Is it our words or our actions which are now dividing us? Or both?
Is life now a 'zero-sum' game where the apparent ascendancy of one group ensures the descent of another? Historically it has been ever so, thus the fear. Shouldn't be - but pragmatically, it has been.
It's all about perceived intentions - trust versus distrust - which is of course grounded in the past.
I'm all for the truth - but in terms of 'truth-telling', why are reparations so integral to the process? A reparation of 'sorry'.....or vindictive reparations which ensure future conflict? The kind that ensured the First World War lessons were not learned, and led directly to the Second?
What is the statute of limitations on past grievances?
If it happened in the past 200 years, is that more 'factual' than something that happened 1,000 or 2,000 years ago? If we believe that the peoples of Serbian versus Croatian extraction, or Greek vs Turkish, Jewish vs Arab, English vs Irish, etc - should 'let go' of their historical bias /hatred against one another (over millennia in some cases), just live in harmony........here in Australia...........while we can't sort out our domestic divisive issues (to the betterment of all), then they can rightly call us hypocrites.
So - The Voice - if it can be proven to better the lives of Indigenous Australians - good. A word of caution - Australia is already one of the more egalitarian (in terms of 'western democracies') societies on the planet. If one group is perceived to be 'first among equals' by the constitution itself, expect trouble. Equals, yes, but not first among equals. If you push the US-style 'positive affirmation' mantra, expect push-back from most of the populace. Don't expect that modern society is an endless wellspring (particularly economic) of bountiful, enforced redress, with a healthy dose of re-written history thrown in.
If you want to see how that's worked out, look deeply into the modern histories of both Zimbabwe and South Africa.
As to the semantics of 'woke' etc..........perhaps both our politicians and we ourselves could learn a new language:
Study co-author: "It blows my mind."
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