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When did the bushfires become woke?

By Vanessa de Largie - posted Friday, 10 January 2020


There is enough social commentary on the bushfire crisis and climate change to fill up Lake Eyre. So, I'll refrain from picking a side because I'm obviously not a scientist and admittedly I don't know enough.

What I do know, is that the Australian bushfires have brought the scurrying woke-folk out of their burrows in droves. Virtue-signalling do-gooders who are big on grandstanding and small on sincerity.

You know the types? Akin to the celebrities that British comedian Ricky Gervais recently pummeled -- in his savage tell-it-like-it-is Golden Globes speech.

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In the past week, there has been article after article in the mainstream media about the heroism of multicultural Australia with headlines such as, "Sikh group giving free hot meals to bushfire victims hailed as legends" and "This is the Australian way: Muslims donate 36,000 bottles of water to firefighters" and "This is Australia: Muslim heroes travel to fire-ravaged Victoria to cook meals for firefighters battling the blaze".

Talk about bootlickers at the Church of Woke. It would be a tough gig to find headlines more "token" than these. And sadly, the general public eat this rubbish up. Never pausing to question its accuracy or motivations.

A survey conducted by Ipsos Mori in 2016, revealed that people globally overestimate the Muslim population. With Aussies believing that 12.5% of Australia is Muslim when in actual fact, the population is only 2.4 %.

When newspaper editors publish Muslim-centric headlines and advertising agencies insert "token Muslims" into national advertising campaigns in the name of inclusiveness, the general public is brainwashed into believing that more Muslims reside Down Under than the reality.

Pray tell… If Australia is so "diverse", "inclusive" and "anti-bigotry" as we make out to be - then why make a habit of singling out race at all? It's unnecessary because the general consensus is that anyone who is legally and lawfully a citizen or permanent resident is an Aussie.

And on a more sensitive note, how are we to know if immigrants need a reminder of their homeland? After all, they are often fleeing war, famine, dictatorship and corruption.

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One would assume the point of these celebratory articles is to convey how cosmopolitan Australia is. But by objectifying minority groups for the benefit of enlightening 'the majority' is exceedingly more racist and condescending than not acknowledging them at all.

Philanthropy and kindness are part of being human. They have no gender, colour, race or sexuality. Sadly, minority groups have become objects of inspiration much like individuals living with a disability.

These groups are used by the privileged majority and basically treated as a product -- something others can find value in. Not to mention being used as a tool for political point-scoring.

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About the Author

Vanessa de Largie is a freelance journalist. She is the resident sex-columnist at Maxim Magazine and writes a regular column for The Spectator.

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