# An Australian perspective on how we view the US



## tomartom (Dec 9, 2018)

These are my own personal thoughts and I thought I might share them and would welcome any feedback on how Aussies are viewed.

First of all Australian politics here is much like a revolving door for our Prime Minister's, we have basically outsourced most of our manufacturing and rely heavily on sales of natural resources such as coal and iron ore and to a lesser extent aluminum, nickel etc.
Housing affordability is difficult for young people especially in capital cities with prices in and around 750k plus.
We feel a bit of Chinese pressure surrounding the South China Sea, and have difficult relations at times with Indonesia. 
In fact I see us as a one trick pony, if mining goes downhill then so does tge Australian economy.
Health and education seem to be the two big potitical issues when it comes to elections.
Aborigines still are not recognized as equals in a lot of peoples eyes, sad really they are our nations first people. Aborigines are over represented in prisons and youth detention, often have poor educational outcomes.

Here is how I view America,
Oil independant if they want to be (wish we were)
Huge amount of intellectual wealth but constantly at risk from espionage 
Huge amount of corruption in Washington 
Democrats are largely leftist in thinking?
A lot of tge show business are leftist?
Seem to have a divide about gun ownership
Products are cheaper than Australia, you have a larger pop and economies of scale.
Southern people are very polite, using sir and maam.
Still have more experience in military matters and superior even in light of internal political issues. Short for US is still very much no 1 militarily.
Much has been said about the rise of China but although they have
a large military, not as advanced and unproven.
Everything in America is big, cars, food serves and houses
Americans remember the contribution of Aussies and NZ's in ww2, Korean War and Vietnam, Gulf War 2, Afganistan and Iraq.

Anyway, that's all I can think of at the moment.
Regards Tony


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## pintail45 (Apr 26, 2018)

I agree with everything except for major corruption in Washington D.C. Is it there? Sure. But I don't see it as a huge problem, at least not one that I think about often. Compared to other major industrialized nations such as China and Russia, I'd say we're doing pretty good.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Before this thread is closed, I'd say pretty accurate at the moment, more or less from my view. Add in that the US is physically huge and the joke is everything is bigger in Texas...and that some of our car companies are actually stopping production of regular size cars soon (Ford says they will only make trucks and SUVs in the future...I think they will have to reverse that someday, maybe in 20 years, though.) Finally, we have a lot of weird native accents across the US, but we tend to think Australian accents are more interesting.


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## TN Hawkeye (May 7, 2018)

One thing to remember when it comes to the view of America that even Americans fall for is that much of the bigger lifestyle is a show. Many people here live outside their means in order to live a life of "show". Lots of people that have big houses and big cars live paycheck to paycheck or in extreme debt so that they can keep up with others. Many times the person driving the old beat up truck is more financially secure than someone driving a fancy new car. We see it all the time when celebrities file for bankruptcy despite living in a multimillion dollar mansion and driving a $200,000 car. Don't believe everything you see on the internet.


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## tomartom (Dec 9, 2018)

Ok, I certainly didnt want to start any controversy, probably come about by me watching The LCN, Connor Ward, The Grass Factor, Lawnocology, Paul's Prime cuts and GCF Turf. Just curious thats all.


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## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

Leave the politics out of this thread please and otherwise I don't see any problems.


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## marshtj (Apr 9, 2018)

Thoroughly agree with every above perspective, even the corruption comment. My opinion is that exists equally on both sides of the aisle.

The only thing I would add is that the majority of our national debt is owned by the Chinese.


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## dfw_pilot (Jan 28, 2017)

I used to fly with a bunch of Aussies; Brits too. It's funny and cool how y'all shorten everything, like Aussie Rules, Aussie Footy (lol) and such. They tried to explain how those are way better than the game we play with our space suits and such.

Y'all don't care for the Kiwis (who does?) and call the Brits POMs (prisoners of her majesty). The Brits, in turn, not to be caught out, call y'all BIFFO's, big ignorant "guys" from Oz, haha.

But most gents I flew with were very left wing, left of Bernie. They tended to be from the East coast/Sydney/Gold Coast area, whilst the more conservative guys were from WA and Perth. My guess is those regional differences are similar to what we have here in the US.

When asked why so many American tourists seemed so obtuse, I said "mite", if 1 out of 10 Americans are jerks, we have more jerks than the entire population of Oz, so you're bound to meet more than a few, haha!

My Aussie buddies just shake their heads when I refuse to give up my feet and miles, my guns, and my fast food, lol.

I'd love to visit someday, but with the timezone crossings and distance, it'll probably be a while before I get the chance.

Cheers gents, and thanks for being here. TLF is better because y'all are here, especially during our winters!!


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Oh yeah, speaking of shortening things...don't you guys also go to "uni" instead of "university" or "college"?

@dfw_pilot, I always get a kick out "you all" and its shortened form, y'all, being thrown around so liberally in Texas and the south in general. I've watched too much Chip and Joanna, lol, but as a northerner, I only use "you all" when there are 4 or more people in general, and never the contracted form. If it's 2 people, it's "you two", "you both", or even "you guys" (regardless of whether they are Male or female sometimes). Three people is usually "you three". 4 or more can be "you all". Lol. And "you people" is either funny or just rude. I wonder what the Wizards of Oz think of all this.


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## tomartom (Dec 9, 2018)

Yes we shorten a lot of things, probably the only country that eats its coat of arms. There is always a bit of banter with the Kiwis. Rugby Union is the only game played in heaven... (sic)
We used to be pretty laid back and some pqrts are such as north Queensland, and I think the Northern Territory. 
Oh, there are a lot of creatures in Aus that will kill or try and kill you, I think its a national pastime in the animal kingdom.


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## stotea (Jul 31, 2017)

marshtj said:


> The only thing I would add is that the majority of our national debt is owned by the Chinese.


That's only true if you only look at debt held by foreign countries. US citizens and the US government itself holds waaaaaay more than all foreign nations combined. Additionally, Japan holds almost as much US debt as China.


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