Australia- not the movie.

So there I was, In Istanbul Turkey, and I had my money and my passport stolen.

Not by Turks, by the way. I love the Turks.

And I went to my embassy, and asked for some help, in return for the tens of thousands of tax dollars I have sunk into the country of Australia. I asked for a loan, so I could buy a new passport. A loan, not a gift.

The word from Canberra was simply "no".

No, go fuck yourself Mr Man. You can wander back out into the streets of Istanbul, and sleep on them for all we care. Luckily, I knew people, and those people made a lot of phone calls, and asses got into gear, and I got my loan.

But I won't ever forget that moment and associated feeling, of total abandonment, of being basically not welcome in your own country.

And it was from that point I started to evaluate exactly, what is this thing I call my country? I was born here, I have paid to be a part of it, I have even been told by the same Government that left me to the wolves that I am "...an integral icon in the cultural landscape of Australia".

So what is this Australia?

And I guess it depends on who you ask.

There is a facebook application called "I love Australia", and its home page is a place where you can leave messages about your take on the place. The discussion board is home to topics like 'Should Trouble makers be sent home to their own country?', and 'What is Australia becoming?'

Reading it just made me cringe. I am so ashamed to live on the same piece of dirt as the majority of these people. People who believe you have to play sports and eat barbeques and drive V8's in order to belong here. People who think that immigrants or refugees need to find somewhere else to stay.

There are people in this country who adorn their vehicles with this closed minded shit.

At this exact moment, the Pakistani's next door are hanging out in a typically hot Western Australian night, eating bbq and singing 'Against all odds' on the guitar. Thing is, they're working on the mines the rest of the time, and couldn't be less Australian. They are from Pakistan, they're Muslim, and by my reckoning, they're allright.

Does acting in a certain manner make us Australian?

Is it really necessary as some jingoistic fucks put forward, that immigrants speak fluent English and renounce their traditional religion before they move here?

Or could we maybe learn something from these culturally different people instead?

I'd love to say I don't know what people mean when they say they are scared of a future where 'traditional' (and by traditional, they mean "white) Australians are in the minority. Or where we all have to become Hindu or Muslim or Zoroastrian or whatever. I do know what they mean. They like the dominant culture because it's what they're used to, and they would like it to stay that way. And that's cool. But excluding people from doing the same thing they're used to, just because they come here is every bit as Draconian.

There is a growing trend since the Cronulla riots, where kids get the Southern Cross tattooed on them somewhere, or sticker it to their car, or wear it on their shirt. It's a flag, a nationalistic brand that stands for white Australia. It stands for being closed minded, xenophobic, and a fan of revisionist history.

It's the same as the swastica that Edward Norton wore in 'American History X'.

"See this? It means 'not welcome.'"

Now before you think I am saying that all kids from The Shire are Nazi's, I'm not. Hitler was an advocate of Imperialism/Colonialism, and seeing as the message locally is more "Fuck off" than "We're coming to get you in your own country", the similarity ends there.

But if you think I give half a crap what kids with southern Cross tattoos think, you're wrong too.

Australia Day is upon us, with all the flag waving, commercial cock thrusting, anti anything that doesn't fit into the narrow framework of the popular Australian conception mania it encourages every other year.

And what is it for?

What exactly are we proud of?

Because a country stands on the broken backs of dead criminals, who weren't in the main criminals at all, just poverty stricken and desperate?

A country stands where a country already stood, for tens of thousands of years before my Dutch ancestors rolled in, then decided they didn't want the place?

A country stands full of so many creeds, colours, and concepts, that any unifying banner over us is rendered ridiculous.

I'm really tired, I'm not going in-depth into anything right now. I guess I want to say "I hate flags", and "Being proud of a country just because you live in it is sad and desperate". I'm saying check out the Wikipedia article on Nationalism here or the Stanford University Philosphy Department's article here, and see what you think about it all.

I want to say, for something that is meant to be so inclusive and gather all of us inhabitants under a banner of togetherness, being Australian has never been a more divisive subject.

And I want to say I'm over people who never think an original thought in their lives proudly displaying their idiocy on moving vehicles, talkback radio, and in newspaper letters to the editor.

You people frighten me, I am not you, and by your reckoning, I am as far from Australian as you can get.

Quick- send me to Afghanistan, with the rest of my kind.

Fuck you Australia.

This is knifey, from 'the internet.'