UnSubRocky wrote on May 16^th, 2024 at 8:02pm:

Well, they are all white by that definition.


Most urban and regional aborigines are white by that reckoning.

UnSubRocky wrote on May 19^th, 2024 at 7:18pm:



I think race/cultural mixing puts a terrible burden on the offspring. 
It was groovy and exotic when it was rare. But when it is everywhere all the multitudes of permutations want to carve out their own identity and 'uniqueness' that is simply not there.

Most young people understand nothing of their own Western inheritance. What they understand of it is tainted by a misunderstanding and misrepresentation of their non-western sides.  It is not their making but it is the bind they are thrust into.

Frank wrote on May 19^th, 2024 at 7:57pm:


That is difficult for people to say that they do not know of their Western inheritance. Western influence is all around them. From the language they speak. The foods that they eat. The games that they play.

I may be from a regional town. However, I know people of many different backgrounds that speak with an Australian accent and act according to the culture of mainstream Australia. If they want to adopt a different culture, that is up to them. But, I bet they would try to identify with mainstream Australia for most of their time.

The shopping mall might well be representative of materialism. Therefore, it is part of the culture. Eating out might well be representative of socialising in public. Therefore, it is part of the culture. Playing a certain code of sport may be relevant to the level of respect society puts towards toughness and skill. Therefore, sport is is part of the culture.

Most Westerners are well aware of their culture, as it is all around them. Imported cultures from outside Western nations just add to the diversity of Western culture. Even those non-Western cultures tend to adapt towards Western dominant culture.

Quote:


You are kidding, right? Aboriginal, Islander, and Maori culture is around to this day. Just because all groups have adopted mainly Western culture, that does not mean that those groups are completely ignoring their traditional cultures. And the fact that you only mainly see these cultures in the media is generally the result of a person's lack of travelling to see cultural events take place. The culture is still practised just that there is no overwhelming presence of the culture being performed everywhere.

Traditional culture changes over time, anyway. I bet the British in the year 1900 have a different culture to that of 1800 or 1700 or 1600. And I bet there is no argument that the British culture of 2024 is much different to that of the year 1924.

My own culture has changed over the last 30 years. It had a more rural/regional township culture. Now it is post modern culture.

No culture is stagnant.

Frank wrote on May 20^th, 2024 at 6:46pm:


That is a big call to say that the culture of aboriginal Australians is the same 250 years ago as it was 22,024 years ago. Are you taking into account the climactic variations compared to today? The megafauna that they hunted to extinction? The cave paintings that they made to map an area?

Indigenous Australian culture is very Stone Age compared to 1788 British explorers. But to say that the indigenous Australians did not evolve their culture in 20,000 years is ridiculous. I bet the Melanesians that boated their way south from Papua could only survive in the Equatorial and tropical north of Australian before they figured out how to live in the interior and then into the cold southern regions.

Gnads wrote on May 21^st, 2024 at 8:52am:


I did post about how the climate changed in the Australasian region. Added to that fact is the idea indigenous Australian ancestors arrived in Northern Australia aided by lower sea levels. 65,000 years ago, the north of the country would have been the most habitable place for the tropically-inclined Melanesian people. As they moved south, there would have been a need to figure out ways to cope with 3 months of winter. And living in fertile areas of NSW and Victoria would have been great for expanding their numbers. But, they still needed to amend their ways to survive the cold.

Megafauna being hunted to extinction might well have been part of an oral tradition for a while until it passed out of history as a result of irrelevancy to new generations of hunters. And having to hunt Australia's unique wildlife and gather unique types of foods would have influenced when, where and how the hunter-gatherer tribes behaved. For example, you might be able to feed yourself daily in a single location of Papua New Guinea in 63,000 BC. But, you would have a hell of a time at parts of the year in Australia getting fed from hunting or gathering, unless you knew where to roam for food.

The culture of 65,000 years ago compared to 250 years ago for indigenous people of Australia would have been immense. But, it would have been little by little changes every year. From 1788 to the 1930s, indigenous culture changed by being forced to adapt to modern society.