@pintohoo I like your post very much!!! - in a way Aussies are already very tolerant people BUT this is possible because generally we do not have too many downtrodden, ignored people; we are now doing our best to help one particular section greatly, our First People, not always effectively, but the will is there, which wasn't around when i first arrived here, in the 1960s.
Your 'prayer' if I can call it that, encompasses many values which are current in this 'our' country - I see and love Australia as my home - love its casual friendliness, somewhat careless non-snobby attitudes and the spirit of volunteering. I have volunteered over the years, too, and got to know interesting people that way . . . in a way my place of origin (Vienna, Austria) prided itself of similar attitudes, including a casual sense of humour/ making fun of authority - but we all know what happened in recent history . More recently, under the impact of ceaseless immigration, they have become less inclusive, less tolerant - a surplus of unemployed or unemployable humanity is what the problem of the future is shaping up to be - everywhere.
Back to Aussieland: at the moment I am part of a group of friends who meet every now and then and we talk about how we can be more open to the world, the universe, kinder to ourselves and the people around us. It is quite strange when you hear us talk, as no-one is religious - they (I am new) just came by this conviction through meeting many years ago - then having had a more structured approach and helping out people who have been in deep crisis etc. - I am kind of waiting on the sidelines to see WHEN it will turn into a cult.
With your permission, may I bring your post with me at the next meeting?
I am not so certain about David Brooks' analysis - I will take it to pieces eventually - there is a lot of 'stuff' in there which needs researching - and having visited the U.S.A. only once, I can only 'judge' or rather form some sort of opinion from the news as well as the entertainment industries which has swamped the Western world from America with a lot of fun, but also immorality, no respect for anything, a love for violence, drugs, sex etc, - if i were religious, I would say Hollywood is the Devil's domain - yet somehow the idea of freedom of all kinds and tolerance spreads its benign influence as well - I am conflicted about American culture, but know i probably carry the 'germ' in my bones, too.
Re the opinion piece;l Chances are David Brooks has changed his outlook since then - he wrote this piece before Biden's resignation/abdication (?) -
Take care, dear friend
Taurisk
