Why do I hear so little from Australia?

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Oz M

It is a little sad to see replies that blast Americans. A serious and sincere question has been asked and as an Aussie who lived in the US for a couple years, I think I can give a qualified reply.

The situation where US people have so little knowledge of what goes on in the world outside it's own borders is NOT the fault of the average American. If blame is to be laid, it would be upon the poor educational material provided, government controlled media and those in control virtually censoring what goes on in the world.

I lived in the US during the first Gulf War (Desert Storm). It was only when I returned to Australia that I learned my country Australia, had not only been active in that war, but placed the first allied troops within Iraq, and fired the first shots.
There were no reports on the news media in the US of any other country being involved until a British soldier was captured and shown on Iraqi television and subsequently on US television. In the two years I lived there, the only thing I saw on US television news about Australia was a story about a snake that had it's head stuck in a beer can, with the stereotypical comment... "Goes to show how far an aussie would go for a beer".

While living there, I met an amazing number of Americans who had no idea that Australia was involved in the Vietnam War. (even though Australian military personnel arrived in Vietnam before Americans and left after them - we were first there and last to leave)

I pity the average American who has no idea what goes on apart from what they are told. The internet however, has created a new generation of people seeking answers. You do not need to look hard to see Americans making discoveries via the internet. Just look here on Yahoo answers and you can find many an American making a comment in Australian topic areas... " I learned something".

It is not the average Americans fault. There is so little given to them by their own country about others.

I am stunned how because of the 'censorship', most Americans deny or do not believe what their country and it's people have done during it's history..

Examples......
The US President deposed the Hawaiian Queen to claim the Islands as it's own. (The US Govt condemned Iraq for doing the same to Kuwait, the same as China did to Tibet)
The US Government faked the Bay of Tonkin event to provoke the average American to support military intervention in Vietnam. (The same as Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq).
The Mai Le massacre in Vietnam committed by Americans. A war crime.
The napalm attacks on villages (not a military target) on pacific islands during WW2

I could go on... the US govt has done some shameful things, but the people of the US do not know it and are censored from knowing it.

Like George W. Bush making it illegal for media to publish any image of coffins returning from Iraq.
Like George W. Bush prohibiting US media from Iraq other than those 'imbeded' in the military and having all of their reports censored/approved before release.
And the big one... The US lead execution of some 300 prisoners in Afghanistan, secret burial and cover up, with the European journalists who reported it, having their media release/story banned in the US.
Do a google search to find it... US soldiers transported Afghan prisoners in shipping containers to a remote location then machine gunned them. There is video of them doing it.

Do not criticize the average American, but pity them for the censorship their Government puts them under. So much for the land of the brave and the free.

tuppenybitz

ive noticed americans don't know much about the rest of the world

Liam

Australia - A Brief Summary
Settled in 1788 by the British, used as convict colony.
Federated in 1901, all the colonies around Australia formed 1 country.
States (and capital city):
New South Wales (Sydney)
Victoria (Melbourne)
Queensland (Brisbane)
South Australia (Adelaide)
Western Australia (Perth)
Tasmania (Hobart)

Territories:
Australian Capital Territory (Canberra - Capital of Australia)
Northern Territory (Darwin)

Population - 21 million

Australia is the largest island continent. It is also the driest continent.
Australia is a Constitutional Monarchy, we have our own Constitution and Government, Queen Elizabeth II is our Head of State.

Australian Movies:

Mad Max (Known as Road Warrior in the US)
Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Gallipoli
The Light Horsemen
Australia
Jedda
A Town Like Alice
Strictly Ballroom
Malcolm
Picnic at Hanging Rock
Kokoda
Two Hands
Lantana
The Matrix Movies and the last three Star Wars movies were all shot in Australia.
+ many more.

You have probably heard of many Australian inventions:

Penicillin
The Ute ( pick up truck)
Combine Harvester
Motorised Lawn Mower
Black Box Flight recorder
Aircraft escape slides
Latex gloves
Heart Pacemaker
Electric Drill
The Metal Storm weapons system.
+ many more.

Australians are friendly, our country is beautiful. If you get the chance to visit one day you will be more than welcome

molly

Its nice to know that in America you don't learn about one of your stanchest allies says something about your countries knowledge of history and current events doesn't it.
One thing though if you or a member of your family were born deaf you certainly would have heard of us as an Australian invented the bionic ear.

Power Flower

America tends to be a bit self-absorbed when it comes to the history books! In economics you might learn about all the grapes and oranges you send here since the free trade agreement was signed. And if you have an extremely conscientous teacher you might learn about how American companies are trying to force us to grow GM crops.... You probably don't even realise how many movies are actually filmed here... The Matrix, Mission Impossible, etc. Our movies and music probably just don't appeal to the American audience... which is why to make it big our best actors move over there...

Mrs M

Americans are so wrapped up in themselves that they don't even know there are other countries out there.

Do some of your own research. You will find Australia is a truly excellent country !

rustupd

that is the school system in the USA for you the less you know about the REAL world the less likely you are to complain when the USA invades another country again the people of the USA are treated like mushrooms(kept in the dark & fed manure)

Bardy

You don't hear much about us because we just get on with our lives and not make a big song and dance about it.

arbitrary k

It isn't as influential or pivotal as America.

rainman

On the world wide stage Australia is quite small ie economies, population. However if you look at it per capita Australia is very strong. We have a lot of actors, athletes, entrepreneurs, money (a few years back Australians were meant to be the wealthiest in the world if you sold it :))) than when you average the populations of other nations.

Australia is a new and huge country with a tiny population and when you compare it to say Europe that has thousands of years of history and culture it can't compete. It is also positioned on the other side of the world from other western styled nations such as yourself.

(:elcie;

maybe your just not listening.

typical
..

see, this is why travelling Americans take so much sh#$ from the rest of the world, not that their all ignorant, just a portion.
and i'm sorry but showing little knowledge about a country so similar(in some ways at least..) to your own I'm afraid your apart of that portion.

but no worries mate,

â™¥liv

Because you're American? Since when do Americans know anything beyond their own little bubble of self importance?

truthfulanswer

One of the reasons you do not spend alot of time time learning about Australia, other than it's a continent and where it is on a global map, is because you have so many American states to learn, American history, European history etc to learn. It also has a very small population 22 million compared to US's 300 million. Australia has made contributions to the world but due to the small population, not that many compared to the US or England. For instance, Australia invented the wine cask, the black box used on airplanes and a special clothes line called the Hills Hoist, but why on God's Sake would they teach you that in primary or high school. If you were to major in " international studies" at college ( uni ) you would learn much more about the world and australia. Havng said all of this, you should know that it drives alot of aussies mad that people in america don't know all that much about australia, they just can't understand that as a small populated and young country kids in school ( here ) have the opportunity to learn much more about the world and that includes america.

This is to one of the answers below: Australia did not invent penicillin. In 1928, a Scottish scientist, Alexander Flemming, living in London, discovered the basics of it. Later in 1939, a team of scientists in Oxford in the UK, finished the equation to get penicillin. Yes, on this team was one aussie born guy but he was living in England and the worldwide scientific community acknowleges Alexander Flemming as the penicillin inventor.

Also, Liam, if you are giving the Aussies credit for inventing the pacemaker back to the 1926 Sydney doctor, you really should go back to 1889 when a British doctor actually started the whole idea. The actual invention of the pacemaker is given to a Canadian doctor, John Hopps for designing and inventing the actual equipment to work.

tamara m

you've probably heard a lot, just haven't realised it because for things to be successful on an international market they have to appeal to the American tastes for some reason.
A lot of the big movies are filmed in Australia, and we've produced a lot of world famous musicians and actors.
Australia is actually a very popular choice for filming with the Hollywood producers as you can get to a wide range of landscapes fairly easily.
Also the countries culture is rather conservative, we do not have a distinctively different culture from either the American or British culture

StarGirl

america hasn't had anything to do with australia maybe? we haven't fought wars against them, they haven't caused any grief or done anything interesting, i think for the most part we're just chill with them, but a lot of movies have been shot there and a bunch of famous actors are are from there, heath ledger, hugh jackman...

Supa Dupa Fly

It's fairly new, compared to other nations. Not much controversy. Most I've heard recently is about the wild fires.

Sophie

To quote my Swiss friend, "Australia is really big and everyone knows where it is, it's just that no-one cares about it"

sums it up really :S

Jesse L

I'm from Australia, and you probably don't hear anything about us because we're so boring!

We have lots of movies here, but their all about the same thing! either gangs, drugs, sex, people cheating on people, basically always people with stupid problems. We have quite a bit of music too, some artists are pretty good, but some are a bit blahh..

I wish I could live in USA, everything here is just so stupid, just the boganess.. bogan is like, typical australian that say mate and f*** every 2 seconds. i hate it!

if you want any other questions answered or anything about Australia, just email me to yahoo or hotmail, they both the same :)

Hope this helps :)

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