Australian Jingoism versus Cultural Cringe in a Nutshell

I'm as proud to be an Aussie as much as an American is proud to come from the U.S.A., or a Chinese proud to come from China. Maybe not as proud as a Shanghainese to have come from Shanghai, but I digress to much here (and that might be a whole much larger can of worms I don't want to dive into further...) ;) .

However, just like every country, we've got our good and bad traits. Of the bad, one of those that we tend to discuss more openly (as opposed to the ones we don't and their ongoing consequences) is the Tall Poppy Syndrome, otherwise pulling our fellow but more successful Australians back to the pack. This has been longest known (or at least should I say debated) symptom of what could be considered as Australia's Cultural Cringe.

However, it appears now another facet is becoming much more prominent and acknowledged in our society, and that is of Australians and our alleged increasingly jingoistic behaviour both at home and abroad.

I have noticed that over the past 5 years that there has been increased displays of overt nationalistic pride in Australia. Perhaps one of the best trends is increased attendance of remembrance services around Australia, and the worst being the 'US versus THEM' mob violence in Cronulla last year. On both sides of the coins, there's a multitude of events, issues and occasions that sprung up. What's the cause of this? Well, I guess there's many. Probably the one's I can identify quickly are the growth of terrorist impacts on our country (and our allies), a swing to conservative values in Australia (and the world), and indeed more efficient means of communication of ideas and concepts to larger and larger audiences (aren't blogs great for that?).

For me personally, I see a lot these events have detracted from our image and reputation as a people in the world. And it appears I'm not alone in this. I don't have the elegance or craft to accurately summise my feelings and perspective on this issue, but I read an article by Jack Marx a few days ago that I can whole-heartedly related to. Indeed, the whole blog entry and the ensuing comments is a perfect encapsulation of this trend as seen by Australians both on the "what's wrong with this..." and "thank god someone else sees this..." sides of the fence.

You can read Jack Marx's blog entry here. You'll spend a good 10-20 minutes reading this one. I believe this a pretty elegant discussion and exploration of the topic at times. Then there's the mudslinging. An entertaining and absorbing read.

Now before I can be accused of being an OS expat pointing the bone back at his homeland brethren (or one of those "this is why I left my country because of political so so and that's why I'm not going back until they've gone" whinging/excuse people), I've come to my own self-developed ideas based on personal observances a long long time before I left for Chinese shores. It is a convenient label to throw at any expat wanting to criticise their nation's perception of self-identity. I won't wear it.