Australia a country with no culture: David Gower

[TNT]

If drinking out of those little stubbies instead of king browns is culture then I dont want none of that.

Look mate I understand you blokes like getting all dressed up putting on perfume and sit on velvet chairs and talk proper English while sipping scotch whiskey from a crystal glass gives you a sense of worth. But us Aussies are just different, we just dont give a ****.

 

[BeeGee]

we just dont give a ****.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why Aussie culture is the best in the world. Good onya mate.

 

[Pothas]

I actually find this highly offensive, and whether he was attempting to be deliberately provocative or not, the fact he felt he was able to use phrases that have blatantly racial undertones and incredibly dark histories ("animal mentality", feral humans) is hugely disappointing and something he should be widely criticised for (which won't happen).

On a personal level, my opinion of him has fundamentally altered and all respect (which was not inconsiderable) is gone. The point that Gower will almost certainly fail to appreciate is that these statements reveal a lot more about him and a certain class of Englishmen (neo-colonial, bred into a privileged society marked by the white man's burden) than they do about those he seeks to ridicule.

Post-script: hmm, just looked up his Wikipedia page and it turns out he was born and raised in colonial Africa. Words are marked by history. You should think about that Mr Gower.

Really?

 

[Burgey]

Just finished the morning's pig shooting. I'll respond to this outrageous slur from Gower after I've had the Torana serviced.

 

[Burgey]

There's more to culture than reading all of Chopper's books and having more than one friend with a nickname that isn't just their first name with the "o" appended to it mate. Come back to me when you've got a stubby holder from the Sydney Opera House and we'll talk

There's also more to culture than looking down your noses at people because you were a meaningful world power a century ago and colonised half the world, sometimes on the back of some pretty horrendous practices.

Culture also means having a modicum of respect for other cultures. Gower ought to go to some English football matches and hear some of the appalling things said there.

Australia is home to the oldest continuously existing culture on earth. Sure, you don't need to keep your suit coat on when you have High Tea here like you do at the Ritz, but there's a bit more to culture than a decent cup of tea (not that there is anything wrong with a good cuppa).

 

[Viscount Tom]

Really?

Nah at most he spent 6 years living in Tanzania but he was born in Tunbridge Wells and was out of there sometime after he turned 6 according to the same wikipedia.

Inclined to agree with Burgey on the Football over here though, not worth going to a game unless its an important one for your team the experience isn't that pleasant.

 

[Furball]

I actually find this highly offensive, and whether he was attempting to be deliberately provocative or not, the fact he felt he was able to use phrases that have blatantly racial undertones and incredibly dark histories ("animal mentality", feral humans) is hugely disappointing and something he should be widely criticised for (which won't happen).

On a personal level, my opinion of him has fundamentally altered and all respect (which was not inconsiderable) is gone. The point that Gower will almost certainly fail to appreciate is that these statements reveal a lot more about him and a certain class of Englishmen (neo-colonial, bred into a privileged society marked by the white man's burden) than they do about those he seeks to ridicule.

Post-script: hmm, just looked up his Wikipedia page and it turns out he was born and raised in colonial Africa. Words are marked by history. You should think about that Mr Gower.

 

[juro]

Of course we have kulcha. I have both their albums!

 

[the big bambino]

At least we're not broke

Not as broke.

 

[Backlash]

I can't believe that some people are actually getting suck in by this stuff. It's just so fake and so manufactured to take serious. A pathetic attempt to try and create hype for a event that is quite honestly lacking buzz at this point. Gower probably got a tap on the shoulder from Sky to do this.

 

[NUFAN]

Of course we have kulcha. I have both their albums!

Lolz.

Gower was just doing some gentle ribbing but I find the whole culture thing interesting as its not an easily defined thing. When I lived in England, I enjoyed it but I didn't once think about the amazing culture, i had to go to mainland Europe to experience an interesting culture.

 

[Adders]

Piss weak effort by Sir David, judging by the reactions in this thread he's only managed to suck half the cons in.

 

[Coronis]

You don't need culture to beat England time and time again, clearly.

 

[Burgey]

Lolz.

Gower was just doing some gentle ribbing but I find the whole culture thing interesting as its not an easily defined thing. When I lived in England, I enjoyed it but I didn't once think about the amazing culture, i had to go to mainland Europe to experience an interesting culture.

There's only so much culture derived from fish and chips.

 

[the big bambino]

Oh its more than that. No other country has the spark of culinary genius that tried to give the world over cooked cabbage, squished up peas and stuffing pig's blood in a condom.

 

[BeeGee]

Oh its more than that. No other country has the spark of culinary genius that tried to give the world over cooked cabbage, squished up peas and stuffing pig's blood in a condom.

I like to gross out Americans by eating black pudding and runny eggs. Yum!

 

[Burgey]

Piss weak effort by Sir David, judging by the reactions in this thread he's only managed to suck half the cons in.

Gower hasn't been knighted. I'd have thought someone from a country so hung up on that sort of thing wouldn't describe him as "Sir David".

 

[Dan]

Nah, Gower's just misusing the term 'culture' - he's clearly referring to high culture.

It is impossible to claim any place is lacking a culture (although defining it tends to descend into stereotyping and quasi-racism) - Australian and English culture are very similar.

'Culture' is not just the stereotypes of shooting pigs and getting on the piss, nor is it drinking tea in a thousand year old castle. It's democracy, it's the Judeo-Christian ethic, it's humanism, it's the English language. There are so many commonalities between the two that labelling Australia as 'lacking culture' is effectively doing the same thing to England.

Gower does two things that completely invalidate his argument. Firstly, he reduces culture to fit particular stereotypes in order to create a false frame of reference - the eloquent, tea-drinking author vs. the beer drinking bogan (note how he isn't comparing English Chavs to Australian Bogans, nor English intellectuals to their Australian counterparts) - so he can compare British high culture to Australian popular culture, completely ignoring the myriad of high cultural artefacts that have been created by Australia over time (Indigenous artwork, Banjo Patterson's poetry, Dame Nellie Melba), although we have yet to produce a high-class author in the Wilde mould (although in 100 years we may consider Markus Zusak right up there), and that is influenced by the tendency to not accept anyone into the pantheon of greats until they are long dead. We only have 230 years of history, after all.

Secondly, he decides to make the assumption that high culture is representative of a nation's superiority over all others - which is especially problematic when high culture is remarkably Eurocentric by its very nature. It essentially reinforces the quasi-racist view of England's cultural superiority that, amongst other things, led to to colonisation of Africa and the destruction of much of their culture.

The culture of others is not something you deny the existence of or claim superiority over, particularly when you are the classical representation of a group of people who destroyed so many cultures around the world. It's a **** article.

 

[BeeGee]

Indigenous artwork, Banjo Patterson's poetry, Dame Nellie Melba

Rolf Harris' stairway to heaven.

 

[fredfertang]

Lolz.

Gower was just doing some gentle ribbing but I find the whole culture thing interesting as its not an easily defined thing. When I lived in England, I enjoyed it but I didn't once think about the amazing culture, i had to go to mainland Europe to experience an interesting culture.

Pleased to note that someone has realised that Gower's tongue is firmly planted in his cheek - personally I reckon GI Joe is behind this