Australia signed the Kyoto Protocol. Australia is one of the world's lowest polluters. Australia has no racism or problems due to ethnic tensions.
For these and many more striking fallacies just like them just talk to your average Hiroshima resident. It really is hard not to laugh when I hear people tell me I'm wrong when I tell them Australia is in the top 5 polluters (per capita) in the world. A quick googling tells me we're actually on the podium in 3rd at the moment, go team!
Is it because this is just an extension of the lack of interest in world affairs that I touched on in my previous missive here? Is it because Australia has a wonderful PR team spear-headed by that adorable little mascot, KOARA-kun? or is it because Australia really doesn't matter squat on the world stage?
I have met the occasional student that has been to Australia (and not just Cairns) and has read a newspaper or two and does know that Australia pollutes a lot for our size. When I ask them how this makes them feel and would they ever consider something like a consumer boycott of the ever-present "oojii beefu" (see http://www.aussiebeef.jp) in order to send their message to Australia? (I realise that may be a stupid idea, I didn't really think it through very hard, it just came up in discussion) The answer is always the standard Japanese noncommittal neutral position so as to avoid any possible chance of inharmonious discord (ie, debate).
Getting anyone to debate a real issue with any passion or sincerity at all is a complete nightmare. Sure, they're using a second language if they're debating with me and I definitely cut people slack for that. However even really high level students are quite difficult to engage in an argument. I have to be pretty careful at work not to get myself in a position where I could endanger my job (the amount of power the student has over the teacher in the world of English schools in Japan is ridiculous). The only time I really got a few students fired up was when I raised the issue of the Imperial family and whether Japan should rid themselves of that institution. I got a talking to quite soon after that about avoiding controversial topics while at work. Fair enough from a business perspective, the school exists to make a buck not facilitate debate and such; it's a business not an educational facility, that's for sure. Still, it's depressing all the same that ninety percent of the time the "free conversation room" swings around to "where do you like to go shopping?" rather than anything remotely interesting.
To round out this, yet again, poorly edited, directionless diatribe I shall return to the topic of Australia. It still is the land of sunshine, barbecues, koalas, kangaroos, "beach parties" and beer. At first I felt a few pangs of guilt when I told people a few of the nasty facts about Australia (after all, every country has its negatives) but I'm pretty much over it now. I don't deny or downplay the good but it's only fair Australia cop its fair share of the negativity that gets hurled at the USA when issues such as the environment or the Iraq war come up.
Oh by the way, thanks to all the budding editors out there who kindly emailed me to let me know about all the errors in my previous entry. I apologise again for the poor standard but I don't intend to change it and you've been given fair warning. Nice to know at least a few people are reading, though!
