On a very superficial level I agree with the basic arguments of this article – idiots spoil it for everyone, people who move into the inner-city shouldn’t complain about the noise, etc.
But there is a devious doublespeak throughout the article: Australia is a nanny state, unlike Europe, because Australia has more idiots than Europe; therefore Australia NEEDS to be a nanny state, because we have more idiots than Europe, and if we don’t have lots of rules, Australian idiots will run amok.
What is evident is the European-elitist-style patronising of European-style elitists who think they are smarter than all those idiots, all those bogans. Elitists who think it is their job to tell others what to do. Elitists who are responsible for the implementation of the nanny-state.
The message is that we should be more like Europeans. You know, the same Europeans who are failing to have children at a rate sufficient to maintain their population level. The same Europeans who seem to have eroded their survival instincts to such an extent, that they don’t seem to think it is necessary to mandate the wearing of bicycle helmets…
What do you think? Are there more idiots in Australia than in Europe? And who is responsible for the Nanny State – the idiots, the people who think it is their job to tell people what to do, or a combination of both?
http://www.traveller.com.au/australia-the-land-of-the-idiot-gi36oy
