"My Country" ... A patriotic thread.

[Suzy]

"... I love a sun burnt country, a land of sweeping planes, a land of rugged mountain ranges, a land of droughts and flooding rains..."


After hearing Prince Charles referred to this famous Aussie poem during the Queensland floods, and after Warren posted that fantastic tongue & cheek map of Australia, It really touched a chord within me to read the full poem of "My Country". I was very little when I last read this poem and forgot most of it, except for the sunburnt country verse.
Reading this, really brings it home - we are Australia.

"... her beauty and her terror ..." How very true!


Warren's map:
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/attachment_browse.php?a=89031

The Poem:
http://australianpoems.tripod.com/mycountry.html

They say wild weather patterns will get worse with global warming, but according to this poem, doesn't seem much has changed. :shrug: Perhaps the fact that we have more media coverage these days just makes our weather seem more extreme :question: What do you'll think?

I hope you enjoy this poem and that it may bring a smile upon your faces, despite all the worry and suffering many of us have endured recently regarding our weather.

Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oiy! oiy! oiy!



P.S. I'm not so sure about that bit that says "she pays us back threefold", though.:question: I don't think the farmers would agree.:sadeyes: They spent years in drought, then got plenty of rain to finally get their crops going and get some money, only to be flattened by a cyclone. :shrug: Aye! :rolleyes:


Kind regards,
Suzy. :)

[Zaps]

Samuel Johnson got it right.

;)

[AdrianF]

Goose bumps as I read the poem. Been a long time since I read and interpreted this poem at school.


Adrian

[supernova1965]

Hi Suzy Great thread real good :D:thumbsup:

I do think that things are changing just in my lifetime I have noticed huge differences much more severe and frequent I can't remember such a spate of natural disasters in such a short period of time:shrug::screwy:

[astroron]

:hi: Suzy,what a great thought provoking thread:thumbsup:
I have never read the poem the whole way through before
Thankyou for posting it:thanx:
I think that most of the disasters are more devistating than they used to be due to an increase in population ,bigger cities, building design,and building on Flood plains, and in the bush surrounded by trees:shrug:
PS
But I would not live any where else
Cheers

[CraigS]

The media serves a real function in modern day society.

Without a proactive mass media, the public has little/no voice in steering its own course over short-term issues. I have witnessed 'weak' media performance overseas, and corruption inside the government emerged as a direct result of officials not being called to publically account for their actions.

When it comes to science reporting however, I feel the 'consensus' views of the media should be viewed independently, and kept separate from the reality of the science reported upon.

Going back into historical events, I think the public, (myself included), find it very easy to forget that when (some) of us were kids, families owning a TV were considered 'privileged'.
Even the number of reporters we saw every night, could be counted on one hand. Coverage was thus limited, as was the percentage of the population reached. As a result of this, the public's awareness of what was occurring around them, had to have been vastly limited, compared with that of today.

TV (& websites), reinforce the 'experience' of events such as floods, cyclones, wars, etc. Experiential learning is a strong influence on human understanding. If our experiences as kids were limited by the factors mentioned above, then our basis for comparison with today's events is also incomplete. Our perceptions resulting from those comparisons such as: "the weather was a lot less chaotic .. as I remember", are thus 'learned' from an incomplete experience of the reality of what was actually occurring in the past.

There's no escaping looking at the measurement data and recording of past weather events. Mass media reports (& media websites) serve to remind us of the human experience of weather events, politician's and Kim Kardashian's latest shenanigans, but we should keep this side separated clearly in our minds, from the facts.

(Daring thread, by the way .. I've interpreted it as being more about the influence of the media on human perceptions, than AGW .. I hope it stays on that track … I doubt it, though ;) )

Cheers

[jjjnettie]

"My Country" to me, is celebrating the resilience of the Australian people as they stand up to the worst that this country can throw at them.

[snowyskiesau]

This also reminds me of the enourmous size of our country as well as the extremes of temperature and weather.
I'm typing this from Cockle Creek in Tasmania which is as far south as the road goes in Australia. A sign reminds me that I'm closer to Antarctica than I am to Carins.
While I'm reading about floods in Victoria, bushfires in Western Australia and a week of 35+ degree days in Sydney, it's been a chilly 5 degrees overnight.

Who'd live in any other country?

[CraigS]

Here's another thought ..

What purpose does patriotism serve in a world of other patriots ?

Not actually all that conducive to co-operation in a global sense.

Perhaps 'patriotism' has had its day, and was good for establishing a nation … it seems to be at odds with merging into 'the global collective', though.
:question:

Cheers

[jjjnettie]

Not I.
I know we all have our beefs about this and about that, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, we all know we live in the "Lucky Country".:D

[CraigS]

People who DO live in any other country …
:)

Cheers

[tlgerdes]

If we dont have a sense of patriotism and nationalistic pride, then tomorrow we will belong to some other county who does.

[CraigS]

I understand where you're coming from … point taken ... ie: reality of the world as it is, as opposed to the world as we would want it to be.
(I actually prefer to live in the real world, too). :)

However, patriotism can ultimately be a divisive quality as you have pointed out, leading towards confrontation, domination, racism and wars. I don't think this image is one which any diplomat representing a country's interests, (for example), ever intentionally projects (even if they are dominant in some aspect).

Its just a point worthwhile thinking about … ie: things we prided ourselves on in Dorothea MacKellar's day, whilst inspirational at the time, (& motivational during crises in the present day), is to a certain degree, incompatible with achieving many of today's multicultural goals. (Even at a National level … the past displays of 'patriotism', have ultimately led to present-day apologies ;) )

I've always seen MacKellar's poem as tending to reinforce fatalism, driven solely by the environment … which I also think tends to be a little 'unpopular', thesedays.

:)

Cheers

[supernova1965]

Lets be patriotic about our planet first and country second after all we are all on spaceship Earth together:thumbsup:. I believe in patriotism upto a point and that point is when we start to see others as them instead of us:welcome::hi:

[jjjnettie]

Well said Warren. :)

[Max Vondel]

You are right SN1965........................

From SN1964.....................

;)

[supernova1965]

I love patriotism for international sport then I can get all "AUSSIE" sport is much better than war for international rivalry:D.

[tlgerdes]

The problem with that Warren, is that most people in the world do not like being preached to by someone in a far off land, no matter how good their intentions are.

I prefer, think globally, act locally. If I love my country, I will look after it. If I look after my country and lead by example, then hopefully others will follow my lead.

The old saying "you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink"

[xstream]

I couldn't agree more Geoff.

We're presently over the other side of the Huon in Cygnet and it being a very balmy 18.3° at this moment, I wouldn't have it any other way.

[supernova1965]

I never mentioned anything about being preached to but there has to be someone incharge we have someone incharge in another state but there is still local representatives who step up and take on the job and there are people who attack them but are not willing to do it themselves. All people need to have a global outlook and that will not happen until people realise that we are all dependant on everyone If even one person doesn't understand this it makes the future less certain but I believe that society is evolving just as humanity is for the better. I only said that my first thoughts are for Earth and it's people like you said think globally If I love my country I need to love the planet and all people in it, it is only when all people in the world have enough to eat and a place to live that anyone can feel safe anywhere. No-one should be made to drink the water but it is everyone's responsibility to show where the good water is. Not to hold their heads under it that is what is wrong with the world people wanting everyone to think the same way they do.

[tlgerdes]

Understand where you are coming from now:thumbsup:

[supernova1965]

This reminded me of a Joke

There is an aussie and a pom sitting in a boat in the Whitsunday Islands fishing and having a great time looking out over the beautiful Whitehaven beach beautiful weather with lovely ladies swiming on the beach and the Pom looks over at the Aussie and starts shaking his head and laughing and the Aussie say's what are you on about. When the Pom can finally talk he say's I was just sitting here marvelling at the weather the fish and great scenery and I remembered we Pom's sent you Aussies here as a "PUNISHMENT":rofl::P:D

[Jen]

Yep well after watching all that stuff that is going on in Egypt :scared2: im very greatful that i live in OZ :D

[KenGee]

You only have to a little OS travel to be happy about being Australian. But everyone needs to remember it didn't happen by accident, Be thankful for our British heritage (even if your a republican like me) and the Men and Women who devoted their lives to make it a better place. As someone has noted a nationalist is someone who thinks their Country is the best a patriot is someone who wants to make it better.

[PCH]

Well Trevor,

when the 'forces that be' decide that that is going to happen, there'll be precious little that we can do about it - unfortunately

[supernova1965]

What no-one has a sense of humour:P or was the joke that bad:question: that it can't distract from a direction that I know the original poster doesn't want the thread to go. Come on lets keep things in perspective and enjoy the discussion:thumbsup:

[tlgerdes]

Liked your joke, just jave a thing against people called Warren.:P :lol:

I have a brother by that name :screwy:

[supernova1965]

Is that something to do with the meaning of Warren in relation to rabbits:rofl:

[Suzy]

Gosh Geoff, very well said! :thumbsup: Really makes one stop and think.

This thread has been full of great responses. A couple I got a bit worried about:question::lol:, Craig really made me stop and think with his well written post, and I have to thank Warren on a fabulous job in steering this thread into a constructive discussion.:thumbsup:
Thank you all for your input.

Warren, your joke was funny :lol:, thankyou. I just love a bit of light hearted humour in a thread as it makes more people at ease to post. ;) At the time I didn't want to respond with just a laughing emoticon (I try not to spam :P), so instead wanted to incorporate my response into my post here. :D

Primarily, my motive was for you'll to read this poem of course, purely because it's so Australian and so moving. Secondly, I was curious about the weather patterns we have today- if the media were driving it towards global warming, or is it in fact a natural occurence. I perceived the later to be the case in the poem after reading it. I was just looking for some good old constructive input.:thumbsup: And you'll behaved yourselves well :thumbsup::thanx:.

I agree with many on this thread, we are the lucky country and there is no other place I'd rather be. I guess in particular, if you've travelled the world or immigrated as I have, it makes one quite aware of that.

A few months back, hubby, my daughter and myself did a trip to Warwick. And none of us could believe (we've never seen anything like that before) how the mountain ranges were absolute saphire blue. The contrast was so striking against the lush green grass. That amazing view was in site for a good part of our drive. When we finally got to Warwick, we asked our friend why it was so. She went on to explain that it's the vapors from the Eucalyptus trees. We have so much beauty in our country.

Meanwhile, I came across this story in the ABC Science Page on Cyclone Yasi. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/02/07/3132144.htm
It explains well what I was wondering.

[supernova1965]

This great video really shows the true story of what our world is about and towards the end of the movie I think it shows a positive future for us with great achievements we have accomplished as well as things that we need to fix. It is an hour and 33 minitues long but I really enjoyed it great scenery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU

Some facts from this video.

20% of the worlds population consumes 80% of its resources

The world spends 12 times more on military expenditures than on aid to developing countries

5,000 people a day die because of dirty drinking water

1 Billion people have no access to safe drinking water

Nearly 1 billion people are going hungry

Over 50% of grain traded around the world is used for animal feed or biofuels

40% of arable land has suffered long-term damage

Every year, 13million hectares of forest disappear

One mammal in 4 one bird in 8 one amphibian in 3 are threatened with extinction

Species are dying out at a rhythm 1,000 times faster than the natural rate

Three quarters of fishing grounds are exhausted, depleted or in dangerous decline

The average temperature of the last 15 years has been the highest ever recorded

The ice cap is 40% thinner than 40 years ago

There maybe at least 200 million climate refugees by 2050

[Suzy]

That's an eye opener of information, Warren.
Not so long ago I watched a documentary with David Attenborough featuring some of the same things you have listed. :scared2: He is worried (and the figures he showed seemed to justify that) that there will not be enough food resources to sustain the highly growing population. It's called "How many people can live on planet Earth". A one hour video, it's available on you tube broken in parts 1-6. A very, very interesting watch! http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=david+attenbor ough+how+many+people+can+live+on+pl anet+earth&aq=f

I once read that way back when, we grew our own crops and hunted for own food, sustaining life was more successful. Then, we progressed into city hubs where we all rely on and put a big strain on food sources. I am no expert in this area by the way, so don't hold me to anything.;):)

[supernova1965]

Hi Suzy

Here is an interesting fact it surprised me the quote is taken from the website in the link below



http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm#D oes_the_world_produce_enough_food_t o_feed_everyone