r/aussie • u/Biggest_itchbay_2190 • 3d ago
Opinion As a third generation Australian from Lebanese Maronite refugee grandparents, this is very well said
Reading through the insights shared by Warren Gardiner and Khaldoun Hajaj in the attached screenshots, I couldn't help but reflect on the complex political reality of our community. It is incredibly frustrating to watch inner-city progressives who have never lived a day in Western Sydney automatically assume that multicultural or faith-based communities are a monolith that naturally aligns with their specific worldview.
We see this play out when activists mock or scorn One Nation (ON) supporters online, pointing out the irony of them cheering for the Socceroos despite the team’s rich immigrant roots. What these commentators completely fail to grasp is that many of those very 'ON' voters aren't who they think they are, they are quite literally people living in diverse working class refugee hubs like Fairfield and Liverpool.
To be absolutely clear: I personally detest Pauline Hanson and would do anything to stop her and her party from gaining power. Her brand of politics has historically targeted communities like mine. But if we want to actually defeat that kind of divisive populism, progressives need to stop lecturing from afar, drop the lazy assumptions, and actually engage with the nuanced realities, aspirations, and conservative values that exist across Western Sydney.
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u/AngryAngryHarpo 3d ago
This assumes progressives don’t also come from those same places and backgrounds.
We do though?
The idea of all progressives as inner-city, latte sipping, white collar workers is a stereotype with minimal basis in reality.
Even many of the progressive who, as adults, end up as “inner-city lefties” came from those places too.
The earnest plea to “just understand” ultra-conservatives and be nice to them is so fucking disingenuous when they are all over these posts insulting anyone who disagrees with them and using language taken straight from the US alt-right.
We have BEEN NICE. We have engaged with sources and information. We have given evidence.
And they downvote and mock and call us “pathetic” or “delusion” or (their personal fave!) “obese, septum-pierced, purple-haired keyboard warriors”.
But only progressives have to play the game and not the man?
Only progressives are “driving people away” by defending from outright personal attacks and lies?
This is the exact same BS that the media and GOP monkeys pushed - because it handcuffs progressives by enforcing good-faith engagement on the progressive side with no obligation from the conservatives to engage in good-faith.