We can do better.

So, I bet that whenever you woke up on January 1st of this year you would not have expected, even in your wildest dreams, that the World would be where we are now!

Where I live (in Sydney for those that don't know), we have had to deal with bushfires for about three months - peaking around New Year's Day, water restrictions (ahh, remember the days when we were concerned about walking around the garden with a bucket!), a global pandemic which has kept most of us housebound for the last three months and now seeing protests and at times, violent demonstrations globally set off by police violence in the US against African Americans. That took a lot of energy to write let alone live through!!!

I didn't forget to post last week. To be honest, I didn't know what to say.

It wasn't the first time that I wondered that that America would implode in recent months. First it was the widespread effects of coronavirus, the ever increasing numbers of deaths and the perceived lack of leadership from it's leaders and distinct lack of a co-ordinated national approach to deal with the situation. Then last weekend, after the death of George Floyd by a policeman in Minneapolis, the protests began across the country which at times descended into violence.

I like the US. Always have. I guess that is what happens when you grow up watching your fair share of US TV shows, follow sports and are a student of consumerism. I have been there a number of times since 1998 and have self adopted New York as my second home. I also have many friends and colleagues (past and present) who are American. For those reasons, there is a personal attachment for me so when the US started to suffer from the effects from the pandemic (especially in New York) and then to see protests escalating at an alarming rate, it saddened me. And let me be clear, the catalyst behind it saddened me as well.

I think that we all have some attachment to the US whether it is a conscious one or not. That is why we all have an opinion on what happens there. That is why we always have an opinion on the President of the United States; no matter who it is. So when the US is on shaky ground for whatever reason, we grow concerned about what it means to the rest of us. We saw that after September 11th, we saw that after Trump won the election and we have seen that now.

Whether we see the US as something to aspire to or not, I think it causes us to look at ourselves and measure where we are and evaluate what is good and what can improve.

As for being in Australia, while it can give us the view that we are lucky to live here (and I think we are), it doesn't mean that everything is perfect. What is the old saying about living in glass houses?

Since I can remember, Australia has always celebrated itself by being open and fostering multiculturalism. This has been seen by the waves of immigration decade after decade; especially after World War II. It has led (to the most part) being able to enjoy and appreciate the differences that many cultures have brought to this country. In my opinon though, there are two areas where we might be less than perfect. One is that every wave seems to have brought some level of prejudice to the fore. The second is that we have neglected our indigenous peoples in many ways as Australia has developed and on the whole prospered.

On the first point, if you don't think there has been some prejudice as different waves of immigration have come in, then perhaps you haven't heard the terms "wogs', 'slant eyes', 'towelheads', 'curry munchers' & 'African gangs' in everyday use. Some may say 'oh, I'm just kidding' and 'it means that they're mates'. Some may say 'well, they use those terms themselves so it must be ok'. Perhaps. But you can guarantee that there was a generation before them that felt nothing but hurt and embarrassment.

We can do better.

It wasn't until 27th May 1967 that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were officially recognised as citizens of Australia.

May 1967...Only 21 years before the bicentennial celebrations.

So one can only imagine how generations of indigenous Australians feel when they were told that they are not really part of Australia; especially when generations of their ancestors before them have inhabited this land of thousands of years before 1788. This has also led to prejudice and discrimination against them for many, many years. Both in everyday life and by official institutions in this country.

I can also appreciate how our indigenous community feels that when the majority of Australia then is in uproar when we see the instances of police violence in the US against African Americans, exclaim how bad things are and that change must happen immediately...but we tend to forget that the same thing exists at home.

I don't think that as Australians we should shy away from this. Yes, we should feel bad and I think we should feel humbled that we aren't as great as we think we are. More importantly though, we should see this as a chance to be better. Individually and collectively.

We can do better.

We have become very binary. You are with me or against me. I have said this before but we have lost the ability to have a civil discourse. We have lost the ability to respect differing opinions and more to the point understand why they differ from our own.

We can do better.

Whenever there is a crisis; from the bushfires, to the pandemic, we are able to start to consider and have an understanding about others. What they are going through, what challenges that they have and it often then leads us to seeking out ways of helping each other out. However, when the crisis ends that ability to understand seems to go out the window. To me, empathy isn't a hard thing to have on an everyday basis.

We can do better.

Our words and actions have consequences; some seen and some unforeseen. Some intentional and some unintentional. We especially need to understand this when more and more, our debate and our views are easily published online (like mine is now). We need to be aware that this is the case and demand more from our leaders, our media and ourselves. And no, it doesn't mean that "it's political correctness going mad". It just means that what you consider harmless, doesn't mean others see it as that. It also means that what was acceptable when we were kids doesn't mean it should be acceptable now.

We can do better and we should strive to be better.

Every. Single. Day.

I don't pretend to have the answers and I don't think that there is a silver bullet that can change everything for the better. What I do think though is that we should try to find the answers.

And I don't believe that means taking on all the world's problems either. But perhaps an area that is close to you. One that you are passionate about. I guess it's just about making an effort.

There will be a wine next week. There will be perhaps a more lighter topic next week as well. I just thought neither was warranted at this time. It just required me to ramble along with my thoughts.

Thanks for the indulgence.