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#Auspol #StrayanKulcha #ItalianCulture #ItalianHistory #fascism

I now haz new specs and less tired eyes, and so, back to #BobSantamariasThesis with this quote:

“Politically, Italians are authoritarian. That is
probably the second great reason why Fascism has endured in Italy
By this one does not mean that Italians are inferior in
any respect to the Anglo-Saxons, to whom authoritarianism is
anathema.”

🤔 not sure I agree anglo-saxons are anti-authoritarian.
the USA, quite famously, rejected the idea of kings… but kept the main features of european monarchies. leadership might not be hereditary but the rule of law, the idea of exclusive land title, and the unquestionable authority of those who enforce the law all assume authority is necessary for civilisation.

straya didn’t even reject kings

we (strayans) might e.g. be quicker to use first names rather than respectful titles, but perhaps that’s more about class than authority.
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ned kelly (1854-1880) has been a hero to some, but was ultimately subject to the authority of law. ned believed ACAB and he had a point, but there was no widespread pro-revolutionary sentiment brewing when he was actively agitating for change. people who might have said or thought “good on yer mate” were not about to risk everything by joining kelly’s war on the abuse of power.
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i’ve always loved baz luhrmann’s movie australia for the way it shows our character in action; strayans [& in the time this movie shows this basically means anglo-saxon strayans] are irreverent rather than anti-authoritarian.

at one point in the movie, someone was rude to a coloured person, but Drover was not upset enough to fight about it until he was himself demoted to the rank of coloured person because he liked/accepted [insert racist word here].
even that punch up is over in minutes; strayan attitudes to race / or authority are not affected one jot by this episode and are, in fact, quickly forgotten when lady ashley’s undies spill from her luggage. we know what our priorities are.

the movie quite oddly uses the stolen generations as part of its scaffolding and even the promotional tours kept bringing up the topic — the movie ends with a suggestion the stolen generations ended, but a) it actually hasn’t; it’s just been re-packaged and b) there’s a reason it’s not a classic hollywood type script of how good people banded together to defeat evil…
much of our history is just stuff that “happens”; occasionally we crack the shits but don’t follow thru very well. (& yeah, nullah symbolically takes his clothes off to go with his grandfather at the end, but the white people still “own” the land & nullah has to leave in order to be free)
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2025 and the western world is in thrall to law & order politics

with the exception of eras when there is absolutely nothing left to lose (like a depression) or most people have reasonable income opportunities (like a time of over-full employment), bucking authority is risky

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