happy australia day

... how safe was it really?

people are calling australia day invasion day yet it was not an invasion. the people coming here were not coming to deliberately wipe out a nation. they were not coming to invade, divide and conquer.

unlike vikings who had deliberately gone to britain to rape and plunder. explorers had no idea people were on this land and by the time they got here (after months at sea) it was a bit late to turn back.

and why would they? they arrived saw it was a nice place and decided to stay.

it is unfortunate that the history of this exploration day turned into a bloody, racist mess that continues to this day, however we need to be real about history.

aboriginals were fierce warriors well trained in mortal combat. they killed and fought each other long before white man came along. they did what native americans (and the rest of the world) has done for time immortal. move into a place for the resources, and kill those who resist, amalgamate those who are left. it's not some 'new' thing white man invented and brought along to australia .. it was here long before white men got here. aboriginals of gippsland didn't fear the warruguls (wild dogs) because they were peace loving beings. they feared them because they were fierce warriors who killed other aboriginals.

aboriginals (and native americans) were not these idealistic beings we make them out to be .. living in harmony with their land. they wiped out entire species long before white man came along. they turned forests into desserts from overusing resources. they raped, murdered and pillaged just the same as all humanities.

hypocrisy at its best

and whilst white man won the battle due to superior weapons, aboriginals harmed white families also. white men were afraid of aboriginals because they were so fierce and were killing them, their families and livestock. it wasn't a white superiority thing where invaders moved in and shot up the place upon arrival. aboriginals fought the new comers and white men fought back. both sides fighting for their lives and livelyhoods* (but no intentionally).

it was a horrible, tragic, bloody war between two nations .. and the explorers won (just like the spanish vs aztecs, romans vs britains). all that's left to do it amalgamate and learn to get along.

eckhart tolle would say that holding onto the past causes pain no longer relevant (or happening) in the here and now. exploration day happened 200 years ago. none of us alive today experienced that bloody war. however we're still treating each other as the enemy (just like north and south ireland with their crazy battle that continued for hundreds of years).

by arguing over 'australia vs invasion day' we're holding onto the past as though it still defines us, and invasion day does not define who we are as a nation (in fact the statement is false altogether). i am not an invader .. nor are you! we are just a bunch of aussie's living in a country we love and enjoy.

we can't move on until we let the past go (and perhaps this mindset [holding onto the past] is what's holding firsts nations back?). it would be like jewish people continually harassing germans for genocide of their people some 70+ years ago. how can you get along if you still hold onto that?

sure there are still serious issues to address such as the amount of aboriginal men being locked up (just like african amercians in the u.s.), removing aboriginal children from their homes etc. however this has nothing to do with 'invasion day' and more to do with underlying issues within aboriginal communities (such as poverty and lack of education) that we need to address.

time to stop arguing over semantics and dates (which has changed already a number of times), stop letting the past define us and get on with fixing issues that are happening in the here and now!

in the meantime let's celebrate how lucky we are to be able to live in this amazing country called australia .. that belongs to none and is enjoyed by all.

hence australia day, a celebration of living in the lucky country.

*i am in no means down playing the tragedy that befell aboriginals, they killed some new comers (men, women and children), the new comers decimated whole families an villages, wiping out entire tribes in some cases. it's a horrible history and an uneven war. and who knows how it could have played out if things had gone some other way ..