Anti-intellectualism
Is Australia anti-intellectualism? Labour member Lindsey Tanner believes so:
In a provocative speech to the Sydney Institute tonight (AEDT), Lindsay Tanner will argue parents are partly to blame for a culture of anti-intellectualism in Australia.
"There's a lot of evidence that we're still disdaining of learning, we're still regarding learning activity as something that `real Aussies' don't get into too much," Mr Tanner said on ABC Radio today.
"It's not an accident that our levels of education and our level of commitment to education and learning is significantly lower than comparable countries."
A British university's presentation of an honorary degree to Australian cricketer Shane Warne, who once famously boasted that he had never read a book, illustrated that many Australians regarded learning as "a bit of a laugh", he said.
Tanner adds:
He said it was "nonsense roughly equivalent to inducting John Howard into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame for his infamous bowling performance in Kashmir".
He confessed to being passionate about cricket but "when sporting celebrities proudly announce they've never read a book, they're telling Australians that learning is for nerds".
I wish Shane Warne would just piss off and die. And who cares about Ian Thorpe and his retirement? But I digress. I recall being sledged at rural public schools for being a know-it-all in late primary and early high school (funny enough, my marks weren't even that good in early highschool). In retrospect, I think the poor country clowns were just bitter. It is a shame that learning is frowned upon in many circles.
Doesn't matter. In the end, hopefully, the kids who chose to study will end up better off both intellectually and financially although these so called "cashed-up bogans" or CUBs are a tad depressing.
In a provocative speech to the Sydney Institute tonight (AEDT), Lindsay Tanner will argue parents are partly to blame for a culture of anti-intellectualism in Australia.
"There's a lot of evidence that we're still disdaining of learning, we're still regarding learning activity as something that `real Aussies' don't get into too much," Mr Tanner said on ABC Radio today.
"It's not an accident that our levels of education and our level of commitment to education and learning is significantly lower than comparable countries."
A British university's presentation of an honorary degree to Australian cricketer Shane Warne, who once famously boasted that he had never read a book, illustrated that many Australians regarded learning as "a bit of a laugh", he said.
Tanner adds:
He said it was "nonsense roughly equivalent to inducting John Howard into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame for his infamous bowling performance in Kashmir".
He confessed to being passionate about cricket but "when sporting celebrities proudly announce they've never read a book, they're telling Australians that learning is for nerds".
I wish Shane Warne would just piss off and die. And who cares about Ian Thorpe and his retirement? But I digress. I recall being sledged at rural public schools for being a know-it-all in late primary and early high school (funny enough, my marks weren't even that good in early highschool). In retrospect, I think the poor country clowns were just bitter. It is a shame that learning is frowned upon in many circles.
Doesn't matter. In the end, hopefully, the kids who chose to study will end up better off both intellectually and financially although these so called "cashed-up bogans" or CUBs are a tad depressing.
posted by Engels at 10:20 am
7 Comments:
THORPIE DAY!!!!
That was giving me the shits this morning, Sunrise couldn't do a single article about anything but Thorpie. JJJ was joking about making today Thorpie day, Sunrise actually went ahead and made it Thorpie day. They were talking about what he's going to do after swimming retirement, I actually changed to channel 9!!
I believe a lot of sportsmen, not just Australian can't read. David Beckham has said it before I believe, I know he said his young sons maths homework was too hard for him at one stage.
Don't we have a shortage of tradies anyway? They don't have to be smart, as in university degree smart.
Should just leave Thorpie alone. Yeah, Beckham doesn't strike me as intellect.
Apparently we do have a shortage of tradies. But I've also read the number of uni students is dropping. So where are they going? Hospitality? Mining? Managers at maccas (the government was criticised last year for giving money to Hungry Jacks to train employees)
I like to add that a couple of months back I heard a JJJ interview of a ghost writer on Safran. The ghost writer, who had written a book about a Western drug smuggler's ordeals in an Asian prison, said that many columns and "autobiographies" of sports people are ghost written.
Why am I even surprised?
The spanish media makes a fieldday of beckum, and his incredibly bad spanish skills. its been goin on for 2 years. now they resort to calling him the maticon - poofter!
Speaking of Warnie...
I'M GOING TO THE ASHES!!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Beckham is shocking at Spanish, eh? His control of the English language doesn't say much. He's got an alright kick though.
correction. 'marigon'. it appears old becks isn't the only one with shit spanish skills.
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