Aussie Aussie Aussie...
... Oi oi oi! Seeing as it was Australia day last Thursday the 26th, I thought I'd reflect on what I love about my country. This is a little patriotic, which is unusual for me because I spend most of my time thinking about going to other places in the world, and I do often get frustrated with the fact that Australians are so blessed yet we don't share what we have with poorer people. We could do so much more to make a difference to millions of other people living in poverty, but we don't, in fact we close our minds to it and just go on living our everyday lives, getting caught up in our own little worlds and taking for granted the freedom we enjoy. I must first begin by changing myself, however, and after that I do hope to change things in this area.
But I'm ruining my patriotic post, so here you have it...
10 things I like about Australia
1. Relatively large amounts of political and religious freedom
2. Social security (Unemployment benefits, student allowance etc... without these I'd starve!)
3. Educational opportunities
4. Peace & democracy (that's two, but I'm cheating coz I want to fit in the next one!)
5. Aussie sayings! Blimey teddy...
6. A relatively non-corrupt government, police force, army etc.
7. Fish and chips on the beach
8. Pavlova on a scorching hot Christmas day
9. Aussie barbeques in the bush
10. And last but not least... AUSSIE RULES FOOTBALL! Go Cats!
A pavlova I made for Christmas Day.
5 things I'd change (off the top of my head) if I was Prime Minister of Australia
1. I'd introduce a poverty tax - middle and upper class Australians would be taxed a small percentage of their income to support poverty-reducing projects overseas.
2. There'd be tough penalties for sports stars who are involved in pub brawls, assaults etc. This sets a bad example to young people who look up to them, so they should be punished with the full force of the law instead of being shown favouritism.
3. I'd spend more money building good relationships with our neighbours overseas instead of getting involved in other countries' wars... ahem. Perhaps a bit of genuine love and concern for disadvantaged countries would go a long way?
4. I'd make tougher penalties for drug offences, particularly for drug dealers. I'd never introduce capital punishment, but I do think these things should be punished more severely, considering the many lives that are being ruined by drugs.
5. I'd do something about the rising divorce rates in our country. I believe in the institution of marriage and I would do everything I can to help people keep their families together. This is a key to improving people's health and education, and to reducing crime, suicide and drug use, and much more. The benefits of improving family life are enormous.
posted by Rachel @ 2:08 pm
3 comments
3 Comments:
What would you do about the divroce rate if you were the Prime Minister? Any ideas about what non-Prime Ministers can do about these five things?
Well, pre-marital preparation classes reduce divorce rates, so there's a start, I'd also be working to make our society more family-friendly. In this age of increased social isolation, we need to providing real support for parents who need help relating to each other and their children - accessible marital counselling would go a long way. I'd also be putting things in place to help whole communities relate to each other and establishing support networks. I reckon we also need to teach kids how to relate to other people in school - because people seem to have these skills less and less these days.
For non prime-ministers - I reckon there's a number of things we could do...
1. Poverty: I think we could all live on a little less and give to the poor. I read a great book by an Indian pastor who encourages people to go without something and give the money to missions. It was very inspiring what some people did - an elderly lady who didn't have much money got her telephone disconnected so she could give to overseas projects. While she couldn't go overseas, her money made a big difference to people in spiritual and financial poverty. If everyone did these sorts of things, imagine the dent we'd put in poverty!
Let's not forget that there are many people in Australia who struggle - simply sharing what we have with those around us can make a big difference too. If you are generous with what you have, you'll also be blessed in return.
2. Famous people being bad role models: well, of course, we ourselves can start by being good role models to the young people around us. We could write letters-to-the-editor and to our local MPs when these issues arise, so that hopefully public pressure will make a difference to how high-profile cases are handled.
3. I can understand why people in poorer countries (eg. Osama Bin Laden) get angry (although I don't agree with their actions), when their families are starving and we do nothing, just living it up when we could help them. My thought there was if we assisted countries in need it may help with our relationships with them.
4. The drug problem - there's a lot of underlying issues that need to be addressed to help the drug problem. Unemployment, family problems, etc. etc. Churches need to be reaching out and showing these people how to find purpose and meaning for their lives in Jesus. I know a lot of teenagers who benefit greatly from the work i'm part of in a local secondary college, just being mates with them and showing that we care.
5. Divorce - we can do a lot to help families in trouble by being there for people we know who are struggling, and for helping them get outside help when they need it. We need to support single parent families with which we have contact - provide moral support, have 'em over for tea, offer to look after the kids so they can have a break, there's heaps we can do.
Thanks for that, real good.
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