Should we invade Australia?

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I thought the OP was debating the merits of invading Australia? perhaps you are right.

A few years ago a prominent lawyer with an autistic daughter left my home town of Melbourne on the basis there was poor support/facilities. She did considerable research and decided the UK had the best support structure for people with autism in the English speaking world. So she moved there.

Yes, there was an aspie perspective: does Australia really produce more than the usual Western % of non mainstream people, or is it just my imagination? If so, how come? And would it mean odd people are more likely to be left alone, instead of being forced into the "normal" box? Perhaps all that space would help, as you could live isolated if you´s want to?
Possible conclusion: if it´s aspie friendly, let´s invade

But never mind where the thread is (I guess?), as long as people post nice/fun/interesting replies

I find Aussieland is pretty good for aspies in the workplace. If you work for the government, they can't (openly) discriminate when hiring, and it is incredibly hard to get fired. Declaring your autism will more likely allow you to get the adjustments in the workplace that you need (if they can supply them) than get you targeted for bullying etc. That's my experience anyway.

As for leisure, there are so many places you can go where there are no other people around, so I think that's a bonus for many aspies. I take lots of solo bushwalks and often never see another soul.

We are pretty relaxed and open-minded. Again this is just my experience but nobody really seems to give a crap that I'm aspie other than being interested. Social media discussion seems to be trying to portray this notion of Australians being quite a prejudiced people at the moment, but I think on the whole we are very tolerant and egalitarian.

That's a thing that annoys me.

Sure, there's some bigoted people around (like everywhere), but Oz is quite an open minded society with a live and let live mindset for most ways of life (that fair go stuff, I guess).

The #illridewithyou lie pushed by the media was an insult to the country.

I talked a bit about this live-and-let-live mindset in Australia with someone (a young Australian male) at work last week. I do agree that's the attitude of most Australians.

However, we (he and I) both also agreed that that still leaves room for "freedom" to discriminate in an implicit way, to segregate different (race, sexuality etc) people implicitly, to bully weaker people in a passive-aggressive way and so on, mostly by simply ignoring the victims. And I have to say that as an immigrant with autism I've met many people in various places that use this live-and-let-live principle for such purposes. We agreed that that kind of behavior is not acceptable but is very hard, if not impossible, to prove/catch and punish. Or is that kind of behavior even considered acceptable by most Australians? I can't help feeling this open-mindedness is rather superficial. Some people have told me that New Zealand people and some Europeans are generally more genuinely accepting and understanding. I'd still say the majority of Australians are open-minded though. Only some tarnish the good society.

My opinions are mostly based on my personal experiences and conversations with other people. Maybe eastern states are different? Or even different parts of WA are different?

Sorry for the serious post. This thread is meant to be a funny one. Now I'll shut up.

That's just the banter, mate.

Ironically, with an easy going life, you aren't as highly strung about people saying things you may dislike. It's one reason why European countries may have problems with how people socialize here. I like it, really. I'm not a fan of the perpetual offending culture where everyone is afraid of saying something "bad". If people take it with a shrug of the shoulders, then offensive words have no power over you. For an autistic, perhaps it's better as you may not offend people so easily when saying socially inappropriate things.

Segregation is a normal thing; people like being around their own "kind", and it's not a bad thing unless people get violent about it. Australia is actually one of the least racist countries in the world regarding segregation, incidentally; so, it's clearly "good" here in comparison to other places.

When you start putting spanners in that easy going machine, you start losing that easy going lifestyle and people start resenting everyone.

...Apparently the only way I could even visit...

No, please don´t! But perhaps I should, because I seem to make people confused...

No, it doesn´t have to be funny, all kinds are welcome.

Just write. Whatever you want.

Please

Segregation is what makes a country weak. I think we in Aussie land need to find common ground and the recent issues relating to Adam Goodes and Nick Kyrios indicate how identity can polarise people in a way that else can.

To me it's a slippery slope moving from "I only feel comfortable with people like me" to "I don't like him because he's different"

Yeah, I've lived in Australia for more than 20 years, and it's been rare for me to encounter any overt racism. You get a small minority of loud bigots who get a lot of media attention, but most Aussies are pretty decent, IMO. I can't see Australia as being any worse than other developed English-speaking countries.


What did you mean by this? In what way was it a lie, and how was it an insult to the country?

What happened to "live and let live"?

if they would accept me for long-term residence, I would accept. but that kind of good fortune is not likely.

That means we all can have our opinions, emu brother.

As for why it was a lie: I recall it was actually a lie to begin with (the person made it up). Plus, it's insulting for the simple reason that it's implying people in Oz are prone to racial violence and minorities need protection from said people. As far as I can tell, that's not the case at all.

Don't bother, it's expensive here. The capital cities are good for a few days holiday and that's it.

Yep

It's pretty much the same worldwide too (unless you have an interest in a specific culture, but that's kinda dying out now that the world is so connected).

People are pretty much the same everywhere. The sights may change, but if there's no specific interest, they end up looking all the same in the end (snow is snow wherever you go). But then, I'm kinda a party pooper with these things.

Australia is a pretty fascinating place. I found out just the other week that my cousin is now living there, as a teacher. But "invading" it sounds pretty harsh. I'd be more worried about all the dangerous creatures that live there. I read that even the cuddly-looking koalas can actually infect you with chlamydia! I once read about a lady in Australia who said she woke up thinking her cat was curled up next to her, so she reached over to give it a pet. The big hairy spider that was actually there didn't appreciate that.

And it's not just animals, I read the apt-named Death Cap mushroom grows there, they have signs warning you not to touch them, and the gum trees that have branches that can suddenly just drop and crush you. Ever heard that sing-along, "Kookaburra living in the old gum tree?" the reason he laughs in that song must really be because he's deliberately putting extra weight on the branch and can just fly away when it lands on your skull!

Yeah, I think my cousin must be pretty brave to live in a place that Tv Tropes had as a Real Life example of Everything Trying to Kill You. Also I'll bet it's gonna get really tough around Christmastime when will be summer down there. My uncle who lives up in the Northwest Territories came down this summer and complained it was too hot!