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Oct. 6th, 2006 02:58 pmINTOLERANCE is on the rise not because the basic make-up of Australians has changed, but because today's political leaders tend to appeal to the worst in the nature of the electorate, rather than bring out the best.
So says former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who believes Australia's hugely successful postwar migration program could not have happened if political leaders had played to fear in the community.
If someone had told me that I'd end up respecting Malcolm pantless Fraser, I'd have called them mad.
In related news, the Culture Warriors in Canberra now have their sights set on the schools. Apparently teaching kids in any way that might be different to how teaching was done in the 1950s is Bad, Bad, Bad. Once again, the old "teacher asked kids to write about shakespeare from a Marxist perspective" bit was dragged out. Maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a really interesting idea to write about. I'm certainly no fan of Marxism at all, but this sounds to me like something that would stretch your brain.
Of course, the politically correct conservatives would prefer instead that kids spend their time memorising shit like capital cities, the names of our prime ministers, and other information that will prove incredibly useful in future life. You know, the sort of teaching that made the Liberal Party the intellectual hotbed it is today </cheapshot>.
So says former prime minister Malcolm Fraser, who believes Australia's hugely successful postwar migration program could not have happened if political leaders had played to fear in the community.
If someone had told me that I'd end up respecting Malcolm pantless Fraser, I'd have called them mad.
In related news, the Culture Warriors in Canberra now have their sights set on the schools. Apparently teaching kids in any way that might be different to how teaching was done in the 1950s is Bad, Bad, Bad. Once again, the old "teacher asked kids to write about shakespeare from a Marxist perspective" bit was dragged out. Maybe it's just me, but that sounds like a really interesting idea to write about. I'm certainly no fan of Marxism at all, but this sounds to me like something that would stretch your brain.
Of course, the politically correct conservatives would prefer instead that kids spend their time memorising shit like capital cities, the names of our prime ministers, and other information that will prove incredibly useful in future life. You know, the sort of teaching that made the Liberal Party the intellectual hotbed it is today </cheapshot>.
