My Sudanese lecturer's observations on AUS vs Sudan

[DaRick]

I was talking with my Sudanese lecturer about a week ago. For some reason, we then began discussing the differences between Australian people, Sudanese people and also feminism. What he said (roughly and probably abridged):

"Australian people are warm on the outside and cold and distant on the inside."

"It is very difficult to make close friends in Australia, compared to Sudan."

"Australian people are quite simple - many are not very philosophical."

"Many of the Australian girls are quite good at absorbing facts and then regurgitating them, but they're not very deep." (when discussing why Anglo girls could achieve academically yet have little in the way of intellectual curiosity or general knowledge)

"Many students here wear skins [i.e - masks]."

"Feminism did have its uses, but it no longer has any and is about something very different from equality."

He also found the drinking culture within Australia and the general promiscuity objectionable - but then again, he is a Muslim, so I wouldn't expect him to go binge drinking every night.

I'd expect that pretty much all of you (especially Winston) would relate somewhat to these statements, at least.

[Repatriate]

He might be right but there's little credible reason for him to compare the Sudan with Australia. It's not even in the same ballpark of development.

[DaRick]

He might be right but there's little credible reason for him to compare the Sudan with Australia. It's not even in the same ballpark of development.

Well, he wasn't comparing them economically or in terms of human development. That would be a one-sided discussion, to say the least.

He was comparing them from a social perspective. People's social habits do not really contribute to economic imbalances. Even culture's effect on such imbalances is sometimes unclear (case in point, Saudi Arabia vs Sudan - both Islamist states but Saudi Arabia is much wealthier). No, third-world people are third-world mainly because of third-world governments. So, if Sudan was of equivalent wealth to Australia with a similar form of government (i.e - a parliamentary monarchy), there's not a lot of reason to suggest that the Sudanese people would behave in the same manner as Australians. Anglo/Australians are a particular group of people. Even Continental Europeans behave differently from those in the Anglosphere - and their wealth is roughly equivalent.

So what's wrong with the comparison in this context?

[Winston]

Sounds like the US, except maybe less extreme.

If you lived in LA though, you'd probably think Australia was a pretty open and friendly place in comparison.

When people live more materialistic lifestyles in accord with economic progress and growth, there is less human connection for some reason. Yet the media sees economic growth as a win-win situation for everybody without consequences or trade-offs. The media is not deep or spiritual at all. lol

Btw, I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to move this thread to the Australian board, since there are hardly any topics there and it looks so empty that it could use some