RSL Clubs and Monoculture and Who the Fck Are We?
Information for members and guests, the Karuah RSL courtesy bus will be leaving in 5 minutes. Once again, the courtesy bus will be leaving in 5 minutes.
I took my kid to a friend’s party and given that it was an hour drive from my work, and the party went for 6 hours I decided to kill time in town rather than drive there and back twice.
That’s how I ended up on a barstool at Karuah RSL. And then thinking about this hysterical conversation about monoculture - it feels connected to so many grievances that are swirling in the air at the moment. It’s a lot.
1642 is the lucky number. Number 1642 wins the meat raffle. Come up and see staff to claim your prize.
Most of my RSL memories were at Katoomba RSL, not just for soccer and cricket presentations, but also cheap schooners when I turned 18. The glaring light, the greyhounds and horses, the pokie rooms, wartime memorabilia and the kitchen.
Tonight’s special was ‘All You Can Eat Asian Buffet’. Fuck yeh.
A room full of people smashing sweet and sour pork, combination fried rice and battered mysteries all stood at 6pm to solemnly pay respect to those who’ve sacrificed for this country. It’s an interesting scene right? The way that different cultures can co-exist with respect for one another.
It made me think about Australian culture and the weird desire for us to be a ‘monoculture’.
We have shared history but we have our own stories. We have shared traditions but also tolerance for the different rituals and ceremonies that define our ancestry.
Karuah is on the land of the Worimi people who’ve been here for 10s of 1000s of years. A lot of Aussies whinge about Welcome to Country ceremonies, a gesture of respect that hurts no one. We all make choices about how we share this space and what we decide is worthy of deference.
Multiculture is just as much about the difference between Irish and Scottish as it is Australian and Indian, Anglo or Kamilaroi. Culture gives us clues to who we really are, and can set us free and help us make sense of our place in the world. It doesn’t in any way prevent us from committing to the social contract, and contributing to a better society. Even Pauline deserves to know who her great great grandparents were and see where she fits in the scheme of history. Maybe it might shed some light on why she’s such a brain-numbing sooky hateful arsehole? When she insists on us all being a monoculture, she’s flattening her own experience into... nothingness? She’s depriving herself of her own textured history and story.
One recurring theme is a fear that the country is changing. Fear that there are no “traditional” Aussie shops in Lakemba now. Fear that it looks different and other languages are being spoken. Fear that women are in Hijabs. So much fear.
We have different religions, heritage, habits, names, family and rituals. Demanding we erase all this for a so-called monoculture sounds more like an excuse for people to act like a cop versions of mrs mangle, snooping on each other and dobbing on anyone who doesn’t say the right thing or look the right way. People are cunts. It’s not certain groups, it’s all groups. Cunts in every group. Welcome to humanity, same as it ever was.
Standing alongside marginalised groups has never meant that some of them aren’t cunts. It’s simply about standing up to bullies and professional sooks who blame everyone but themselves. History tells us that in times of economic crisis, societies can lean into fascism and hate - this is where Pauline wants us to go and there’s no fucking way we’re going down without a fight.
Win the meat raffle, be kind to the courtesy bus driver. Stand solemnly at the 6pm ceremony. Pay respect during a Welcome to Country. Embrace your own story and make no apologies for your DNA. Share your uniqueness with the world. Sing offkey if you have to cut through.
Eat life.
What Am I Up To?
I’ve laid a little low these last couple months as I finish off my new album. I chimed in about Charlie Pickering and was kinda grossed out at how much engagement it got (I know, it’s weird) but i saw ppl like Dave Hughes going all-out cooker and I don’t want to be a sooking artist just cos it gets the clicks. Next week sees new music, followed soon by my next album and you’ll get it all first. In fact…
Maybe you want to hear a snippet of my next single HERE. You might pick up on a tiny cameo from a dope rapper and community leader if you listen close.
💡 New Music I Want to Share
In recent years when I toured Tassie, Grace Chia’s name came up. She’s an organiser who creates opportunities for others, hosts open mic nights and battles - but ultimately she’s an artist in her own right. She’s just released her 4th album in 4 years (!) and I want you to hear it.
Bits and Pieces
Children Are Apprentices
On the value of not being a helicopter parent and allowing discomfort into your kid’s life to help teach them how to be resilient. Kids are bombarded by corporates/abusers/algorithms/political types and it’s understandable that we want to steer our kids in the right directions
Use Music to Escape Negative Your Thought Loops
Research is uncovering the way music can calm the brain
How to reinterpret Paul Simon
When microaggressions are also bangers
