permaculture

[Russ Grayson <pacedge@magna.com.au>]

On Saturday, May 31, 2003, at 04:18  PM, D.A. Riley wrote:

> Your opinion on TV, news and political debate. Once again,  valid points each of them. Lumping 281 million people into a category of  "don't see the rest of the world very clearly", is a mix of sophmoric and aggressive. 

Maybe it's too much to lump that many people into a category, but maybe, too, there is a basis for the comment. This comes from the observation of non-American media commentators. They say that, in general, the US mainstream media focuses mainly on internal US affairs to the expense of coverage of international news. I am aware that this is a point of issue within US media outlets currently as well, with cuts in recent years to newsgathering overseas and to international news staff within organisations.

In contrast, the Australian media - principally the government-funded independent national media such as the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) - provides a responsible mix of international and local news in its bulletins. Maybe I can speculate by suggesting that this is due to the fact that Australia's 20 million people are reliant upon international trade for their economic prospects more than the citizens of the US ( which is why the Australian government is an enthusiastic participant in the globalised economy). The US has sufficient population for a bouyant internal economy; Australia does not. While that may account for a healthy international focus in the Australian media, so too does the strategic situation of this country, with the world's most populous Moslem nation a couple hours flying time to our north, a detoroirating internal security situation in the Pacific Islands (PNG, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu) and an unpredictable North Korea, now with nuclear capability.

Some critics go further and say, without being 'anti-American', that the US population, in general, is introverted and has a poor knowledge of world affairs. Now, it's hard to generalise on such things - I could find examples of this in rural Australia too - but it has been said as a constructive criticism, not out of a motivation to upset Americans.

> Ever hear of the Murdochs? Rupert himself owns a monopoly on US information sources, including news and TV. Australian isn't he?

American citizen, actually. Born in Australia. 

On Monday, June 2, 2003, at 10:19  AM, Felicity Wright wrote:

> Hey guys, bigotry is boring and pretty un-permaculture-ish (I reckon). On behalf of Australians committed to tolerance and global harmony, I'd like to apologise for the bigoted sentiments expressed against Americans or any other ethnic group or country on this list 

Yes, bigotry achieves nothing of constructive value, but was the writer being bigoted or simply offering criticism or observation? There is a substantial difference and people do mistake criticism for bigotry (and, on occasion, for racism).

> Shit, I used to be a lot more smug (about being Australian) before Johnny H. dragged us all further to the right and took to standing proudly next to Dubbya... Hell, after he sent our boys (and girls) off to fight fictitious wars, he even got invited to go over to play on the ranch.

Being Australian and supporting the prime minister are quite different things - the PM should not be mistaken for Australia nor taken to represent the values of all Australians. PMs come and go. 

> Over the years I've always been really heartened by the number of Americans I have met who are subverting the dominant paradigm and working hard to develop solutions. 

I have found this with many of the Americans I have met too.
..........................................................................................................
Russ Grayson
Media services:  journalism-print/ online/ photo
pacedge@magna.com.au  Phone/ fax: 02 9588 6931
PO Box 446 Kogarah NSW 2217 Australia