My apologies to Thomas Friedman whose 1999 book, The Lexus and the Olive Tree, argued that the world is undergoing two struggles: the drive for prosperity and development, symbolised by the Lexus, and the desire to retain identity and traditions, symbolized by the olive tree.
Of course the good ole Chevvie is symbolised by Holden in this country and the Olive Tree, well, you can’t get more Aussie than a gum tree can you?
Which brings me to an early personal experience of this dilemma.
My wife was fresh off the plane from New Zealand and needed a car to get around; Brisbane in the early ‘80s, like most cities in Australia, was not exactly pedestrian friendly and the summer heat, particularly for immigrants from colder climes, was unbearable.
I had been flatting alone for several weeks in an apartment waiting for my family to arrive but had been fortunate enough to end up next door to an extremely kindly, elderly neighbour, Chic Rosberg, who helped me out in countless ways.
Chic was from the country and was the sort of person you would describe as the ’salt of the earth’ and was a diehard true blue (or is that maroon) Queenslander through and through.
I will never forget how happy she was when we turned up with a brand new Holden Gemini; Chic almost cried with joy, she was convinced in her mind that this single purchase decision on our part was a clear indication that the nice young Kiwi family from next door had embraced the true blue Aussie experience and were sure to stay and fit in just fine.
To be fair, she got the last part right. But I never had the heart to tell her the car was in fact built by the giant US manufacturer General Motors, based on a German Opel Kadet design with a Japanese Izusu engine – presumably the Holden badges were made here.
What’s more, I never bought another Holden in over twenty years … but that’s another story.
I guess what that early experience does show is that in many ways we are all becoming citizens of the world who, fortunately for us, just happen to live in Australia.
The overt patriotism displayed on national holidays such as Anzac Day and Australia Day is, I’m sure, a great way to demonstrate that we are all proud of the Australian way of life as we now know it, although at the same time we paradoxically still cling to signs of previous attachments well past their Use By dates.
For instance, our links with Mother England whose Union Jack remains superimposed on our so-called national flag with its ubiquitous blue and white starred background unquestionably shared in various forms with a number of former English colonies, most notably New Zealand.
With a brand new federal government full of fresh new ideas the question of becoming a republic will no doubt be resurrected in the coming years (probably in Kevin07’s second term) and the desirability of a truly Australian flag will probably be run up the mast at about the same time.
I feel sure that as baby boomers like myself hit their sixties the almost sacred ties forged in world wars fought by previous generations will inevitably erode and the changing face of modern Australia with its distinctively more Asian/ non-Anglo Saxon orientation will quite properly shift eastwards.
In many ways the internationalisation of Australia is already well advanced; in fact it would seem almost foolhardy to suggest that we could reverse the process - even if we wanted to.
Like lots of people now happily living in Australia, whose place of birth maybe any corner of the world, I sometimes feel a lingering attachment to my former homeland (when I’m in Australia); however whenever I am overseas, including visits to where I was born, I feel I am without doubt a true blue Aussie. And I will always call Australia home.
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Super Mums … starting this week
YourOnlineCommunity is launching a radically new approach to handling sales of its SmartPages directory listings in 2008.
Based on a successful UK model it utilises a previously untapped source of talent … House Mums … and they will start hitting the phones this week in all our communities.
Usually in their twenties or thirties many of the young parents have backgrounds in sales or customer service but they all are community minded, have outgoing personalities, and are looking for an opportunity to not only keep their work skills up–to-date but also to supplement their family incomes by working from home while at the same time managing their primary role as child carer.
If you are interested in discussing a position or perhaps know someone who might be, email me on : andrewc@youronlinecommunity.com.au
Once is usually enough!
YOC commenced publishing its weekly e-magazines using a new content management system several weeks ago; unfortunately in some areas multiple copies are being delivered in error – please accept our apologies.
As mentioned in previous issues we do not anticipate this will be an on-going problem and ask all readers to persevere in the meantime, although if you continue to receive multiple copies please do not hesitate to email me on : andrewc@youronlinecommunity.com.au
And now with Video
YOC e-magazines now have the capability of delivering VIDEO-on demand within its e-zines utilising Flash 8 technology and linking to our video sharing portal www.yoctv.com
This means readers with broadband will be able to view a video by clicking direct from the message in their Inbox – it will be displayed as a new window from the browser - but don’t try this with Dial-Up.
Check out the YOY jokes on the Flash Player Window below >>>>>>>>>>>>
 As far as YOC are aware this is a first for mass distribution e-zines in Australia and we hope you all like the innovation.
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