Every once in a while, an Australian journalist or academic conjures up the courage to write a provocative piece criticizing the state of this country.
It's an even greater rarity if it gets published by a mainstream media outlet.
It's an eeeeven greater rarity if the grunting social-media masses do not chastise the author on grounds of misguided nationalism, or the non-rebbutable presumption of misogyny.
Today that rarity occurred - and so today's Daily Quota is that very article.
Titled 'Why Australia hates thinkers' it takes a stab at the 'hard yakka' Australian culture and its dismissal of all things academic.
Titled 'Why Australia hates thinkers' it takes a stab at the 'hard yakka' Australian culture and its dismissal of all things academic.
This article is a pleasure to read, and you can tell that the author really struggles to keep her passive-aggressive sarcasm to a minimum. She criticises the Australian culture as 'anti-intellectual' and makes comments on the under-appreciation of 'thinkers' - both fiscally and socially.
There are some real gems in this piece, here are a few:
There are some real gems in this piece, here are a few:
The lowest common denominator exerts a tyrannical sway and tall poppies are lopped with blood-soaked scythes. Children learn from an early age that being clever is a source of shame. Ignorance is cool.
and
There's also no room for cleverness in our models of masculinity or femininity. For women, intelligence equates with a dangerous independence that doesn't sit well with your role as a docile adoring fan to the boys at the pub. It's equated with sexual unattractiveness. And for men, carrying a book and using words longer than one syllable is a form of gender treason. It's as good as wearing bumless chaps to a suburban barbecue. Real blokes have practical wisdom expressed through grunts and murmurs. Real Aussie chicks just giggle.
Savour it, Daily Quoters.
This doesn't happen often.
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