Yes, yes, keep replying to tell me you have nothing left to tell me.

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I never said they were the sole problem or the only thing that has changed. You are proving my point here with your reaction.

I never said they were the sole problem or the only thing that has changed. You are proving my point here with your reaction.

It’s always funny how triggered some people get whenever there’s even the hint of a suggestion that their precious smartphones might be problematic.

It won’t change until Australians learn about, and accept, the real history of their country. Many No voters fundamentally do not understand the simple point you are making about colonisation and sovereignty. To them, Indigenous Australians are just another minority group. People do not understand why they are inherently different and special when we are talking about these issues.

What are the extra rights and representation needed?

Because they are Indigenous. Do you understand the difference between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in a colonial state?

and possibly giving it more power.

Did you read the constitutional amendment? The advisory body had no power.

I’m not disagreeing with you, but the point to understand here is that Australia cannot even make it over the very first hurdle. Indigenous peoples are recognised in Canada’s constitution, the Canadian government has signed many treaties over hundreds of years and Canada even has a form of Indigenous self-governance in Nunavut. Australia cannot get anywhere even close to these things. Constitutional recognition was just rejected, widespread treaty making is only in its infancy and self-governance is an absolute pipe dream.

Other former colonies may be shitty towards their Indigenous peoples, but at the very least there is generally some form of recognition of their importance as Indigenous. In Australia, we do not even see Indigenous peoples as Indigenous. We don’t understand what that word actually means. So much of the commentary from No voters during this referendum was about how Indigenous Australians are just another racial minority group, equating them with Chinese Australians, Indian Australians, etc. People fundamentally do not understand the difference, because they do not understand the history of their own country.

I don’t understand why the media is so desperate to frame the result around cost of living. It was clearly about education.

It’s not much more nuanced than that. Have you heard of Australia’s history wars? Many of the leaders and major ministers of Australia’s conservative party have been, and still are, subscribers to a completely alternate and incorrect version of Australia’s history which has been pushed for decades by right wing media and political journals like Quadrant. The current party leader, Peter Dutton, literally walked out during the federal government apology for the damage it caused to the Stolen Generations.

Decades of this shit has really slowed progress on Indigenous affairs and reconciliation, and it’s a big part of the reason why so many Australians have a warped idea of their own country’s history (if they even know anything) and why our attitudes towards our Indigenous peoples seem so laughably archaic to the rest of the world.

It wasn’t a change to political process. It was to be another advisory body, of which we have many over several decades.

Clinton was running against a man.

Don’t kill your time. When you’re in the final moments of your life you’ll most likely wish you had more, so make the effort to be thankful for every second you have now.

This reminds me of an episode of The Conversation’s Fear and Wonder podcast. There are some interesting points made there about the collective power of small scale technologies like rooftop solar, as well as an exploration of the idea of sufficiency and how it’s already being used in places where modern technological solutions are expensive or inaccessible. It basically explores what we can do as individuals to help, rather than just sitting around waiting for governments and corporations to conjure up a magical silver bullet.

LeopardsAteMyFace moment for the human race lol

‘The Wandering Moon’ directed by Lee Sang-il and based on the novel by Yuu Nagira. The story contains some controversial themes but it’s beautifully shot and put together with a lot of care and love. At two and a half hours it’s a really nice length to just sit back and allow yourself to get fully immersed in the visual experience. It has that sort of slow, melancholic beauty that appears in a lot of modern Japanese art. If you’ve ever read a Murakami novel you’ll know what I mean.