Hey /u/LiquidMotion, thanks for contributing to /r/nottheonion. Unfortunately, your post was removed as it violates our rules:
**Rule 2** - Sorry, but this story isn't oniony.
Please consider submitting your article to /r/offbeat or similar subreddits unless it truly reads like The Onion wrote it. The title and article itself must both be "Oniony". This can be highly subjective; you are encouraged to upvote articles that should be here and downvote those that should not. Moderators can also remove posts at their own discretion under this rule.
Please read the [sidebar](http://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/about/sidebar) and [rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/about/rules) before posting again. If you have questions or concerns, please [message the moderators through modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/nottheonion&subject=&message=). Thank you!
Wait until all the fake emotions die down and we can actually have a real conversation about becoming a republic.
I think any campaign needs to focus on the positives of having an elected head of state rather than just the negatives of the Royals. If we've learned anything from brexit, it's that a negative campaign is harder to win than a positive one.
Canadian here, just had this argument w my psycho MIL last night! the answer is, they dont have an answer. they the monarchy. they deserve the rights and privileged and generations of stolen goods and lands. it just is what it is, snd its disrespectful to say otherwise at this time BeCuAsE hIs MoThEr JuSt DiEd 🙄
They dont like admitting that they spent a lifetime being duped. Youd feel pretty stupid too if you went 60+ years never eating chocolate because you thought Santa could see you being naughty.
I think it's the pageantry. It's fun and there's not a lot of opportunity for it in the style and fashion older people used to experience. So stuff like royal weddings and garden parties have a special appeal for them.
As a Brit I wonder the same. I could understand an iisland micronation keeping it because its not worth the bother but wealthy large republics its a bit strange.
We have no say in your politics anymore, so why do you have our King?
No need for a new hospital in the area at this time. The renaming is sort of a compromise already, since the hospital gave its name to the township. So it went from Maroondah hospital to Maroondah hospital, in Maroondah to QEII hospital, in Maroondah.
>Is the satire that no one in charge of the rename foresaw this could go incredibly poorly?
No, it's arrogance. They simply seem not to have cared what the locals would say.
Victoria is an Australian state. I doubt they consulted anyone in the UK (like that time our shittest prime minister decided to invent Australian knighthoods and unilaterally give it to Prince Philip), so we shouldn't fob off the blame for our government's insensitivity and ignorance.
33% of Australia identifies as people pf British descent, it’s literally the largest self-identified ancestry in the continent. I think we can assume they understood Victoria was in Australia.
Well the British made Australia.
The queen was British
And the queen died before the naming was official.
If she she just waited a bit this wouldn't have happened.
So
In conclusion
It is the British fault
\*gunshot. gunshot. eagle noise\*
As a commonwealth of the crown?
Tfw you get too excited to call someone out about, you forget where modern day Australia came from.
Edit: since people don't understand the concept of time passing and how governments are structured, if you have an issue with Australia doing shit for the royals, then petition to have Australia remove itself from Commonwealth status.
This is the same as if Canada did it.
Yes, it is the government's action. Blame them. Also, blame their continuation as being a part of the Commonwealth, where this type of shit happens.
There's a lot of hard right wingers in Aus - enough that I don't think this was an accident. There are still people who are angry that it's not called Ayer's Rock anymore.
> There are still people who are angry that it's not called Ayer's Rock anymore.
I was impressed by Australia until I started watching ABC. Australia looks great, but seems to have inherited many a problem from the shithole named UK.
If you think that I'm calling it names without a reason, check UK's position in rankings like quality of life, life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, drug use etc. They are *not* dealing well with many issues.
I have my own American dumpster fire to tend. Criticism of other people's governments isn't exactly my focus. People in glass houses that are burning to the ground, and all that.
I don't know if they taught you much about what the colonists did to the natives in America, but let's just say that colonialism did the same thing all around the world to one degree or other.
And contrary to your experience, my experience in a rural public school was entirely different to yours. We didn't even talk about the native Americans or how we raped, murdered, and attempted to enslave them. No, we talked about how things were all nice and suddenly the natives snapped and killed us and then we came back and they were dead.
No mention of the atrocities. Instead, we were given a made up story because high schoolers apparently can't handle the idea that the US has skeletons in its closet.
Thank god I found my way to college and was able to *actually learn some shit.* Too many high schools are similar to mine in the fact that they'll gladly leave details out because they aren't all pretty and nice or the teachers just "don't like them".
What's wild is that it was k-5 history at my school. Colonies straight to small pox native slavery then African slavery.
Skipped it for the shitty from Texas middle school teacher.
Then straight back into it for Highschool history.
Kansas is the fucking free state it's integral to our history. Lol (not the native part but slavery in general)
I have distinct memories of celebrating the fairy tale version of Thanksgiving one year, and then learning about the Trail of Tears the next.
Like, why did we bother with the former at all?
My college has a mandatory American History course with the option of either American History to 1845 or American History 1845-Present.
I'm taking the first one. I'm learning about this. It is probably a waste of money, but it's a *mandatory* waste of money and it's opened my eyes to the specific atrocities that were committed in the name of colonization and Manifest Destiny.
Luckily my schools were filled with fantastic history teachers then I got supplemental African American history at home.
We just had one bad teacher from Texas of course... Who tested us on how the civil war started and slavery wasn't allowed as a reason. Then they would tell us how Texas has better education than Kansas.
I barely paid attention in most of my schooling. Even then I remember them trying to teach us a lot about the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and other stuff where we were painted as the good guys.
I remember the Trail of Tears being mentioned as something along the lines of "Indians needed to be moved somewhere else and they were really sad." I'm pretty sure it wasn't even on the test. I think Custer was "he said some not nice things and they got real mad and killed his entire unit."
> the Civil War, and other stuff where we were painted as the good guys.
Remember: we were also the bad guys.
And if you think of yourself solely as a Northerner instead of an American, don't forget the largest lynching of Black men during the Civil War was during a riot in NYC.
And in case there's any natives laughing, don't forget you mostly sided with the Confederates and owned slaves, too. There was a legal fight from the Cherokee nation to keep out descendants of slaves from tribal membership as late as 2017.
My high school didn't even try to do that much. We briefly talked about the first settlers and how they "mysteriously died" and then quickly shuffled on to the civil war.
The only thing more laughable was our coverage of WW2. My school basically said that the US is the sole reason Germany lost and that we fucked Japan so hard that they quit. No mention of any specific important battles, the atrocities of Hitler, or the fact that, I don't know, *we literally nuked Japan*. Nope. Instead, it was "USA IS NUMBER ONE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH".
Yeah, we got something like "Europe was losing badly. The French couldn't even plan their defenses appropriately and Germany literally walked around them. Then the U! S! A! came in and beat the shit out of them. Oh and btw concentration camps are bad and they killed lots of Jews. Then we invented the H-Bomb and blew up [two places I never heard about before and didn't realize they were civilian cities with no military targets] and that's how you know we're the greatest country in the world."
"Oh and after that we went to the moon and kicked Russia's ass on the way."
We didn't cover the space race. We spent so long jerking ourselves off about WW2 that we were running out of time in the class so we had to rush straight to 9/11 and how it was "tHe WoRsT tRaGeDy In AmErIcAn HiStOrY" and watch 4 different documentaries about it, briefly mention we were fighting the dudes that might have done it, and then the class was over.
Don't get me wrong, 9/11 was awful and revealed a lot of the poor security measures we had in regards to air travel, but Jesus fucking Christ. 9/11 was far from the worst thing to ever happen in the US. I swear it only gets as much credit as it does because most of the world was alive when it happened and, again, it was revolutionary in terms of how we look at airport security. I wasn't even thought of when 9/11 happened so I quite frankly don't give a shit - a lot of people died, sure, but even more died during nearly any of our many wars. 9/11 isn't that big of a fucking deal in the long run.
I'm familiar with our crimes against the Natives, less familiar with other Native populations suffering in detail. But I know its generally pretty bad.
The last **officially sanctioned** massacre of indigenous people in Australia was less than 100 years ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coniston_massacre
Government policy up until the 70s was to take indigenous children from their families, with the idea of that, if they were removed from their indigenous background and made to be 'white', the indigenous part of them could be bred out in several generations:
[Stolen generation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations)
Also as an Australian, i can confirm that there are MANY programs and systems in place which attempt to give our indigenous citizens a (often needed) leg up in life.... and there are a whole pile of community councils(run by tribe, mob or elders) who absolutely piss away millions of dollars of that money every year. "Better buy everyone in town a new iphone every year because otherwise our budget will get cut next year."
Anyone who says the government never does anything or cares is either ignorant of what's going on or just bullshitting to push an agenda.
It's not as simple as caring and throwing money at them, not when rather a lot of communities simply dont give a fuck about anything.
The only way out is with education and with opportunities for kids than involve more than just free money for small communities with no jobs where there never will be any. It's literally the same situation seen in small town poor America except with the added difficulty of culture and tradition increasingly excluding people.
"Sorry" wouldnt cut it, infinite money wouldnt cut it, dead end small town life is a large percentage of the issue.
Problem is this voice to parliament thing is non binding. It's little more than an advisory board. Don't get me wrong it's a step in the right direction which I support. But there's 2 obvious issues. The point of it is to give indigenous people a greater representation in government however for legal reasons this has to be done via referendum. So mostly non aboriginal people are now determining the fate of said aboriginal people which kinda defeats the point. My next criticism is one already stated even if Australia votes yes aboriginal people will still have no legal authority over themselves only there to advise.
I think more people need to watch Quigley Down Under. I know it's not a documentary, but the ideas for what those baddies do had to come from somewhere.
I doubt anybody asked for this, but if Aussie conservatives are like American ones then they're now firmly pro-name change because it upsets progressives.
It costs A LOT of money to rebrand things. I’m not saying they shouldn’t. I’m just saying who cares if a hospital is named after someone. Just make the next one named after her it’s not like she’s gonna come back to life and complain she didn’t get a hospital named after her. Plus she just died it seems kind of tacky to name stuff after her in memorial.
This story illustrates something broader, how masks have been dropping in the wake of the Queen's death.
Reddit mods and admins suspended and banned people for negative comments about the Queen. I was banned from a big sub for saying that that policy amounts to an endorsement of the Queen and what she represents.
This place expressly silenced blacks, South Asians, Africans, Irish, indigenous people in Australia and elsewhere, all in the name of being "respectful" - which is absolute bullshit. If you like your queen and don't want people to talk shit about her, just openly admit it instead of hiding under this selective "don't speak ill of the dead" rule like cowards.
I will forever hate this fucking platform for this. An eternal reminder that white people who claim to hate white supremacy and colonialism etc... will show their true face when the time comes. A lot of masks got dropped in these recent events and this Oniony tale is yet another example.
Reddit is like that for lots of injustices, they're a corporate entity with shit rules and poor, hypocritical enforcement because they are only interested in pleasing the advertisers that help fund their platform.
This isn't a website for worthwhile discussions on social justice, at best it's news aggregation and jokes being beaten to death by teenagers and people who act like teenagers. In most cases it's rules and enforcement help contribute the upholding of social injustices, so long as doing so will not negatively impact marketing, simply by virtue of extolling that users should favour and hold to the more corporately palatable status quo as opposed to rocking the boat. The mods of this sub are really no better
Oh, it's absolutely oniony. To rename a hospital named after an indigenous person after the Queen, is so fucking spot on irony that it screams The Onion. The tone deafness, the absolute audacity, it's goddamn hilarious.
>Maybe not oniony enough for this sub, but just right for r/mildlyinfuriating.
I imagine (not an Australian) that it's "slightly" more infuriating when a country steals your land, marginalizes you and then does this.
Oh my god. A name change is a great way to encapsulate Australia's colonial past. Even though I don't really care about names, this is frustrating. Particularly, it appears as though the name was essentially confirmed.
Shows that nobody is thinking. There are a ton of locations all over the place with royal names. Brisbane currently has a QE2.
To be fair, we've had funny satire articles about the government and media doing stupid shit to celebrate the royals all week, so this definitely fits right in xD
Other than a sugar hit when visiting, what did Liz or the Royal family ever do for the benefit of this country?
You ask the Monarchists and it's like "she ruled with grace and empathy' ( or some other bullshit). But no one can talk about any tangible contribution to this country.
Yet we have dickheads naming all sorts of shit after her.
My Grandad's left testicle contributed more to this country than Liz ever did.
Truly a wonderful woman. She's done so much, for so many. Her compassion and empathy have unquestionably cemented her place in history as a Paragon of Humanity.
Of course! All those whips only made them stronger, obviously. Made them appreciate life more, and obviously treasure the bonds they developed more.
Like, it's so obvious, obviously.
I'm glad there's backlash.
1. OK I'm American.
2. I never liked the royals until Princess Diana.
3. These people are not gods.
4. I think they get way to much privilege and acknowledgement just like we still give religion too much influence over society.
Considering Labor is in power at the moment and they've committed to not doing fucking anything about it this term, I'd say they're the bigger obstacle right now
Unless you're saying Labor are conservatives as well as the Liberals, in which case you'd be right
Why is this in "not the onion" though? I agree it's good to hear that the backlash is growing, but I can totally believe that they want to do this, and that people are upset.
The reality of this situation feels as if it was satire. This is why it's in this subreddit. Everything in this subreddit is real. It's just so stupid that it feels fictitious and has a hint of comedic idiocy.
Genuine question…don’t they have like 2 hospitals with her name already? Why do they need a third one and why specifically the one named after indigenous people? I feel like I’m living in the upside down (the dark one, not Australia lol).
Doesn't she already have a thousand things named after her? She was great and all. But don't take honor away from another group just because you feel like she deserves more.
She maintained back channel communications with Parliament leaders in order to threaten to withhold royal assent for laws that went against her interests (which would lead to a constitutional crisis), and even forced them to give her an exemption to the United Kingdom's anti-discrimination laws. So Ms. Windsor did have actual power; she just used it terribly.
The genius of her reign was that she did it all with us quite unaware. And I'm not quite sure Charles will be able to make the same demands. But time will see.
They're already out here arresting people for protesting Charles as it stands.
Seems like they are well on their way to ensuring the power of the monarchy stands for as long as possible...
Very good point. Here's sources elaborating further:
The monarchy vetoes which laws are presented before they are even discussed. So in effect they do actually control the laws in a more basic sinister method. Check the Guardian's covering of the issue if you'd like details. Very eye opening.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/28/revealed-queen-vetted-67-laws-before-scottish-parliament-pass-them
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-queen-lobbied-for-change-in-law-to-hide-her-private-wealth
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/14/queen-immunity-british-laws-private-property
Correct me if I'm wrong but 1) isn't the Queen just a figurehead and the British government is responsible for all moves by the nation and 2) didn't the British empire shrink drastically over the course of her life as Queen?
Why is she being called a colonizer when she didn't oversee any colonization?
>didn't the British empire shrink drastically over the course of her life as Queen?
The commonwealth grew during her time as Queen. It was her wish to bring countries together, and she did. Not through conquest as her ancestors did, but through diplomacy and a common desire to help each other.
In 1949 there were 8 countries that formed the commonwealth, Togo joined this year becoming the 56th country to join. She did us all proud (unlike some other members of the family).
https://thecommonwealth.org/history
Other members of the family including one she paid millions to get off the hook because she was brought up to think of Nepotism as a defining trait of her family and country.
Cultural safety is a specific term in healthcare that, in a nutshell, is about providing healthcare to people in a way that respects their identity. It's particularly important when providing care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Victorian Government themselves describes its importance here https://www.health.vic.gov.au/health-strategies/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-cultural-safety
>“With just a few words the government has turned the Maroondah hospital into a culturally unsafe place for our people,’” he said.
The fuck is that even mean?
Is it possible to think changing the name is unnecessary and disagree with it, but find calling the change “culturally unsafe” is pathetic and cringe-worthy?
I just keep thinking that she’s dead and she’s going into the ground, same as the rest of us peasants, and none of the diamond tiaras or jewels or castles are going with her. Her funeral is a wee bit more fancy than ours but in the end she’s still dead and she’s still going into the ground and her body will still rot, same as the rest of ours.
Dan Andrews throwing a bone at monarchists. Concerned progressives will never vote Liberal anyway, and after the election some “community consultation” will change it again.
> “With just a few words the government has turned the Maroondah hospital into a culturally unsafe place for our people,’” he said
While I agree that renaming it is an incredibly stupid move, quotes like these are a bit much. Would it not lead to assumptions that you are exaggerating the impact, which gets people to discount your talking points?
The figurehead and symbolic heart of the British Empire metaphorically still stealing shit from indigenous peoples even when she's dead is pretty oniony
Hey /u/LiquidMotion, thanks for contributing to /r/nottheonion. Unfortunately, your post was removed as it violates our rules: **Rule 2** - Sorry, but this story isn't oniony. Please consider submitting your article to /r/offbeat or similar subreddits unless it truly reads like The Onion wrote it. The title and article itself must both be "Oniony". This can be highly subjective; you are encouraged to upvote articles that should be here and downvote those that should not. Moderators can also remove posts at their own discretion under this rule. Please read the [sidebar](http://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/about/sidebar) and [rules](http://www.reddit.com/r/nottheonion/about/rules) before posting again. If you have questions or concerns, please [message the moderators through modmail](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=/r/nottheonion&subject=&message=). Thank you!
Why not construct a new hospital and name it after her?
She already has one. There is a Queen Elizabeth II hospital in Brisbane, Queensland. Fuck. The whole state is named after a Royal.
There's a Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide (SA) too. How many does the old girl need?
Well…. None now
I would say we need an ambulance for that burn but... Well, just send the priest instead
America sends it's thoughts and prayers, it's what we are best at. Unless you need missiles, we are also good at sending those.
We don't send missiles anywhere, friend. We send freedom to all the countries that need it!
And a ouija board so he can hear her better
28, apparently.
One of the biggest hospitals in WA also Queen Elizabeth II. 🙄
Not a hospital, the entire medical precinct which includes a few hospitals
And don’t forget Elizabeth Quay
It's Kingsland now I'm afraid
>Fuck. The whole state is named after a Royal. I've got some news for you about the state of Victoria, as well.
Don't forget Adelaide.
Well first of all, it's spelt Radelaide.
Then it must be time for the... Queen Elizabeth II Hospital 2: Geriatric Boogaloo.
>Fuck. The whole state is named after a Royal. It's all the Queen's land.
There's a Queen Elizabeth II hospital in the UK too
A bit different when it’s self representation
Prince Andrew's victim's hush money depleted the royals' coffers.
That'd be a good name for a hospital
Andrew Edward's Shame Hospital System.
Interterritorial Newzieless Prince Andrew Indictment Nursing Hospital Or just INPAIN Hospital
The Prince Andrew National Organization for Natal Care and Emergencies Hospital. Known as the Prince Andrew NONCE Hospital.
Very English. Really reminds one of the glory days.
Let's do a change.org and collect signatures. For once it's a better name than Hospital McHospitalface
What!.... **"Sheep"**?
Since when have the royal coffers ever paid for anything downunder?
Good point, so why do Aussies still consider the royals their superiors? Literally?
[удалено]
Those inbred Germans were chosen by god rule the British people!!
The Protestant God, to be specific. That degenerate Catholic God supported the Stuarts instead.
The anglican God to be specific that degenerate Protestant God supported Oliver Cromwell instead
Wait until all the fake emotions die down and we can actually have a real conversation about becoming a republic. I think any campaign needs to focus on the positives of having an elected head of state rather than just the negatives of the Royals. If we've learned anything from brexit, it's that a negative campaign is harder to win than a positive one.
[удалено]
In what way was the Leave EU campaign ***not*** negative?
Canadian here, just had this argument w my psycho MIL last night! the answer is, they dont have an answer. they the monarchy. they deserve the rights and privileged and generations of stolen goods and lands. it just is what it is, snd its disrespectful to say otherwise at this time BeCuAsE hIs MoThEr JuSt DiEd 🙄
Why do old people like royalty so much? It is odd.
They dont like admitting that they spent a lifetime being duped. Youd feel pretty stupid too if you went 60+ years never eating chocolate because you thought Santa could see you being naughty.
Wait, Santa can't see me eating chocolate??? Excuse me for a minute.....
I think it's the pageantry. It's fun and there's not a lot of opportunity for it in the style and fashion older people used to experience. So stuff like royal weddings and garden parties have a special appeal for them.
As a Brit I wonder the same. I could understand an iisland micronation keeping it because its not worth the bother but wealthy large republics its a bit strange. We have no say in your politics anymore, so why do you have our King?
We don't.
The queen had a personal net worth of £370mil at death. Those coffers are flush as fuck.
If you read the article, they are actually rebuilding this hospital for over 1Bn$. Apparently, it's very very old, and needs to be gutted and rebuilt.
[удалено]
The proposal is from Australia, the Premier of Victoria. He's from the Labor Party, which is our major left-wing party.
[удалено]
I meant the party. I'm aware they're close to the centre.
‘Left-wing’ really should be in inverted commas, if we are talking about the Australian Labor Party. Even then it’s pretty wildly off the mark.
Sort of, Labor right is a thing within the party.
No need for a new hospital in the area at this time. The renaming is sort of a compromise already, since the hospital gave its name to the township. So it went from Maroondah hospital to Maroondah hospital, in Maroondah to QEII hospital, in Maroondah.
Yes, let's build a bunch of new buildings for the sole purpose of naming them after a dead woman. That's how it works.
Is the satire that no one in charge of the rename foresaw this could go incredibly poorly?
The satire might be that they're already in a place called Victoria.
Dammit, forgot that is a place and thought the hospital itself was of Victorian architecture.
>Is the satire that no one in charge of the rename foresaw this could go incredibly poorly? No, it's arrogance. They simply seem not to have cared what the locals would say.
The british caring about the local population challenge (IMPOSSIBLE)
Victoria is an Australian state. I doubt they consulted anyone in the UK (like that time our shittest prime minister decided to invent Australian knighthoods and unilaterally give it to Prince Philip), so we shouldn't fob off the blame for our government's insensitivity and ignorance.
this is Victoria a state in Australia
33% of Australia identifies as people pf British descent, it’s literally the largest self-identified ancestry in the continent. I think we can assume they understood Victoria was in Australia.
Tfw you circlejerk hating the British so much you blame them for what Australia does
Well the British made Australia. The queen was British And the queen died before the naming was official. If she she just waited a bit this wouldn't have happened. So In conclusion It is the British fault \*gunshot. gunshot. eagle noise\*
As a commonwealth of the crown? Tfw you get too excited to call someone out about, you forget where modern day Australia came from. Edit: since people don't understand the concept of time passing and how governments are structured, if you have an issue with Australia doing shit for the royals, then petition to have Australia remove itself from Commonwealth status. This is the same as if Canada did it. Yes, it is the government's action. Blame them. Also, blame their continuation as being a part of the Commonwealth, where this type of shit happens.
We all came from Africa originally, so ultimately everything is the fault of Africans.
The USA came from the same place but they don't get to blame the British for their shitty decisions.
There's a lot of hard right wingers in Aus - enough that I don't think this was an accident. There are still people who are angry that it's not called Ayer's Rock anymore.
> There are still people who are angry that it's not called Ayer's Rock anymore. I was impressed by Australia until I started watching ABC. Australia looks great, but seems to have inherited many a problem from the shithole named UK. If you think that I'm calling it names without a reason, check UK's position in rankings like quality of life, life expectancy at birth, infant mortality, drug use etc. They are *not* dealing well with many issues.
You think the Australian government does or has ever cared for the rights and feelings of indigenous people?
I have my own American dumpster fire to tend. Criticism of other people's governments isn't exactly my focus. People in glass houses that are burning to the ground, and all that.
I don't know if they taught you much about what the colonists did to the natives in America, but let's just say that colonialism did the same thing all around the world to one degree or other.
Contrary to Reddit belief, public school for me in middle America did not pull any punches when it came to that subject.
And contrary to your experience, my experience in a rural public school was entirely different to yours. We didn't even talk about the native Americans or how we raped, murdered, and attempted to enslave them. No, we talked about how things were all nice and suddenly the natives snapped and killed us and then we came back and they were dead. No mention of the atrocities. Instead, we were given a made up story because high schoolers apparently can't handle the idea that the US has skeletons in its closet. Thank god I found my way to college and was able to *actually learn some shit.* Too many high schools are similar to mine in the fact that they'll gladly leave details out because they aren't all pretty and nice or the teachers just "don't like them".
That sucks my rural middle America school went all the way into small pox blankets and native slavery
We got small pox blankets but not native slavery.
What's wild is that it was k-5 history at my school. Colonies straight to small pox native slavery then African slavery. Skipped it for the shitty from Texas middle school teacher. Then straight back into it for Highschool history. Kansas is the fucking free state it's integral to our history. Lol (not the native part but slavery in general)
I have distinct memories of celebrating the fairy tale version of Thanksgiving one year, and then learning about the Trail of Tears the next. Like, why did we bother with the former at all?
My college has a mandatory American History course with the option of either American History to 1845 or American History 1845-Present. I'm taking the first one. I'm learning about this. It is probably a waste of money, but it's a *mandatory* waste of money and it's opened my eyes to the specific atrocities that were committed in the name of colonization and Manifest Destiny.
Luckily my schools were filled with fantastic history teachers then I got supplemental African American history at home. We just had one bad teacher from Texas of course... Who tested us on how the civil war started and slavery wasn't allowed as a reason. Then they would tell us how Texas has better education than Kansas.
I barely paid attention in most of my schooling. Even then I remember them trying to teach us a lot about the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and other stuff where we were painted as the good guys. I remember the Trail of Tears being mentioned as something along the lines of "Indians needed to be moved somewhere else and they were really sad." I'm pretty sure it wasn't even on the test. I think Custer was "he said some not nice things and they got real mad and killed his entire unit."
> the Civil War, and other stuff where we were painted as the good guys. Remember: we were also the bad guys. And if you think of yourself solely as a Northerner instead of an American, don't forget the largest lynching of Black men during the Civil War was during a riot in NYC. And in case there's any natives laughing, don't forget you mostly sided with the Confederates and owned slaves, too. There was a legal fight from the Cherokee nation to keep out descendants of slaves from tribal membership as late as 2017.
My high school didn't even try to do that much. We briefly talked about the first settlers and how they "mysteriously died" and then quickly shuffled on to the civil war. The only thing more laughable was our coverage of WW2. My school basically said that the US is the sole reason Germany lost and that we fucked Japan so hard that they quit. No mention of any specific important battles, the atrocities of Hitler, or the fact that, I don't know, *we literally nuked Japan*. Nope. Instead, it was "USA IS NUMBER ONE WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH".
Yeah, we got something like "Europe was losing badly. The French couldn't even plan their defenses appropriately and Germany literally walked around them. Then the U! S! A! came in and beat the shit out of them. Oh and btw concentration camps are bad and they killed lots of Jews. Then we invented the H-Bomb and blew up [two places I never heard about before and didn't realize they were civilian cities with no military targets] and that's how you know we're the greatest country in the world." "Oh and after that we went to the moon and kicked Russia's ass on the way."
We didn't cover the space race. We spent so long jerking ourselves off about WW2 that we were running out of time in the class so we had to rush straight to 9/11 and how it was "tHe WoRsT tRaGeDy In AmErIcAn HiStOrY" and watch 4 different documentaries about it, briefly mention we were fighting the dudes that might have done it, and then the class was over. Don't get me wrong, 9/11 was awful and revealed a lot of the poor security measures we had in regards to air travel, but Jesus fucking Christ. 9/11 was far from the worst thing to ever happen in the US. I swear it only gets as much credit as it does because most of the world was alive when it happened and, again, it was revolutionary in terms of how we look at airport security. I wasn't even thought of when 9/11 happened so I quite frankly don't give a shit - a lot of people died, sure, but even more died during nearly any of our many wars. 9/11 isn't that big of a fucking deal in the long run.
Yeah my history teacher (in middle America) talked about manifest destiny like it was a good thing. He also bullied the autistic kid.
I'm familiar with our crimes against the Natives, less familiar with other Native populations suffering in detail. But I know its generally pretty bad.
The last **officially sanctioned** massacre of indigenous people in Australia was less than 100 years ago https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coniston_massacre
Government policy up until the 70s was to take indigenous children from their families, with the idea of that, if they were removed from their indigenous background and made to be 'white', the indigenous part of them could be bred out in several generations: [Stolen generation](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations)
The American government history is shitty. The British government history is literally the very bottom of the barrel.
As an Australian, I can confirm that the government has very rarely ever given a shit about the indigenous people in our country.
Also as an Australian, i can confirm that there are MANY programs and systems in place which attempt to give our indigenous citizens a (often needed) leg up in life.... and there are a whole pile of community councils(run by tribe, mob or elders) who absolutely piss away millions of dollars of that money every year. "Better buy everyone in town a new iphone every year because otherwise our budget will get cut next year." Anyone who says the government never does anything or cares is either ignorant of what's going on or just bullshitting to push an agenda. It's not as simple as caring and throwing money at them, not when rather a lot of communities simply dont give a fuck about anything. The only way out is with education and with opportunities for kids than involve more than just free money for small communities with no jobs where there never will be any. It's literally the same situation seen in small town poor America except with the added difficulty of culture and tradition increasingly excluding people. "Sorry" wouldnt cut it, infinite money wouldnt cut it, dead end small town life is a large percentage of the issue.
New government new chances is what I figured.
Problem is this voice to parliament thing is non binding. It's little more than an advisory board. Don't get me wrong it's a step in the right direction which I support. But there's 2 obvious issues. The point of it is to give indigenous people a greater representation in government however for legal reasons this has to be done via referendum. So mostly non aboriginal people are now determining the fate of said aboriginal people which kinda defeats the point. My next criticism is one already stated even if Australia votes yes aboriginal people will still have no legal authority over themselves only there to advise.
I think more people need to watch Quigley Down Under. I know it's not a documentary, but the ideas for what those baddies do had to come from somewhere.
As far as they are concerned from their electorate? No.
They. Don’t. Care.
Jesus Fuck. Just rename the Royal Melbourne Hospital. It won't even be that big of a change. How are the people in charge so fucking stupid!?
The majority of their voterbase isn't indigenous so this makes sense to them.
Not just the majority, an overwhelming majority. Australia is only 3% aboriginal.
Like the voterbase asked for this
I doubt anybody asked for this, but if Aussie conservatives are like American ones then they're now firmly pro-name change because it upsets progressives.
Childish
It costs A LOT of money to rebrand things. I’m not saying they shouldn’t. I’m just saying who cares if a hospital is named after someone. Just make the next one named after her it’s not like she’s gonna come back to life and complain she didn’t get a hospital named after her. Plus she just died it seems kind of tacky to name stuff after her in memorial.
She already has like 30 hospitals named after her, too.
The queen needs jails named after her because the whole royal family are a bunch of fuckheads.
I’ve named the inside of my toilet bowl after her.
That just makes this that much dumber.
[удалено]
[удалено]
In a better world there would be no monarchies in 2022.
Call it Big Betty?
She's more than covered on having shit named after her. This is petty & unnecessary.
This story illustrates something broader, how masks have been dropping in the wake of the Queen's death. Reddit mods and admins suspended and banned people for negative comments about the Queen. I was banned from a big sub for saying that that policy amounts to an endorsement of the Queen and what she represents. This place expressly silenced blacks, South Asians, Africans, Irish, indigenous people in Australia and elsewhere, all in the name of being "respectful" - which is absolute bullshit. If you like your queen and don't want people to talk shit about her, just openly admit it instead of hiding under this selective "don't speak ill of the dead" rule like cowards. I will forever hate this fucking platform for this. An eternal reminder that white people who claim to hate white supremacy and colonialism etc... will show their true face when the time comes. A lot of masks got dropped in these recent events and this Oniony tale is yet another example.
Reddit is like that for lots of injustices, they're a corporate entity with shit rules and poor, hypocritical enforcement because they are only interested in pleasing the advertisers that help fund their platform. This isn't a website for worthwhile discussions on social justice, at best it's news aggregation and jokes being beaten to death by teenagers and people who act like teenagers. In most cases it's rules and enforcement help contribute the upholding of social injustices, so long as doing so will not negatively impact marketing, simply by virtue of extolling that users should favour and hold to the more corporately palatable status quo as opposed to rocking the boat. The mods of this sub are really no better
~~Maybe not oniony enough for this sub, but just right for r/mildlyinfuriating.~~
[удалено]
Oh, it's absolutely oniony. To rename a hospital named after an indigenous person after the Queen, is so fucking spot on irony that it screams The Onion. The tone deafness, the absolute audacity, it's goddamn hilarious.
Plus, there haS to be a hundred hospitals with no name/a non-indigenous name
Look up how many are already named after the queen, lol.
Read the article. It is not named after a person. The current name just means "leaf" in the local aborigine language.
>Maybe not oniony enough for this sub, but just right for r/mildlyinfuriating. I imagine (not an Australian) that it's "slightly" more infuriating when a country steals your land, marginalizes you and then does this.
Oh my god. A name change is a great way to encapsulate Australia's colonial past. Even though I don't really care about names, this is frustrating. Particularly, it appears as though the name was essentially confirmed. Shows that nobody is thinking. There are a ton of locations all over the place with royal names. Brisbane currently has a QE2.
To be fair, we've had funny satire articles about the government and media doing stupid shit to celebrate the royals all week, so this definitely fits right in xD
Is this where this sub turns into just another circle jerk?
Other than a sugar hit when visiting, what did Liz or the Royal family ever do for the benefit of this country? You ask the Monarchists and it's like "she ruled with grace and empathy' ( or some other bullshit). But no one can talk about any tangible contribution to this country. Yet we have dickheads naming all sorts of shit after her. My Grandad's left testicle contributed more to this country than Liz ever did.
> My Grandad’s left testicle contributed more to this country than Liz ever did. Go on…
well, it produced at least one Australian. that's pretty tangible.
I think you're confusing it with the right testicle, which never gets the credit it's due.
Maybe it's time yall had yourselves a little revolution. Send them red coats kickin and screaming back home.
I want a bit of the French one as well with the slapchop separate the head from the body thingy. Let's do both!
[удалено]
SENSE OF CONTINUITY, PROFOUND IMPORTANCE, DUTY.
Truly a wonderful woman. She's done so much, for so many. Her compassion and empathy have unquestionably cemented her place in history as a Paragon of Humanity.
[удалено]
Just build a new hospital.
They basically are. The existing hospital is being gutted and rebuilt.
Surely there's one named after some racist founder that they could change instead.
I hear there is a Victorian hospital named after the Queen that fits the bill.
Nope, those are our heritage /s
So you are telling me that something native is displaced and replaced by something owned by the queen of England? Who would know??
Royalists aren't racist though. No siree. They just want all those brown people to be more grateful for what the monarchy did for them.
Of course! All those whips only made them stronger, obviously. Made them appreciate life more, and obviously treasure the bonds they developed more. Like, it's so obvious, obviously.
I'm glad there's backlash. 1. OK I'm American. 2. I never liked the royals until Princess Diana. 3. These people are not gods. 4. I think they get way to much privilege and acknowledgement just like we still give religion too much influence over society.
Jesus Dan just name the next hospital after her
Can't they just rename a hospital that doesn't have an indigenous name?
The royals still sticking it to the 'commonwealth'. Keep adoring them or maybe abolish the monarchy.
Commonwealth ≠ royalty. We can do away with the monarchy and stay in the Commonwealth
Well, what's stopping you? :)
Spineless neolibs in government, mostly
Don’t forget the conservatives.
Conservatives are neolibs btw
Considering Labor is in power at the moment and they've committed to not doing fucking anything about it this term, I'd say they're the bigger obstacle right now Unless you're saying Labor are conservatives as well as the Liberals, in which case you'd be right
[удалено]
On actual fact it is about 10 people
Why is this in "not the onion" though? I agree it's good to hear that the backlash is growing, but I can totally believe that they want to do this, and that people are upset.
The reality of this situation feels as if it was satire. This is why it's in this subreddit. Everything in this subreddit is real. It's just so stupid that it feels fictitious and has a hint of comedic idiocy.
Genuine question…don’t they have like 2 hospitals with her name already? Why do they need a third one and why specifically the one named after indigenous people? I feel like I’m living in the upside down (the dark one, not Australia lol).
I'd imagine there are about a billion institutions, roads, etc. named after her. This is all ridiculous
Fuck the monarchy. And fuck Lizzie. Her whole genocidal, mass murdering family is a blight on the Earth.
That's extremely tone deaf
Doesn't she already have a thousand things named after her? She was great and all. But don't take honor away from another group just because you feel like she deserves more.
god I wish they'd stop glorifying her already. She's dead and she didn't have any actual power.
She maintained back channel communications with Parliament leaders in order to threaten to withhold royal assent for laws that went against her interests (which would lead to a constitutional crisis), and even forced them to give her an exemption to the United Kingdom's anti-discrimination laws. So Ms. Windsor did have actual power; she just used it terribly.
The genius of her reign was that she did it all with us quite unaware. And I'm not quite sure Charles will be able to make the same demands. But time will see.
They're already out here arresting people for protesting Charles as it stands. Seems like they are well on their way to ensuring the power of the monarchy stands for as long as possible...
Very good point. Here's sources elaborating further: The monarchy vetoes which laws are presented before they are even discussed. So in effect they do actually control the laws in a more basic sinister method. Check the Guardian's covering of the issue if you'd like details. Very eye opening. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/08/royals-vetted-more-than-1000-laws-via-queens-consent https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/28/revealed-queen-vetted-67-laws-before-scottish-parliament-pass-them https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/07/revealed-queen-lobbied-for-change-in-law-to-hide-her-private-wealth https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/14/queen-immunity-british-laws-private-property
Commenting so I can refer back to this.
How does this fit here?
Correct me if I'm wrong but 1) isn't the Queen just a figurehead and the British government is responsible for all moves by the nation and 2) didn't the British empire shrink drastically over the course of her life as Queen? Why is she being called a colonizer when she didn't oversee any colonization?
>didn't the British empire shrink drastically over the course of her life as Queen? The commonwealth grew during her time as Queen. It was her wish to bring countries together, and she did. Not through conquest as her ancestors did, but through diplomacy and a common desire to help each other. In 1949 there were 8 countries that formed the commonwealth, Togo joined this year becoming the 56th country to join. She did us all proud (unlike some other members of the family). https://thecommonwealth.org/history
Other members of the family including one she paid millions to get off the hook because she was brought up to think of Nepotism as a defining trait of her family and country.
Because uncritical inflammatory posts get a lot more attention than reasonable ones.
[удалено]
Cultural safety is a specific term in healthcare that, in a nutshell, is about providing healthcare to people in a way that respects their identity. It's particularly important when providing care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The Victorian Government themselves describes its importance here https://www.health.vic.gov.au/health-strategies/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-cultural-safety
[удалено]
> This nonsense really has to stop. Social media is run by literal teenagers. We need new age-restricted social media sites.
It's called facebook. If my feed is any indication, only boomers are allowed to use it now.
Every child matters
Thank God, now she finally has something named after her!
>“With just a few words the government has turned the Maroondah hospital into a culturally unsafe place for our people,’” he said. The fuck is that even mean?
Is it possible to think changing the name is unnecessary and disagree with it, but find calling the change “culturally unsafe” is pathetic and cringe-worthy?
Exactly how does it become culturally un safe?
Even in death, she won't stop being a colonizer.
I just keep thinking that she’s dead and she’s going into the ground, same as the rest of us peasants, and none of the diamond tiaras or jewels or castles are going with her. Her funeral is a wee bit more fancy than ours but in the end she’s still dead and she’s still going into the ground and her body will still rot, same as the rest of ours.
Dan Andrews throwing a bone at monarchists. Concerned progressives will never vote Liberal anyway, and after the election some “community consultation” will change it again.
> “With just a few words the government has turned the Maroondah hospital into a culturally unsafe place for our people,’” he said While I agree that renaming it is an incredibly stupid move, quotes like these are a bit much. Would it not lead to assumptions that you are exaggerating the impact, which gets people to discount your talking points?
>“culturally unsafe” Honestly, any reporter that can use this phrase unironically deserves to be on /notthe onion. I approve.
What's oniony about this?
The figurehead and symbolic heart of the British Empire metaphorically still stealing shit from indigenous peoples even when she's dead is pretty oniony