The “right” people.

Of interesting note is the current national debate Aussie PM Gillard wants about immigration and getting the “right migrant”. Naturally, one has to be at least a little suspicious about what a Fabian socialist means by “right”. Those better equipped to even out the economic imbalances in Australia whether it be Left-leaning politicians and activists or their primary benefactors, welfare recipients?

Or does she actually mean what she’s been saying lately about our egalitarian society and the value of hard work?

Regardless, Andrew Bolt wrote a column on this today with a focus on Muslim Australians and the cultural differences between Islam and Mainstream Australia.

Can they be reconciled?

For a significant number of Muslims, the answer is a clear no.

Take Danish psychologist, Nicolai Sennels, who has dealt with many Muslim and non-Muslim patients and who has experienced first hand Europe’s problems with integration. And note, Europe has experienced greater Muslim immigration and is also suffereing greater consequences. They are farther down that road than Australia.

The main tennets of Sennel’s argument about Islamic/Western cultures and subsequent (hopeful?) integration are as follows:

1: It is reasonable and expected that a Muslim man become angry when offended whereas anger is seen as a sign of weakness in a Western man.

2: Western people are defined by a sense of individual freedom. The opposite applies in Islamic culture.

3: Western vs Islamic notions of self reflection and self responsibility. For example, is it your fault or his fault that you attacked him? In the case of many of Sennel’s patients, it’s the “attackee’s” fault. (bing – Was it Saddam’s fault we attacked him?)

4: Identity issues. Do people see themselves based on their nationality or religion primarily? An alarmingly low number of French Muslims identify themselves as French first. Same goes in Germany.

5: How Islamic and Western cultures consider “honor”.

Of course one doesn’t have to agree wholeheartedly with every single viewpoint in Sennel’s article, and the point of this post is not to argue whether one culture is better than the other (I’ve argued that before), but it is to highlight that there are vast differences – even if you only take half that article as truth or semi-truth – between Islamic and Western cultures, and that in small but significant numbers, they aren’t integrating that well at all… or even putting up with one another in any reasonable manner. It really is like oil and water.

A bit of water in my petrol tank won’t matter, nor would a drop of olive oil in my glass of water. But if the “mix” becomes too great, too significant, then we start having real problems.

One could argue that Italians and Chinese, for example, have their own sub-cultures in Australia, that they haven’t “mixed”. True. There hasn’t been complete assimilation (into what?) yet so much has been added to the flavour of Australia’s melting pot. And indeed, who doesn’t love a kebab?

The key difference is that most sub-cultures within Australia aren’t so antagonistic towards their host. People from those who are should not be encouraged to live in Australia.

Will it always have to be this way with Islam? Hopefully not. Christianity was pretty shocking before the Renaissance. And what’s really disappointing is that it wasn’t “this way” back when Muslims first arrived on Australian shores. But then the radicals took hold. Odd (or is it?) that it’s the second and third generation Australian Muslims we’re so often having problems with, not their grandparents back in the day. And it’s the “new” new arrivals so much more so than the “old” new arrivals.

And no, it’s not as if every Muslim walking down the street in Australia is scheming of ways to blow us up. But there is a significant and disturbing – and most importantly, increasing – number of radicals… and what we like to think of moderate Islam (does it even really exist?) stays all too quiet. That, in of itself is quite alarming. Quick to critisize perceived “racism” but never one’s to look in the mirror.

Even countries like Muslim Turkey have taken a more fundamentalist, radical path lately.

Why is this?

So anyway, back to the “right migrant”. Not queue jumpers who throw away their documentation no matter what religion or lack there of. Full stop. Screen more carefully people who are Muslim and under no circumstances those who would require welfare. This may be looked at as discrimination but so be it. No other group of people carry out an average of five deadly terror attacks every day. Muslim doctors? Fine. Muslim lawyers? No (that was a joke).

And the burqa is too much. There has to be a bit of give from its wearers and advocates. Ban it inside shops, banks, schools, airports, public buildings… Anywhere where it’s important for security reasons to see someone’s face. If I can’t walk into a bank in a motor cycle helmet, why should someone else be allowed to in a burqa, or a bear suit for that matter? Public places? Weeeeeell, yes actually, for being such an archaic symbol of female oppression. The idea of one gender’s subjugation to another’s has no place in modern Australian society. When driving? Yes. For safety reasons.

PS And talking about the “right” people in a broader sense, there is too much welfare in Australia. It’s a depressing, demoralising, initiative-killing cycle of dependence that should be stopped or at least severely curtailed. Not that it will be, though. It’s too much of a vote winner for both parties.

A shame, a dangerous shame. Welfare has proved to be the achilles heel of Europe. Our civilisation can’t support such massive amounts of it.

Will the West learn?