hink of it all - of the life that is! Study your friends and foes!
Study the past! And answer this: "Are these times better than those?" The life-long quarrel, the paltry spite, the sting of your poisoned pride! No matter who fell it were better to fight as they did when the world was wide.
UN backs sef-determination and autonomy for Blacks
"On September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted its Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The assembly recorded 143 votes in favour, 11 abstentions and four votes against. The last were cast by Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US.The Howard government said it objected on the grounds that the declaration would impair the territorial and political integrity of the Australian state by supporting the creation of separate indigenous states. The declaration makes it clear that this is indeed its aim. Article 4 says indigenous peoples have the right to freely determine their political status and to pursue self-determination and autonomy. In short, it supports the old Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission demand for a sovereign black state.
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Does the Australian state possess any 'political integrity' by purporting to speak for all people, no matter their unique differences? Does any political entity posses any integrity if it is so generic that it tries to cater to everyone, thereby becoming increasingly standardised and of the lowest common denominator (pure economics with no higher specific cultural orientation)?
Let the aboriginals, and all peoples, stand on their own feet and thus either succeed with their autonomy, unique characteristics and culture intact or fail with historical dignity. Perhaps us Western nations fear such an honest outlook because it reminds us that 1) unique ethnic groups (including our own) require autonomy to remain unique and 2) all cultures are ultimately mortal and alone, that if they do not stand up and address reality they WILL fail: that there is no God who is leading us by the hand down the path of 'eternal progress'.