt to represent the whole of the aboriginal community (which you say is diverse). I agree with you, we cannot refer to them as a homogeneous mass. Why do the intellectuals like Charles Perkins and others attempt to speak on behalf of all aboriginals? They should know better. As for the mood of negativity, I think it arises from the Aboriginal community who is constantly pointing the finger at the government (probably justifiably) on issues such as poor health.This is only one example. Over the last few months, I think there is at least one story per day in the newspaper regarding aboriginals. If there is negativity, it is originating from the spokesman/spokeswomen who put themselves up as representing "their people". Of course, anybody who follows these issues would get increasingly frustrated and annoyed with the apparent failures. The petrol sniffing issue, the alcohol issue, the tribal laws issue, the poor health issue, the poor nutrition issue, the housing issue, the schooling issue, the list goes on and on. Corruption and graft in ATSIC, Geoff Clark, the pedophile issue...do I need to go on? It seems to me that instead of people trying to solve these problems the focus is on who is to blame. We seem to be going around in circles with each group blaming the other but no real solutions being considered. My contribution might be naive, and ignorant but at least I try to discuss the crux of the problem rather than pointing the finger of blame. <br /><br />Merry Christmas Jim to you and all your family.Lexcenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17856993035719777231noreply@blogger.com