Posted on 12/20/2005 1:53:05 PM PST by LibWhacker
I'd say it is dangerous - complacency always is, and the born-to-rule mentality... I went to one of the top schools myself and teach in one of the other now, and in a sense, these schools are the centre of the old style conservatism (even though, like most schools, a lot of leftist ideas are within them today), and frankly, a lot of us do see ourselves as some sort of aristocracy, above the common herd, divorced from day to day politics. And it's that attitude that allows people like Steve Bracks to do what they do, without much conservative interference.
I mean it comes up at Liberal party meetings - Steve Bracks went to St Patrick's in Ballarat - not one of the best schools, but still he can't be all that bad. John Brumby went to Melbourne Grammar, so he is one of us really - of course, he isn't - but that is the way so many people still seem to think in the upper echelons of the party. John Cain went to Scotch, for that matter.
It is a born to rule attitude - and even many of the Labor party leaders came from the same educational background, so those with the born to rule attitude tend to trust them in ways that they shouldn't.
Those Jihadie SOB's try to impose anything on Miss Victoria, and her Grandpa El Gato will vote against them...from the rooftops.
Miss Victoria
(Click on image for larger version)
But Peninsula Grammar is well and truly one of the establishment schools today, and (speaking as an Old Geelong Grammarian) I do think these schools are different - and they are at the core of Victorian conservatism - even though they also produce their fair share of lefties.
It's a good thing and a bad thing. It means that we do have a core of well educated conservatives constantly bubbling up from below - but it also means that conservatism in Victoria can be very cliquish and clubbish at times. I'm not sure how welcoming it is to those who come from a different background.
It can also lead to some rather... odd positions at times. Last week, the state government announced changes to the Education Act that, among 446 pages of new legislation, contains one paragraph that would take away the right of independent schools to use the cane. And quite a few Liberals of my acquaintance are seeing this as a massive deal. The fact that Labor wants to introduce a Bill of Rights next year, which would enshrine in legislation the left wing ideas of what rights people should have, pass without much comment. But threaten the right of our schools to inflict corporal punishment and this is a big deal.
Fact is, significant sections of Victorian conservatism are in my view, too complacent and exclusive. They're there - but they don't make themselves heard very often. And when they do, it can be about very minor issues.
bump
Hutton Gibson and his son should be forced to move back there.
America's not good enough for you, eh? Then go back to your down-under paradise and live under sharia law. Send us a post card.
Didn't they take all the guns away Down Under?
THE TRUTH ABOUT AUSTRALIA
If you're an American, your knowledge of Australia may be limited to kangaroos, koala bears, Crocodile Dundee and the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
But if you're an American who has seen the infamous NRA infomercial, you may think that Australia also has a surging crime rate.
In 1996, after a terrible massacre in the Australian state of Tasmania, the Australian federal and state governments agreed on new firearms laws that, in effect, banned military and repeating style rifles and shotguns. The new law also introduced a comprehensive registration system for firearms. Handgun ownership was already strictly regulated and had been for decades -- the new regulations dealt only with long guns.
About 660,000 firearms were handed in to the government in return for more than 400 million Australian dollars, financed by a one-time add-on to the income tax.
And in 1998, the rate at which firearms were used in murder, attempted murder, assault, sexual assault and armed robbery went down. In that year, the last for which statistics are available, the number of murders involving a firearm declined to its lowest point in four years.
Of course, the Australians have always had tougher gun laws than the U.S. - despite that country's own frontier history and its cultural similarities to the United States. But in 1998, 54 Australians lost their lives to gun homicides, while in the States the number exceeded 13,000. The gun homicide rate in the U.S. is about 15 times that of Australia...and this is the nation the NRA wants us to condemn!
The next time a credulous friend or acquaintance tells you that Australia actually suffered more crime when they got tougher on guns...offer him a Fosters and tell him the facts.
June 2000
http://www.bradycampaign.org/facts/issues/?page=australia
Thanks for the info Fred.
But when the Aussies show up with bats and the Moslems show up with guns, there will also be less killing but a lot more surrender than over here.
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