This so called patriotism came about during the years of the Howard Government. Before then, most people were quietly proud to be Aussie, but not overbearing like the Americans. It was a rare sight to see an Australian flag displayed outside one's private home, but nowadays its pretty common.

As far as I'm concerned, religion and an over abundance of patriotism cause wars. We are all citizens of the world and are all equal. We can be proud of Australians achievements without falling over drunk by celebrating a day that probably is more accurately described as being "Invasion Day". Thank god we haven't got to the stage where we finish speeches by saying "God bless Australia".

It's after that I started to cringe when I'd see people draped in a flag, or even worse, a flag and a 'Made in Australia' tattoo across their chest. I've never liked that supercharged uber-patriotism that the Americans have, and it sucks to see us going in the same direction, led by racist bogans...

The only thing I celebrate on Invasion Day is having a day off work and turning it into a superlong weekend by taking the Friday off as well

Great to be a laid-back Aussie. We dont need racist hoons showing us how to be patriotic.

So, you're catching up?

Truth is, pink, most Americans aren't "overbearing" in their patriotic "pride" either....I'd think the existence of this website

and so many more like it, would have, in lieu of actually living here, undermined that stereotype a bit.

Here's to more learning about countries other than one's own.

And I believe this trend started before John Howard. About 20 years ago, my friend brought his family to stay with us in Holland. One of his sons was singing an ugly, overbearing song about how great Australia is. One of the lines was "Everybody wants to know where do we come from". I sarcastically muttered "That's so they can avoid the place like the plague".

I also remember Mike Gibson telling some woman to leave Oz because she dared to suggest that Australia's education system was less than perfect. That was pre-Howard as well.

But I sometimes wonder if it's because that's what certain people WANT to hear about,

so they have someone to "look down" upon if you will.

I myself have no negative feelings at all about Australians, and never heard of the Ugly Aussie.

That being the case, I'll just take your word for it, and glumly

say that "At least we (yanks) are not alone". .

So does the Ugly Brit (English?) and to some extent, the Ugly German.

I live in Holland but I've never heard of Ugly Dutchie stories.

Of course, even in Oz/Europe we get much of our news from the US. So we get to see all the flag flyers and bigmouths. Selective presentation?

There's probably an Ugly Everybody, even an Ugly Dutchie.

Perhaps it IS "selective presentation".

You know, I'm a great fan of British television drama, like Waking the Dead and "Spooks",

but in the instance of Spooks, in which I watched all TEN seasons, buying a multi-directional

dvd player to buy the seasons BEFORE they came to the U.S., I must say that, much as I

liked it, I don't believe they ever portrayed even ONE American character (and there were many)

as good or decent. My spouse blamed it on the fact that a good part of the show was

written during the Bush Administration, when the government officials were particularly arrogant and obnoxious,

but I remember the last couple of seasons when we were well into the Obama Adminsitration in which they did the same.

Oh well. .

Is he something like the "ugly American"?...Ultra-nationalistic?..."loud"?.."We're number one", or something

along those lines?

The loud thing is interesting, because I remember being in Ireland once and having a woman tell me

that "Americans are loud"...She said "you can hear them in the pubs", over the voices of the locals.

This is like twenty something years ago, but I remember my husband getting a tad defensive

at the time and saying "Well, we're not the only ones who are loud...The Aussies are loud too"!

'Right now he or she is probably bashing someone, taking drugs, or stealing stuff.

Of course, it’s never their fault. It’s always the “harsh” or “draconian” laws of the country in which the crime is committed, which is inevitably described as “primitive”.

When will we realise that we are the real primates?

Forget about the annoying American with the too-wide smile, crushing handshake and Hawaiian shirt with the volume turned up to 11.'

<snip>

“Ah the bad Aussie tourist. If you’ve never come across one then you probably are one! There is nothing quite like bumping into “Wozza” (or Shazza) in his (or her) [insert local beer] singlet. They’re usually half sloshed before midday, wandering around looking for an “Aussie” bar “or at least somewhere that speaks bloody English!” Or somewhere that serves “real food, not this bloody [insert local delicacy] shit”, writes Justin Jamieson, the publisher of Get Lost! magazine.

Perhaps the most disrespectful incidents occurred during Anzac day commemorations at Gallipoli, leading to a strict alcohol ban.

Young Aussies, who saw it as a slightly more exotic Oktoberfest, slept on war graves and left the site strewn with rubbish.

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/meet-the-ugly-australian/

and also for your openness...I said the same to SwissTony and apologized,

as I'm doing now with you, for the delay in responding. As I explained, I've been feeling

sick for the past couple of days (stomach troubles -- may be an ulcer says the doc)

and I honestly haven't been able to sit up long enough to type my response.

I really do appreciate the information...The description you give is interesting,

As I also said to SwissTony, they do sound a bit like "Ugly Americans".

Your post, like his, made me think, and I have more to say and some questions

to ask, but I probably won't be able to do it now, but in a day or two.

Thanks again.

We're a pretty slow moving group anyway, so don't worry about delays in posting, especially when yr crook....

I hope yr feeling better soon and up and about. Tummy troubles, especially ulcers, suck

Tummy troubles do suck...I appreciate the goodwill

Get better soon. Tummy troubles really suck.

And I sincerely hope it's not an ulcer. But if it is, a couple of Aussies might be able to help.

From the wiki page on peptic ulcer...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

John Lykoudis, a general practitioner in Greece, treated patients for peptic ulcer disease with antibiotics, beginning in 1958, long before it was commonly recognized that bacteria were a dominant cause for the disease.

Helicobacter pylori was rediscovered in 1982 by two Australian scientists, Robin Warren and Barry J. Marshall as a causative factor for ulcers. In their original paper, Warren and Marshall contended that most stomach ulcers and gastritis were caused by colonization with this bacterium, not by stress or spicy food as had been assumed before.

The H. pylori hypothesis was poorly received, so in an act of self-experimentation Marshall drank a Petri dish containing a culture of organisms extracted from a patient and five days later developed gastritis. His symptoms disappeared after two weeks, but he took antibiotics to kill the remaining bacteria at the urging of his wife, since halitosis is one of the symptoms of infection. This experiment was published in 1984 in the Australian Medical Journal and is among the most cited articles from the journal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Warren and Marshall got the Nobel prize. Lykoudis missed out.

People who do things like Marshall are called two-legged rats. Generally unsung heroes who risk their own health and life by willing to be the "first".

but yes, we are loud. It doesn't help that many of us have an accent that can be used to strip paint from the walls. And everything gets worse when alcohol is involved. Which is always.

My personal biggest bugbear is Aussies who complain that things don't work the way they do in Oz. By that I don't mean electrical appliances or stuff like that. More things like banking, arranging health cover etc. These people are often also members of the "everything is better in Australia" brigade - the beer's piss, the grub's awful, the weather's crap, the cricket team is crap etc etc etc. Some things are better in Australia, some are worse, most are just different. If you don't want to come out of your comfort zone, stay home. And the last thing the locals want to hear is how "awful" their country is.

The Dutch don't seem to indulge in that sort of behaviour so much. That might change since many young Dutchies head off to the Spanish coast where they can be taught by the many Poms and Aussies who swarm there. Instead, they are seen by many people as being cold, arrogant and lacking in a sense of humour. My family and I went some years ago on holiday to the Black Forest. Later, I got talking to a couple of guys and they said that when we pulled into the site, the general reaction was "Oh no. More Dutchies" (my car had Dutch plates). They were pretty relieved when we turned out not to be. Technically, my wife is Dutch, but she lived a long time in Australia and acts more like an Aussie.

and for your openness.

I find your post and VC's very interesting and actually they do sound a bit like the "ugly American".

I apologize for the delay...I've been sick, so even though your post has made me think (not sick!)

and has given me more to say, I'm afraid I'm having stomach troubles and haven't been able

to sit up long enough to type in my response.

Will get back to you...should be soon.

Thanks!..Whathehell

It's a documented part of our history that after WWII, many Australians didn't want us to take in Jewish refugees, and I believe it was quite ugly.

And after Vietnam, there were many who objected to the Vietnamese boat people being allowed to stay here.

And then there was the White Australia policy, deliberately set up to exclude anyone from a non-White background. That was repealed finally by Whitlam in the early seventies.

Overt racism died down a lot after the Whitlam years, but then John Howard made a deliberate choice to revive it in order to win the 2004 election, which he stood a good chance of losing. Tony Abbott is continuing the policy, and that both of them see the issue as a vote winner says something about our country that isn't very nice.

But cynical leaders use whatever tool they can to whip up the fervour of the unthinking against the target of the day. As did John Howard, in his case simply to win an election that he would possibly have otherwise lost, and in doing that he changed the nature of the country, perhaps forever.

But it wouldn't have worked if there weren't a lot of stupid people out there ...

It doesnt matter what country you go to there will always be 'racism'.
In Australia the Government has been trying to wipe it outfor years,BUT it always rearsits ugly head,somewhere and sometime.
Where I livein rural NSW,we dontget the same effect that happens in Metro cities.We have about 6-7 different races in our town and everyone gets on real well and we all live harmoniously.
I once got caught up in a 'racist' incident and its was caused because some young kid that was in a crowd of people yelled out'Youe'r racistist mister' and it was on for young and old.....All I did was ask some one if they could read 'English' as they were driving out an in gate and holding up all the thru traffic.
Anyway it dosnt matter where one goes its everywhere and I am sorry BUT these polies that dont believe that there is such a thing,should get out of their 'ivory towers' and have alook around them.
I will wave an Aussie flag in my car,BUT I shall also show the Indigenous flag as this town is 70% Australian (white) 25%Indigenous and 5% from another country.
Our radio station in town,used to fly the flags of all our residnets,BUT some one took offence and tore them down and they havent been replaced for fear of something happening or our building being destroyed.
Ah yes 'Racism' is still around