Elias
09-19-2006, 04:12 AM
IF THE Cold War was a clash of ideologies, the new global conflict is about values. In the US, neo-conservatives argue that Western values are threatened by terrorists and postmodernists. In Australia, the Prime Minister, John Howard, argues that better proficiency in English and a knowledge of history and civics are needed to combat a threat to Australian values.
For some time now Howard has positioned his party as the true inheritor of Australian values, winning the votes of many battlers and other Australians.
On Australia Day this year he argued that cultural diversity must give way to an emphasis on Australian values. He repeats this mantra as if unnamed parties strongly disagree with him. In so doing he has created a framework and political agenda in which he is triumphantly, if banally, right.
This values strategy neatly appeals to our desire for security against terrorism and our desire for a cohesive community. That's why comments about Muslims who refuse to integrate or learn English are symbolically powerful and are a coded appeal to Anglo-Celtic workers fearful of globalisation.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/pms-values-platform-is-a-twopronged-attack/2006/09/18/1158431643034.html
Well if it gets John Howard votes then why not use it to his advantage. If we tally up the baseless comments he has made over the years relating to refugees throwing children into the sea, an overflow of Asian migrants and now threats to Australian values we begin to build up a picture of a vote winning strategy rather than a vision for this country.
For some time now Howard has positioned his party as the true inheritor of Australian values, winning the votes of many battlers and other Australians.
On Australia Day this year he argued that cultural diversity must give way to an emphasis on Australian values. He repeats this mantra as if unnamed parties strongly disagree with him. In so doing he has created a framework and political agenda in which he is triumphantly, if banally, right.
This values strategy neatly appeals to our desire for security against terrorism and our desire for a cohesive community. That's why comments about Muslims who refuse to integrate or learn English are symbolically powerful and are a coded appeal to Anglo-Celtic workers fearful of globalisation.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/pms-values-platform-is-a-twopronged-attack/2006/09/18/1158431643034.html
Well if it gets John Howard votes then why not use it to his advantage. If we tally up the baseless comments he has made over the years relating to refugees throwing children into the sea, an overflow of Asian migrants and now threats to Australian values we begin to build up a picture of a vote winning strategy rather than a vision for this country.