by cameron | Jun 25, 2009 | Australian media, Australian politics
"Aboriginal people are 13 times more likely to be locked up than other Australians."
That’s a figure that comes from the National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Committee (NIDAC is a division of the Australian National Council on Drugs, a Federal government body) report "Bridges and Barriers – Addressing Indigenous Incarceration and Health".
There are about 750,000 aboriginal people in Australia out of a total population of about 23 million. They comprise about 3% of the total population. But, according to the report:
"One in four prisoners in Australia is Indigenous and their over-representation in the jail system is only getting worse."
3% of the population – 25% of the prison population.
And it’s just getting worse.
"In the decade to 2007, the number of Indigenous Australians in prison rose by 6.7 per cent a year, on average.
Aboriginal people went from comprising 18 per cent of the prison population to 24 per cent."
Why?
Obviously it’s a complex issue and there are lots of reasons, some that go back 200 years, but I believe the major reason is this:
Aussies are racists.
And I know most Aussies are going to hate that – but I think it’s true.
Wikipedia defines racism as:
"… the belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race."
Ask most Aussies why they think one quarter of the prison population is Aboriginal and I guarantee you most of them will shrug their shoulders. They just don’t care. Why? Because we’ve been programmed not to care. We’ve been programmed to think aboriginals are just lazy, child-molesting alcoholics. Unless, of course, they excel at an Anglo sport, such as athletics or footy. Then they’re alright. Or if they excel at an Anglo art – musicians and actors, they’re okay too. Or if they become a politician and survive in the Westminster System (the form of government instituted by their occupying power) – then they’re alright in our books too.
But as for the other 99% of the Aboriginal population – we’ve been told, over and over, by the mainstream media and successive governments, that they are mostly just lazy, child-molesting, petrol-sniffing alcoholics who don’t appreciate the money we throw at them, who drive a car until it runs out of petrol then leave it by the side of the road, who rip perfectly good fridges out of houses and leave them to rust in their backyards.
So most Aussies just shrug their shoulders, as if to say "what more can we do?".
Meanwhile, a 45,000 year old civilisation is being wiped out in our backyard.
A people who lived in harmony with nature for 45,000 years, who lived sustainably, who didn’t feel the need to go out and invade other countries, a civilisation that was already 40,000 years old when the Great Pyramid of Cheops was built – is being wiped out as a direct result of the Christian invasion and occupation of their country.
Our country.
Imagine if the headlines said "One in Four Prisoners is Muslim". I think that would create more of an uproar. I guarantee you a week from now, people won’t even be talking about this issue in the press.
But we’ll still be talking about Neda.
We’ll still be talking about Andrew Symons.
We’ll still be talking about Utegate.
We’ll still be talking about Transformers 2.
We’ll still be talking about whatever we’re told to talk about.
Just not the Aboriginals.
Racism isn’t just when you put on a white robe and burn people on crosses. That’s just an extreme expression of racism. That’s just a convenient version of racism that lets the rest of us off the hook. We can say "oh I’m not a racist".
Meanwhile, we let a 45,000 year old civilisation disappear.
I think we’re guilty of the same kind of insidious racism that allowed the people in Germany 60 years ago to turn their heads while their Jewish population were being lead out of their homes.
It’s the kind of racism that says "they don’t look like me – so it doesn’t matter."
If we – the people – don’t talk about it, the politicians won’t talk about it.
Oh they will – they will have committees, Kevin Rudd will say sorry for the lost generation – but it won’t be a major focus.
He’ll spend his time looking after the interests of mining companies and banks.
He’ll spend his time worrying about how to get re-elected.
But the Aboriginal people of Australia are a long way down the list.
It’s up to us. We need to make this a priority.
We need to say "not on our watch".
by cameron | Jun 24, 2009 | CIA, Iran, Uncategorized
Tomorrow is my 2nd Twitter anniversary so it’s the perfect opportunity to take stock of what it means to me.
At the time of writing this, I’ve done 19,563 public posts (not counting DMs) which works our to about 27 per day over two years. As I’m usually online about 18 hours a day, that works out to an average of only 1.4 posts per online hour.
I often have people who aren’t yet using Twitter ask "how do you find the time?" Although I guess I’m possibly a fairly heavy user of Twitter compared to most, I only post on average once every 45 minutes. Each post takes… what… ten seconds? Hardly a big time waster. Let’s say I spent another couple of minutes every hour scanning replies, DMs and general tweets in my feed. I guess if I was generous, I might say I spend 6 minutes an hour reading and responding – that’s 1.8 hours a day (6 minutes x 18 waking hours) or 10% of my day. And it does sound like a lot. Until I factor in the following:
1. I work from home. No daily commute to listen to the radio and catch up on the morning news / gossip. Let’s say most people spend an hour a day commuting, either in their car or on public transport. That’s an hour they spend (out of 18 hours in the waking day) probably reading or listening to some kind of media. On those rare occasions during the week when I am in the car, heading to meetings etc, I’m normally listening to podcasts.
2. I don’t watch TV news. The only TV I watch at all is pre-recorded stuff on my laptop (at the moment – Mad Men, The Daily Show, Kings and DVDs). Most people spend 30 – 60 minutes a day watching some kind of news / current affairs (including those god-awful morning shows). I get my news from Twitter and from scanning the blogs. Oh and from podcasts when I go for my run, of course.
3. I’ve been living alone for the last year, my girlfriend living half a world away, and so I’ve had no social life and tweet mostly (I suspect) in the evenings to provide some relief from work. Wow… that sounded a lot more pathetic than it feels. 🙂 I guess it’s true – people on Twitter are losers who have no social life.
So, I figure most people spend a couple of hours a day watching, listening or reading the news. I might (and it’s a stretch) spend the same amount of time on Twitter. If I counted the amount of time I spend on Twitter and reading blogs, I’d say it’s about the same. So, for me, Twitter and blogs have replaced mainstream media.
As I said, I’m probably a fairly heavy user of Twitter, which is justified somewhat by the line of work I am in (social media). Having a good handle on how Twitter works is my business.
Let me tell you some of the things I dislike about Twitter at the moment:
- MLM chumps.
- Affiliate pimps.
- People who auto-send DMs pimping stuff when you follow them.
- Follow Fridays.
- The way people are jumping on the Iran bandwagon without much evidence of critical thinking. Cmon people – think.
For the record, I immediately un-follow people who commit the first three crimes.
Okay, now the things I like about Twitter:
- Intelligent debate – it’s hard to find, but it’s out there. Too many people seem to think you can’t have an intelligent discussion 140 characters at a time, but that’s just wrong. It just requires discipline and clarity.
- Support – Twitter is better than any tech support service I’ve ever used. But I’m not just talking about tech support. Mention that you’ve got any sort of problem, and you’ll usually have a stream of people – most of whom you’ve never met in real life and probably never will – offering to help out. These people counter-balance the brain dead MLM and affiliate folks and stop me from giving up all hope for the human race.
- The sense that this is the dawn of…. something. Something big. Something important. Something profound.
Twitter kind of reminds me of the skin jobs on BSG when they are on their base ship, dipping their hands into the pink water that somehow plugs them into the control feed of the ship. It’s also a bit like being Superman with his super hearing, just letting the entire planet’s voices wash over you.
I often find myself wondering about what a mind-blowing platform Twitter (and the interwebs in general) could be in an historical sense for the human race – just imagine jumping in the TARDIS and scooting back 100 years to 1909, then trying to explain the concept of Twitter to folks. What potential! The whole world (well… the connected world) talking to each other! The kids in New York shouting out real time support to the kids (or are they embedded CIA operatives pretending to be kids?) in Tehran! I wonder what the folks in 1909 would want to do with it. Or imagine going back another 30 years to 1879 and explaining it to Karl Marx. I wonder if he’d think it was the perfect medium to discuss MLM, Jon & Kate (and I honestly have NO frakking idea who they are), and whether or not Megan is as hot as Angelina.
Here’s my question for you all – are we smart enough for Twitter? Or will we waste it?
by cameron | Jun 23, 2009 | Brisbane, capitalism, Podcast
My guest on today’s show is Michael Doneman – one part business coach, one part social activist, one part guru.
Over the last few months his name has come up in a startling variety of conversations I’ve had with people. These people have a few things in common – they are very bright, have a sparkle in their eye, are entrepreneurs, think they can change the world – and they are students of Doneman.
Michael explains the basis of his business / school, Edgeware, where he teaches something he calls “ethical entrepreneurship” and we discuss the future of capitalism.
This is also the first interview in my series where I intend to interview Brisbane’s Best Minds. If you want to nominate someone to be interviewed as part of this series, please submit their details here.
Further links:
John Gray video
Edgeware site
Follow Michael Doneman on Twitter
Do you want an independent media?
Abigail Washburn & The Shanghai Restoration Project
“Sala” (mp3)
from “Afterquake”
(Undercover Culture Music)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at Puretracks
More On This Album
by cameron | Jun 14, 2009 | Cuba, geopolitics
June 14 is the birthday of Ernesto Guevara de la Serna known to most of us by his nickname "Che".
If all you know about Che is stuff you’ve picked up from US media, then take some time today to educate yourself about the other side of the Che story. I’ve added Jon Lee Anderson’s "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life" to my book recommendations.
I dare anyone to read that book, along with Che’s diaries, and still think this man was a violent, bloodthirsty dictator.
I’ve read them both (along with a few other books about Che) and it just doesn’t add up in my mind. Violent dictators rarely talk endlessly about social justice. Che (and Fidel too, for that matter) spent his life arguing eloquently for the need to equal rights for all people. He put his life on the line to fight for the rights of the poor people in Cuba and Bolivia.
If all he wanted was power (which is usually what motivates dictators), why leave Cuba at the height of his success to go into the jungles of Bolivia? It doesn’t make sense.
Compare Che’s words to the speeches and writing of Hitler or Stalin or even the last half dozen American Presidents and you’ll spot the difference.
And, if you can, watch Steven Soderbergh’s recent film about Che. I don’t think it’s out on DVD yet but I’ve seen Part One and it’s terrific.
