Freedom...

I am sure I am going to be blasted for this, but the first point I am going to make here is that you are free to say what you like to me, you are also free to check the Internet at your leisure, which is where I constantly see people complain that we, in Australia, don't have enough freedom, that this is a shit place to live, amongst many other negative things... That you are allowed to say that in public forums, that you can walk down the street holding hands with your lover, that you can get up in the morning and wear what you want in the street, go to a job that you choose to do, can protest for the things that you believe are wrong with our country, of which there are many, proves that we have basic freedoms that many countries do not...

I love Australia, I know our history is bloody, and we still haven't set to right many of those wrongs, I hope that one day we do... To me, this is a place of hope right now, my grandfather came here 60 years ago from Malta looking for a better life, and this land gave it to him, he met a beautiful Australian woman and they had 5 babies together, his children had children, Maltese, Australian, English, Indian, Italian... Now when we gather at his house once a month, it's all about his great grandchildren, who are English, Swedish, Swiss, Italian, Australian and live all over the world, I love that Australia is this melting pot of culture... I love that my family is made up of different cultures, that our kids all have completely different colourings, you can see that we all belong in each tiny face...

I know we have a long way to go in many ways, equal rights, horrific policies regarding refugees and the like... But the fact that we have groups allowed to advocate for the changes we would like to see, without being shot in the head, is definitely a bonus... Hearing people who speak this way, who constantly slam the way things are here make me sad, sad that we can't all see how much worse it could be, at the same time as trying to make it better... That's the best part, we are free to make it better... And that's a far better approach then whinging and moaning about it!


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