What national or global issue matters most to you right now?
- Thread starter -Apples-
- Start date
amanda1983
Senior Member
The population of Australia is, generally speaking, increasingly tolerant and open to acknowledging LGBTQIA+ rights. In June 2016, of the 351,939 Australians who participated in Vote Compass :
Our politicians, on the other hand.. poll after poll shows Australian's want gay marriage to be legal, and the government (made up by a right-wing Coalition - they'd never get enough votes to be government in their own right) continues to ignore it, as they have done for years now. Apparently they're more interested in playing games with people's lives - via their proposed plebiscite, which we successfully blocked - despite having all the data they need as per their own sources :
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliam...mentary_Library/pubs/BriefingBook44p/Marriage
- in this context, having read the linked summary results, "may suggest a public shift.." is quite the understatement lol.
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Hmm, I can see where you're coming from in thinking of Australia as basically just a more exotic - to you - Canada or UK. There are definitely some similarities, yes, but also some important differences. Personally, I do not consider the UK on the whole to be particularly tolerant (a l? Brexit, racial riots, the Troubles, etc). I'd prefer to live there than the US if I had to move to one of them for some reason, but that really isn't saying much.
Australia is unique (as is every other country, of course, but some are moreso than others, and our wildlife alone is enough to give many people nightmares even if they never see a red-back spider themselves). Whilst we obviously share a significant part of our cultural background with the UK, I think we are much more comparable to Canada today. In terms of geographical concerns (large terrain, relatively low population, difficult weather conditions, abundant natural resources, relatively physically isolated from other nationalities and cultures aside from nearby New Zealand and adjoining US), indigenous populations and issues particularly affecting them, and the shared membership of the Commonwealth (with independent, democratic governments), there are a lot of general similarities.
Europe - the continent of which the UK is a part of, Brexit or no - has a much, much more volatile and frankly incestuous history. That history continues to impact European countries in all kinds of ways which, whilst intriguing to observe as a descendant of immigrants from there, is fundamentally foreign to me on a cultural level. I grew up being taught a love of history and knowledge, of learning and education, and I value those things very highly indeed. But I am a citizen of a much different country to the ones my ancestors left behind (Republic of Ireland, Scotland, and England for the most part), and that history is mine - but the current realities are not. If that makes sense?
-Apples-
“Assorted” Collector
Yeah, Americans view other countries differently. Australia is still interesting though. If we Americans had to pick between the Australian theme or Canadian theme, they would go with the Australian theme because of the outback and coastal cities. We Americans even have a restaurant based after Australia (even if the chain started in Florida).
It may seem more like Canada than the UK, but Canada is more comparable to the US than any other country as Australia is to the extra-continental New Zealand. And the UK is to Ireland.
I do hope that same-sex marriage becomes legal in Australia though. It's already legal everywhere in the United States.
Fearthecuteness
Oh hai mark
That reply of mine was to someone who came out and said that just because we do something in a game means that we agree with it and want to do it in real life. All I literally did was point out how dumb that statement is.
I don't know how that means I was ignoring humans being selfish or how your reply is even that relevant to my reply. You should probably read a whole conversation before replying.
I've never even denied that people are horrible creatures. We've done so much to ruin pretty much everything on earth and we may end up ruining another planet too.
Sorry, I really don't see the point you were trying make here.
Again, maybe try reading a whole conversation first?
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I did. And I think animalcrisscross made a valid point that anyone on the forum would understand. And your comment alone made it appear that you thought humans might be just fine working hard but giving everything up so everyone can be just as well off, or that if we all got an equal share that everyone would put in equal work, which I don't think is possible due to human nature. (and therefore a fantasy, which is why I said you were the pot calling the kettle black)
So thank you for clarifying, but I still think animalcrisscross had a valid point as well.
Fearthecuteness
Oh hai mark
How is that a valid point? So you agree that everyone who plays GTA wants to go around mugging people and stealing cars irl. Everyone who plays Sims wants to fully control people irl. Everyone who's played hitman wants to be a hitman and kill people irl.
Yeah. . . I don't think it works like that. Lol
I don't, and it appears you and I read into animalcrisscross' post very differently. From my perspective, he was trying to make the point that he thinks life would be tedious and few people would actually want to fill the roles society needs to flourish if we all earned an equal share, and made that point using a game, and only said it's weird to him that people who are so anti-capitalism would enjoy the game. And while I can't speak for him, it appears to me he would agree that not all people who play GTA want to go out and mug or murder people IRL, but people who are completely against violence wouldn't get much enjoyment out of GTA - which is why he mentioned he thinks someone like Ghandi wouldn't like GTA at all.
It seems to me that he thinks you must like capitalism at least a little bit to enjoy a capitalist game and is therefore confused that you think it's so terrible. Not that it's wrong to enjoy violence in a game, but how can someone who claims to be 100% against violence in all forms enjoy murder and assault in a game? That would really make the person 99% against violence - the 1% being ok with violence but only in a fantasy setting.
And like with the Sims thing, no, people who play Sims aren't all going to go out and play god, but if they tell you they're against all forms of micromanagement and control, there's a little disconnect there as you can see.
Sorry if this didn't make a lot of sense. I didn't get much sleep and it's the wee hours of the morning for me. Really I'm just playing devil's advocate here as I enjoy doing since I don't think one sided debates are very fun.
-Apples-
“Assorted” Collector
What's pretty funny on the capitalism hate is that millennials embrace Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro (two western communist leaders) when they turned Venezuela and Cuba into horrible places. In fact, communism has been proven a failure multiple times, yet millennials prefer communism over capitalism even though capitalist societies that stayed capitalist for a long time are doing very well.
If you want to know what is to blame for the capitalism hate, it would have to be the increase in laziness, but also because of how hard it is to get a job now. College has become an expectation rather than a bonus, and employers would expect only more experienced workers. Plus, job openings are less common since the baby boomers (which are now turning 70) are less likely to retire than earlier generations, and college has gotten more expensive. Combine all this, and you can see why people hate capitalism more, despite how much damage communism did in the short run.
If you want to know what is to blame for the capitalism hate, it would have to be the increase in laziness, but also because of how hard it is to get a job now. College has become an expectation rather than a bonus, and employers would expect only more experienced workers. Plus, job openings are less common since the baby boomers (which are now turning 70) are less likely to retire than earlier generations, and college has gotten more expensive. Combine all this, and you can see why people hate capitalism more, despite how much damage communism did in the short run.
No one actually agrees with communism lol? We currently live in a country where you can work 3 jobs and still barely make ends meet. Haha people are so lazy, maybe they should get 5 jobs instead!
Gee I wonder why people hate capitalism
-Apples-
“Assorted” Collector
Not all Americans are lazy. If they get 3 jobs and are being productive about it, then they must be working a lot. But I'm referring to those on welfare that are out of a job. Most of the welfare recipients aren't even looking for a job, and would rather live a life on government handouts. Even so, not everybody on welfare are lazy. Some are looking for a job and are using welfare as a social safety net. But it's true that it's hard to get a job these days, unless if you work at a shop or fast-food place, which don't pay very well.
I had a lot of thoughts reading the title of the thread, but after reading all the posts I'm going to go with poor education as the thing that worries me the most. In general people basing their opinions and actions on faith and prejudice instead of evidence is horrifying. What's even scarier are people who try to use scientific language to prove their prejudice when they would obviously fail a simple introductory statistics course. I have a lot of problems with the Canadian education system, but the American system is notoriously one of the worst amongst developed countries which is a travesty and really shows itself in threads like these full of American kids.
-Apples-
“Assorted” Collector
I have to admit that America's education has gotten a lot worse ever since I graduated from high school. It really has, at least public education has. More and more people are getting homeschooled in America instead of public school, which is showing how public schools are doing badly. In places like Louisiana and Mississippi, education is severely underfunded, which is why students won't learn much. If they put more funding into education, they would've done a lot better. But in places like California, students will always do poorly as teachers will teach poorly, no matter how much funding we put into education. I wanted to know why is the education funding in CA lost its efficiency (since teachers are the highest paid there, but Californian students are among one of the worst in the nation), and I learned that it has to do with the teacher's union. Labor unions have gotten greedy and nazi-ish, and failing to fall for their demands can result in a job loss. California is not a right-to-work state, which is why jobs can be unionized. And now that we were introduced to the Common Core standards to all schools (which actually dumbs down math requirements), it's making education even worse.
Also notice how some southern states (especially Texas) are taking in a lot of federal funds just to put funding in abstinence-only sex education. That's not teaching students enough. In addition, it's causing graduation rates to go down and high school dropout rates to go up. Texas has the worst high school graduation percentage, and they put in a lot of funding into abstinence-only sex education.
If you ask me how sex education has to do with graduation rates, I can explain. But you would've known the logic I was implying. If not, here's why:
1. Abstinence-only sex education was made to reduce teenage pregnancies, but it's actually doing the opposite. It's actually causing it to go up.
2. Since access to abortions and birth control in Texas is extremely difficult, there's a high rate in teenage births.
3. If you had a child to take care of as a teenager, it can disrupt your education. In college, the classes you take are more flexible. In high school, they take attendance more seriously, and your schedule is not flexible. With no way to work that around, people would drop high school.
I also know that people would drop high school because they find it too hard, too overwhelming, or because of family business. But the reason why Texas has a higher dropout rate is because there are more teenage births, which can be reduced if they had regular sex education or no sex education at all.
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Environmental issues, the world is a mess and we aren't going to clean it anytime soon unless we wake up and realize what is happening. Unfortunately people still haven't realized that we are causing so much damage to the world and it will be too late by the time we eventually try to do something, the world has a lot of problems ahead and there are going to be rapid changes.
Equality issues, I don't understand how people can't just accept other people for who they are. Keep your hate to yourself and let actual good people carry on with their lives, it's really unfair. If you can't accept them, well then SHUT UP, there you go problem solved. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to do something, it doesn't matter if you're Asian, European, American, Black, White, Gay, Trans, Male or Female, it doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, you should always be treated equally.
Animal rights, animals are the punching bags of human beings and it's heart breaking. These beautiful creatures are beaten by their owners when their pets and billions or more are murdered to be put on a plate and crapped out later. People argue that these animals are being killed "humanely" and those people truly are delusional, have you actually seen what they do to those animals in those slaughter houses? Because you wouldn't think it's Humane and as far as I'm concerned killing an animal that is in good health and doesn't want to die is disgustingly inhumane.
These are my main issues.
Equality issues, I don't understand how people can't just accept other people for who they are. Keep your hate to yourself and let actual good people carry on with their lives, it's really unfair. If you can't accept them, well then SHUT UP, there you go problem solved. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to do something, it doesn't matter if you're Asian, European, American, Black, White, Gay, Trans, Male or Female, it doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, you should always be treated equally.
Animal rights, animals are the punching bags of human beings and it's heart breaking. These beautiful creatures are beaten by their owners when their pets and billions or more are murdered to be put on a plate and crapped out later. People argue that these animals are being killed "humanely" and those people truly are delusional, have you actually seen what they do to those animals in those slaughter houses? Because you wouldn't think it's Humane and as far as I'm concerned killing an animal that is in good health and doesn't want to die is disgustingly inhumane.
These are my main issues.
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-Apples-
“Assorted” Collector
Chickens are treated the worst. I can't believe people are that horrible to them.
Yes, yes they are.
I just can not comprehend why people think this is okay, I seen a video with people just throwing chicks into a bin as if they were nothing. I almost threw up.
They do worse but I don't want to speak about it.
- - - Post Merge - - -
It would take a dog or a cat to be in that situation for anybody to actually say something about it, wouldn't it?
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-Apples-
“Assorted” Collector
I care a lot about animals. Somehow, writing posts in reaction take a while to write because most of the stuff I say actually advocates torture towards humans that treat animals miserably. Discussions of torture is never appropriate, but every time I hear about an abuse case towards pets, I grow hatred towards the owner that abused their pets. Hearing about these cases makes me think crazy stuff.
Male chicks are thrown immediately into grinders after being hatched, as they are not beneficial to humans at all.
But people still eat chicken, so unless you're willing to stop, you can't tell me that you care or that you love chickens and feel sorry for them.
You either do or you don't. No in-between folly.
But people still eat chicken, so unless you're willing to stop, you can't tell me that you care or that you love chickens and feel sorry for them.
You either do or you don't. No in-between folly.
-Apples-
“Assorted” Collector
If I were a farmer and breed any chickens that practically have no use, I would put them up for adoption so others can raise them as their pets. There are people who have pet chickens you know.
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