Apology fever

Menzies House ^ | June 1, 2010 | Ben-Peter Terpstra

[AustralianConservative]

Before Rudd rose to power, the representative aboriginals in my aboriginal-majority town were more interested in football games, hunting activities and big hair bands, to make a point about Canberra’s bubble classes. And, if you don’t think the reconciliation police were wasting your money, then you should have joined me on my walk to one clinic with a shoeless and malnourished aboriginal boy. We were turned away. Millions were wasted on media-approved “reconciliation” walks, however.

Australia’s apology fever should frighten us for many reasons. As is so often the case, campaigning journalists have promoted a culture of false guilt.

What’s more, apology fever is contagious. An example: Yesterday, I was rereading an excellent piece by the dapper Alex Butterworth on why an apology to homosexuals is, in a word, Orwellian. “Demanding an apology is divisive misplaced altruism that will do more harm than good to the people he is trying to help. Kirby’s demand encapsulates the victim mentality of the Left,” he argues.

“Rather than feeling proud of our peaceful and democratic history, the Left are ashamed of our past and our culture. The Left are trapped in a victim and oppressor perspective that holds back every minority group they claim to represent.” Apology fever is the enemy of progress. It is dangerous. “The concept of inter-generational guilt is entirely inconsistent with individual responsibility. An apology is something you offer to an individual that you have personally wronged.”

[AustralianConservative]

http://www.menzieshouse.com.au/2010/06/apology-fever.html