Work, sport and booze

[Gob]

The 2011 Ipsos Mackay Report, Being Australian, released this week, is based on in-depth fieldwork conducted in March, involving more than 100 men and women, from lower-middle to upper-middle socio-economic groups, participating in 15 group discussions in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Newcastle and Ballarat. It reveals both a constancy in Australian values - suspicion of, if not downright hostility to, corporate power; a lack of pretension; and a not especially reverential attitude towards authority - and a remarkable shift in views since 1988, when the last Being Australian report was completed.

In short, Australians are far more concerned about overwork than dole-bludging, and the days of hero-worshipping sportsmen and revelling in a beer-soaked recreational culture are over. ''If you were to ask me what really stood out about the change in attitudes,'' Huntley says, ''it would be those three things - work, sport and booze.''

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'Corporate greed and big business practices were a source of concern for some consumers who feared that with longer working hours and stricter work conditions, they were missing out on the perks of the Australian lifestyle.''

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''Instead of the dole-bludgers and slackers image that participants in the 1988 study feared would increase, participants in 2011 wondered whether Australia had gone to the other extreme and transformed into a nation of workaholics and alcoholics.''

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In 2011, as in 1988, the participants nominated sportsmen and sportswomen as ''heroes''. But the difference is that these days they know they are exaggerating when they use the term. ''We don't have a lot of national heroes nowadays, so to speak,'' one participant said. ''Well, you have your sporting heroes,'' another said, albeit with little enthusiasm.

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High-profile medicos - such as the eye surgeon Fred Hollows (who died in 1993), the cancer surgeon Chris O'Brien (who died in 2009), the brain surgeon Charlie Teo and the burns specialist Fiona Wood - drew almost universal acclaim as ''ordinary heroes''. As one woman said: ''They're passionate. They're courageous. They're not frightened to speak out for what they believe in. They're hard-working, but not for monetary gain.'


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On the one hand, participants believed the boisterous ''oi, oi, oi'' patriotism was increasing (even if the sporting war cry is unoriginal, derived from English soccer fans). Since the 2000 Olympics, Australians more readily drape themselves in the flag, tattoo it on their bodies or paint it on their faces. ''The Australia Day celebrations … for the first time in my life, for the past couple of years, I've seen people actually hang flags over their cars and in their houses, which is great to see,'' one woman said. ''I'm telling you, it's great to see.''

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Huntley says that while the abstract concept of multiculturalism often confuses, and sometimes annoys, Australians, in practice it is largely accepted. ''People's [hostile] views on immigration and multiculturalism may seem remarkably intransigent,'' she says. ''But there is a lot in this that is comforting in that these views rarely go beyond fear and anxiety. They are rarely acted out in racist behaviour.''

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'In essence, everyone's values are the same … How are we different? What values have we got that makes us different to anybody else? We keep saying 'Australian'. What's different? That we like sports? So does every other country, too … and drinking? Are Australians big drinkers? Are we good friends at pubs? Shit, that happens everywhere.'



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-a ... z1QElUy5Aj

[Long Run]

'In essence, everyone's values are the same … How are we different? What values have we got that makes us different to anybody else? We keep saying 'Australian'. What's different? That we like sports? So does every other country, too … and drinking? Are Australians big drinkers? Are we good friends at pubs? Shit, that happens everywhere.'

Love of sunshine?

Seriously, it is a matter of degree in all of those categories and more. Most developed countries like sports, sure. But Aussieland is full of sports fans (top of the class) and also sports participants (top of the class). At least that is the view from abroad. Aussies drink, but for fun and beer is the drink of choice with the wine for the cultured, compared to other countries with different tastes. Again, an admittedly ignorant view based on what we are spoon fed. Friends at pubs -- if so, there are not a lot of bars like that in the U.S. where there is not much interaction with strangers.

As for the dole-abusers versus the workaholic concern: this is a sign of the times, most likely. Many western countries through the 80s and 90s eliminated the worst of the welfare abuses, so that is much less an issue now than in 1988. The world economy has gotten more competitive since then, meaning people have to work harder in many situations.

Bottom line: being stuck down there by Antarctica, you can't help but have your own identity. And thank goodness for that!

[dales]

There's always Tasmania to worry about.

[Sean]

We try not to think about it too much...