"No doubt the media will fall into the trap of
publicising the smallest
protest group as if they were spokespeople for all."
Well, a few of weeks back 500,000 - FIVE HUNDRED
THOUSAND - Aussies marched in Sydney over the harbour
bridge against the oppression of the Aboriginal
peoples.One of the key demands of the rally was that
which the anti-Olympics protesters are raising - that
Howard's government apologise, financially as well as
verbally, for the genocide against the Aboriginal
people, in particular the forced permanent removal of
tens of thousands of Aboriginals from their families.
Do you consider 500,000 people a grouplet? Geez, I
call it a crowd...have they ever gotten that much for
a sports contest in Australia? I would argue that
Howard (and you, perhaps?) is on the minority side of
this issue...
"Well, I see Australia as the host, but I see the
Olympics as international.
We have simply hired the hall and are now about to try
to make a profit out
of it. It's an expensive exercise, so getting the most
money back from
international guests who can afford to pay more than
the locals is a fiscal
move."
This passage raises the question: what are the
Olympics for? Obviously, since they are too expensive
for Joe Average, they are not for the delight of the
Aussie sporting public (they'll be on TV of course,
but you could have them in Albania and still get them
into Aussie TVs and living rooms). Are they for
profit? As you note, they are unlikely to turn a
profit. Very few Olympics in the modern era have
achieved this. So what are the blinking things for?
This brings me to my next point...
>Aboriginal Australians are bitter about the fact that
>the right-wing Australian government has consistently
>refused to apologise for the genocidal crimes against
>Aboriginals committed by its predecessors.
"This has got little to do with the Olympics"
This has everything to do with the Olympics. Look at
the history of the modern Olympics...Seoul 88: used to
legitimise the South Korean regime's phoney transition
to democracy. LA 1984: used by doddery Ronald Reagan
as a blatant re election device. Georgia 1996: used by
the state government and business cabal to advertise
the 'new South': ie to 'show' (remember who carried
the torch?) that the Confederacy was no longer full of
racist hicks. The Olympics are a giant advertisment.
They are nothing if not political...Howard is
heralding these 'Australian games' as proof that
Aussie has come of age as a nation, put its past
behind it blah blah blah Of course, the weeping sore
which is the Aboriginal people is a refutation of his
argument on this point. It thus needs to be made plain
to the world...
Howard wants to use the Olympics to tell a lie to
Australians and the world, and he shouldn't be allowed
to do it. Poets have a responsibility to do something
if they can to stop Howard, if they are aware of what
he is doing, because all poets are members of a
society as well as scribblers in garretts.
"Scott, it would be extremely hard to write a good
poem about the harm that
such a large international sporting event does to
low-income locals, but
that's what you should aim for"
Why? I'm not asking a rhetorical question here, I'm
genuinely interested in why I should do this. What
would it achieve, in your opinion? Would it improve
the lot of low-income locals (I'm not necessarily
saying it couldn't in some way)? How would it do this?
"& I thought I made it clear in
my earlier post that this Sports issue may be
triggered by the O/Games, but
it isn't about them."
It's not like the subject just fell from the sky
though, is it? There is a very large number of
possible themes for your issue. Why choose this one
over another one? Why has Snakeskin not done an
Aboriginal issue at this crucial time? For the same
(deeply political) reason that Howard has never given
a speech in an Aboriginal language?
"A good poem, without polemic, may be just
the social conscience this issue could use.Good luck
with it."
Thanks, but I'm a bit confused by the whole 'polemic'
thing. How can I know the difference between writing a
poem for you about the genocide of the Aboriginal
people - or for that matter the genocide of the Jews
or any other outrageous event - with a social
conscience (good) without lapsing into that horror of
horrors, polemic? Could you give me the criteria for a
polemic, as opposed to a poem with a 'social
conscience'?
"Your magazine is called Salt? There is a more
substantial one already by
that name. I'd quickly change it if I were you."
Substantial in what way? I'm willing to admit that
they have probably published more poems about sport
than us...Actually they pointed out a couple of years
back that they had they the same name as us. They told
us we should change ours. We told them they should
change theirs :)
Cheers
Scott Hamilton
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Date: Fri, 7 Jul 2000 09:57:43 +0800
Subject: Re: Will the games commence?
From: Andrew Burke <[log in to unmask]>
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>Andrew Burke wrote:
>Let the Games commence ...
>
>
>Hello all, I'm new to this list, I'm a Kiwi poet and
>editor of a little magazine
Welcome, sport.
>I think it's unfortunate that Andrew does
>not mention the very strong opposition to the event
>emanating from many parts of Australian society
Why should I? If it's a subject for a response, it's a
subject for a poem.
Write it.
>The Aboriginal community, especially, is deadset
>against the Olympics, which is not a genuine sporting
>festival but a commercialised farce with an entry fee
>unaffordable to the vast majority of Aussies.
Well, I see Australia as the host, but I see the
Olympics as international.
We have simply hired the hall and are now about to try
to make a profit out
of it. It's an expensive exercise, so getting the most
money back from
international guests who can afford to pay more than
the locals is a fiscal
move.
>Aboriginal Australians are bitter about the fact that
>the right-wing Australian government has consistently
>refused to apologise for the genocidal crimes against
>Aboriginals committed by its predecessors.
This has got little to do with the Olympics, and
nothing to do with Snakeskin.
>Anyway, things are looking like they will be
>pretty explosive come September in Sydney, and most
of
>the action looks like being off the track.
No doubt the media will fall into the trap of
publicising the smallest
protest group as if they were spokespeople for all.
The media does more to
polarise our society than any other sector.
The
>group(let) of poets centred around my little
magazine,
>Salt,
Your magazine is called Salt? There is a more
substantial one already by
that name. I'd quickly change it if I were you.
The question I want to raise
>here is: should Andrew Burke's zine and the poets
>around it be doing the same sort of thing, instead of
>getting caught up in the media-inspired hoopla
>surrounding the Sydney games?
Two things: It ain't my zine, it's George's. & I
thought I made it clear in
my earlier post that this Sports issue may be
triggered by the O/Games, but
it isn't about them. (Andrew BURKE wrote >>They do not
have to relate to
the Olympics in anyway - We're just using that as an
excuse to go
sporty!<<) Personally, I love the O'Games - while at
the same time knowing
it is run by humans, and therefore not expecting
perfection.
>which is why I have made this post, which will
>hopefully not be viewed as entirely grumpy in tone :)
Scott, it would be extremely hard to write a good poem
about the harm that
such a large international sporting event does to
low-income locals, but
that's what you should aim for. A good poem, without
polemic, may be just
the social conscience this issue could use. Good luck
with it.
>
>Cheers
Andrew
----------------------------------------
Andrew Burke Copywriting
[log in to unmask] Creative Writing
http://www.bam.com.au/andrew/ Editing
----------------------------------------
=====
"Why is it not possible for me to doubt that I have never been on the moon? And how
could I try to doubt it? First and foremost, the supposition that perhaps I have
been there would strike me as idle. Nothing would follow from it, nothing be
explained by it. It would not tie in with anything in my life... Philosophical
problems occur when language goes on holiday. We must not separate ideas from life,
we must not be misled by the appearances of sentences: we must investigate the
application of words in individual language-games" - Ludwig Wittgenstein
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