Australia: "Multicultural Food Can’t Mask Divisions"

Weekend Libertarian ^ | 18 April, 2011 | B.P. Terpstra

[AustralianConservative]

For now, let’s face the facts: associating superior food with multiculturalism is more than a cliché – it’s misleading. Why? Because one can live in a nation where there are great cappuccinos and superb Chinese takeaways, without multiculturalism. I have at least.

Leaving Japan aside though, such arguments irritate many Australians for other reasons:

Take the experiences of (say) Sydney’s more representative working-class families (worlds apart from the upper-middle classes). While a Labor bureaucrat eats a jolly good Indian meal in an upmarket eatery, his gardener is unable to order a rash of bacon on his KFC chicken burger because it “offends Muslims.” Will he come away with an unedited view of multiculturalism?

Also, in economically depressed suburbs and struggling regional towns, many Australians simply can’t afford a cappuccino, let alone a meal at a takeaway Chinese restaurant. That is their reality - not ActNow’s.

[...]

On Thursday, February 24, 2011, I was also confronted with the fact that approval-hungry Liberals love their made-for-television multicultural scripts. Or to quote Malcolm Turnbull’s spin on our ABC News: “We have achieved an extraordinary degree of harmonious integration of people from every possible culture in the world,” he boasted. “It's a great achievement. We're proud of it. We are committed to a multicultural Australia - that is a reality. That's part of our life.”

However, the critical-thinker outside will ask: To what extent does wealth protect the political class from reality? Or to quote from a 2009 Fairfax piece: “Mr Turnbull, a former merchant banker, is listed by BRW among Australia's richest 200 people.”

[AustralianConservative]

http://weekendlibertarian.blogspot.com/2011/04/b.html

[dog breath]

I agree that liberal ideas of multiculturalism are often unrealistic. There does seem to be some differences between Australia and the USA. The massive scale of constant immigration in the USA has perhaps made us more diverse with more actual cultural and physical mixing over time. Despite that everybody joining hands and singing we are the world is never going to happen here or in Australia. It is not a blending of cultures that occurs in the short term but rather a competition and destruction of cultures.

[BlackVeil]

He is right about how class privilege shelters people from the realities of ethnic divisions, and other social problems.

But this is inaccurate:

his gardener is unable to order a rash of bacon on his KFC chicken burger because it “offends Muslims.” Will he come away with an unedited view of multiculturalism?

KFC does sell bacon, etc., in Australia. There are fast food outlets which cater to Muslims, but they are designated as such.

[AustralianConservative]

In Australia, more eateries are banning bacon. Yes, KFC is one of them. If the man lives in some Muslim-dominated suburb he will be refused bacon on his burger and will have to travel across suburbs. No one said all KFC franchises are under Muslim domination although that is the fundamentalist’s ultimate goal. Could you imagine the outrage if there were Christian designated KFC outlets?
The fact is many people can’t order bacon here.