Read + Write + Report
Home | Start a blog | About Orble | FAQ | Sites | Writers | Advertise | My Orble | Login

Tales From The Other Side - Alternative Culture to enlighten a mediocre mood

 
Alternative Culture and ideas, ready to be injected into your Reality.

The Citizenship Test

December 14th 2006 01:20
Australia
What values does an individual require, to call this land their own?
There’s been a lot of talk about a citizen test for Australians. Now this is a lovely sentiment. However, speaking realistically, it’s pretty much useless. Observe

Name four (4) Australian films.

Name Australia’s first Prime Minister.

What is Australia’s primary export?


Of course we’re just being silly here aren’t we? Who cares if they can name Australia’s main export, import, or favorite beer? We’re determining values here. Such as respect, tolerance and lawfulness.

Should Australian citizens use violence against others? Y/N

Should Australian citizens accept people from different cultures and religions? Y/N

Should Australian citizens accept women as equal to men. Y/N


Now, a test like this is fantastic, on the face of it. However there’s one problem; all these rapists and Christian haters we’re trying to keep out; they can lie! If someone things women who don’t cover up deserve to get raped, guess what? When they get to the question, is non-consensual sex ever acceptable, or justified, chances are, they’re not going to think, ‘oh, I think it is, I’ll say yes.’ They’ll figure out what the Government wants them to say, and say it. Hence this test, while being very nice and pleasant an idea, is useless as tits on a ball.

If migrants answer any test, it should look like this;

Which side of the road do you drive on?

What is the number to call in an emergency?

Where is it appropriate to swim on a public beach?


Not some political brownie point winning trollop.

IMAGE

146
Vote
Add To: del.icio.us Digg Furl Spurl.net StumbleUpon Yahoo


   
Subscribe to this blog 


Just this blog This blog and DailyOrble (recommended)

   

   

KEEP UPDATED ON TALES

Activist Links: (Request one)
Vitamins are criminal?
Just say Know
Could Corporate Interests Destroy The Internet as we Know it?




Recent Posts:
      Otherkin 
      Left Wing Values 
      Global Warming Quotes 
      Michael Leunig 
      Marijuana and the International Law 
Comments
17 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Cibbuano

December 14th 2006 02:28
What if someone writes 'Yes' to the violence question, but crosses it out and writes 'NO!'?

will they slip through the cracks?


Comment by Nina

December 14th 2006 02:34
Your analysis is very apt Brenton. It always amuses me when anyone thinks this sort of thing will weed out the bad guys. The only way value-based questions would work is if they were more complex and ambiguous, and then a whole other debate would start up about what should be our accepted morality.

Comment by Ahmed

December 14th 2006 04:15
Ok, I dunno, I think the first prime minister of australia was johnny bartlet (eh?). Honestly more australians know the first american president I bet. 5 aussie movies? I don't even want to think about one! Primary export? Erm... isn't it butt cracks and those hats with the dangly things hanging off them?


As for the rest, kind of obvious.

I wonder how many australians could pass this little test

Comment by spain01

December 14th 2006 06:50
It's good to see comment about this particular current issue. Of course in Australia it is not a new idea but the fact that it has a history does not make it any less silly. The first thing that happens with this kind of test is that people set themselves up as expects at helping others to pass the test. In the past the practice was to subject the applicants to a "European language" test and if the departmental bureaucrat doing the assessment did not like the colour of the applicant he simply presented the test in languages like Catalan and Gaelic. The other flaw is the fundemental fallacy that "knowledge conveys a quality" in other words if I know something or believe something this does not mean I possess a particular quality. The most common example of this mistake is that if a person is a practicing Christian he has a quality of goodness. The converse of this is that if he believes in the Muslim faith he has other qualities. So because I know who the first Prime Miniister is, this hardly makes me a good citizen.

Comment by Bullamakanka

December 14th 2006 11:28
How about,

Do you know the words for the Amreican pledge of allegiance?

Who won the first world series baseball game?

How many steps there are in the Statue of Liberty?

With Jonny Coward as PM ther's not a lot of difference

Comment by Luke

December 14th 2006 13:10
Name four (4) Australian films.

phantom menace, the matrix, kangaroo jack, matrix 2

Name Australia’s first Prime Minister.

captain cook

What is Australia’s primary export?

celebrities!

Should Australian citizens use violence against others?

no, our violence should be focused on wogs and stuff

Should Australian citizens accept people from different cultures and religions?

only if they become aussie like us!

Should Australian citizens accept women as equal to men.

depends if she is hot or not.



Comment by Brenton

December 14th 2006 14:21
Ah, the scary thing is, i was influanced to do this post after an overwhelming majority voted for a citizenship values test for Australia, on a NineMSN poll. That's alot of people (hopefully) with faster fingers than minds.

Comment by postmoderncritic

December 14th 2006 20:02
Ahmed - Close... it was Sir Edmund Barton.

I'm sure some people won't be vocally impressed with gender equality, multiculturalism and a (predominately) non-violent society, so it's not a terrible idea to ask the yes/no Qs... I do agree with Nina that any questions asked should be more complicated and subtle. It may be a good idea to ask for short answers or even an essay. Ideally everyone should be interviewed in person and the questions put to them should be improvised by interviewee based on the singularities of each applicant.

Comment by Stanley

December 14th 2006 23:03
white australia policy redux.

Comment by Ahmed

December 15th 2006 01:53
heh, 'why would you like to be an australian citizen?', 'because I love country and erm, I love the beach and I want to be world champion surfer'

'what can you give ot australia if you were a citizen?', 'if there was a war I would volunteer for the army and go to fight'.

Comment by Lilla

December 15th 2006 04:36
I have one thing to say here before you all start hurling the rotten tomatoes...

I agree with a test and I believe that no matter your race, creed, or religious belief,

...you must speak the English to a certain level.

When my family immigrated to Australia from London, on board a Greek ocean cruiser as ten-pound tourists, all the youngens had to go to onboard Australia School and learn about the states, the constitution and the prime ministers, the parliament and what exports and imports were major and minor... by the time I arraived six weeks later, I reckon I knew more about Australia than the average Australian...

What's changed...?

Lilla...

Comment by Brenton

December 15th 2006 07:53
It may be a good idea to ask for short answers or even an essay

Problem is, that doesn't show that you'll be a good Aussie. It'll show you can write a good essay, or short answers.

And yes Lilla, I think that perhaps a basic english test should perhpas be gven, although a maybe a month or so after arriving, so you can demonstrate you're willing to begin to learn the launguage.

Comment by Ahmed

December 15th 2006 08:59
Well honestly it usually sorts itself out, I mean when we are accepting immigrants were looking for a future arent we? Well maybe they can't speak english, but their kids sure will, so it will srot things out inevitably...

Comment by Luke

December 15th 2006 11:38
I don't really have a problem with immigrants not learning english, it should be their choice.

it's not like the first fleet came here and started learning Aboriginal dialects.

Comment by Anonymous

January 10th 2007 14:51
How many of you have actually seen the citizenship test or are you all just speculating?

Comment by Brenton

January 11th 2007 02:06
I don't believe anyone has seen the test - it hasn't been drafted yet so far as I understand. The point I'm making is that there'd be little value to plausibly come from a values test.

Add A Comment

To create a fully formatted comment please click here.


CLICK HERE TO LOGIN | CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Name or Orble Tag
Home Page (optional)
Comments
Bold Italic Underline Strikethrough Separator Left Center Right Separator Quote Insert Link Insert Email
Notify me of replies
Notify extra people about this comment
Is this a private comment?
List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this comment


One per line max of 30

List the Email Addresses or Orble Tags of the people you would like to be notified about this private comment thread. Only the people in this list will be able to see or reply to your comment.


One per line max of 30

Your Name
(for the email going out to the above list, it can be different to your Orble Tag)
Your Email Address
(optional)
(required for reply notification)
Submit
More Posts
1 Posts
1 Posts
3 Posts
181 Posts dating from December 2001
Email Subscription
Receive e-mail notifications of new posts on this blog:
0

Brenton's Blogs

11213 Vote(s)
374 Comment(s)
142 Post(s)
15166 Vote(s)
408 Comment(s)
236 Post(s)
3522 Vote(s)
16 Comment(s)
66 Post(s)
3910 Vote(s)
44 Comment(s)
57 Post(s)
Moderated by Brenton
Copyright © 2006 2007 2008 On Topic Media PTY LTD. All Rights Reserved. Design by Vimu.com.
On Topic Media ZPages: Sydney |  Melbourne |  Brisbane |  London |  Birmingham |  Leeds     [ Advertise ] [ Contact Us ] [ Privacy Policy ]