I am, you are, we are … (?)

It would seem that the politicians who are instrumental in maintaining democracy are using divisive politics (divide and  conquer strategy) to simply further their personal agenda, as well as the agendas of those who support them. Trump is doing this in the US, and similar is happening in UK and no doubt many other countries.

Australia is an interesting country because, like the US, it had its citizens long before being “discovered” by Europeans. Australia was also deemed the destination of choice by Britain for their law breakers. It was later determined to have significant potential and, in the 1950s and 1960s was the immigration choice made by many British families. Australia has a fascinating history … but what has that got to do with the US and divisive politics?

I recently came across a song, from the late 1980s, quite by accident and which made me stop and think “How unusual to find an interest in everybody working together, regardless of their background.”

I came from the dream-time
From the dusty red-soil plains
I am the ancient heart
The keeper of the flame
I stood upon the rocky shores
I watched the tall ships come
For forty thousand years I’ve been
The first Australian
***
I came upon the prison ship
Bowed down by iron chains
I bought the land, endured the lash
And waited for the rains
I’m a settler, I’m a farmer’s wife
On a dry and barren run
A convict, then a free man
I became Australian
***
I’m the daughter of a digger
Who sought the mother lode
The girl became a woman
On the long and dusty road
I’m a child of the Depression
I saw the good times come
I’m a bushie, I’m a battler
I am Australian
***
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We’ll share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian
***
I’m a teller of stories
I’m a singer of songs
I am Albert Namatjira
And I paint the ghostly gums
I’m Clancy on his horse
I’m Ned Kelly on the run
I’m the one who waltzed Matilda
I am Australian
***
I’m the hot wind from the desert
I’m the black soil of the plains
I’m the mountains and the valleys
I’m the drought and flooding rains
I am the rock, I am the sky
The rivers when they run
The spirit of this great land
I am Australian
***
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We’ll share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian
***
We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on earth we come
We’ll share a dream and sing with one voice
I am, you are, we are Australian
I am, you are, we are Australian
Written by Bruce Woodley / Dobe Newton
***
While there are no doubt individuals in Australia that are not in agreement with the feelings expressed in the song, there is sufficient support to suggest that  it becomes Australia’s national anthem! With a country generally endorsing the concept of unity, there is hope for us yet.
Take our Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, and fill it (56,000 people), and ask everyone to stand up. Ask those who came from another country to sit down, and it would be noticeable. Then ask all those whose parents were not born in Canada to sit down. Then repeat this for grand-parents and great grand-parents etc. It would soon become very obvious that there is a very high percentage of non-native people living here. We are pretty much all immigrants, so why would we not want to be treated equally? Why would we not treat others equally? Is it much different in US?
Let us hope and pray that divisive politics dies at the next election, and that the political will is then focused on unifying the population rather than dividing it. As for the song?

31 thoughts on “I am, you are, we are … (?)”

  2. I think that it is going to take a long time to reunite the United States after Trump is hopefully voted out of office. The base supporters of his hate are now out from under the covers, and will carry on for him if he is voted out. We may be at the point of no return.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Sadly, like you I think it will be decades before the great divide heals, if ever. It is true that many are fed up with the madman in the Oval Office, but his base remains a steady 40% or so of very bigoted people who translate Trump’s slogan into “Make America White Again”. Trump is truly only the head of the snake … the rest will remain long after he’s gone, unless we find a great statesman who can unite the people, and I don’t see one on the horizon.

      Liked by 1 person

      • There is a perspective that says “If you want a diverse group of people to act as one … threaten them as a group”! Sadly, not only does a war stimulate the arms industry. bu it makes allies out of the most unlikely groups. The way Trump is “playing” with Iran, that threat may be coming sooner than any of us would like. If that’s the price of unity,then I think we would all agree that it is a very high price to pay.

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  3. In the moment that I read the first line of this song, I knew it was The Seekers! I discovered them way back in 1966 when a group of my fellow nursing students and myself attended the movie “Georgy Girl” and heard their song by the same name. Their album “Georgy Girl” was released in late 1966, though titled “Come the Day” in England which was another song on the album. That album was played often and loudly in the dorm halls! This song is on the October 2002 album “Night of Nights…Live”. It is a marvelous 2 CD collection that also has their version of one of my favorite Peter, Paul and Mary songs. “Puff the Magic Dragon.” Be that as may be, I must commend you on this eloquent post and the addition of “I Am Australian” is perfect. Divisive politics is becoming the norm the world over, and it must end. Thank-you!

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  4. Good post and yes I truly hope and pray that things do change with the next election! That there is more acceptance of all knots of people. We all have our own unique characteristics and our uniqueness should be something to celebrate not to look down on.

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  5. I am an immigrant too here in Liechtenstein although I have lived here for 40 years of my life. Since the country is so small, at least a third of the population are immigrants. And that is a very good thing. Yes, why is it such a problem to accept immigrants simply as people we are living together with? We can only win in using all the wonderful differences everybody brings in!

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  6. Nice poem. I think politics will always be divisive. That’s the nature of it. But it’s one thing to be divided on differences in philosophy, and another to be divided by personal attacks. The two sides, left and right, have belittled each other so much, that it’s hard for them to develop trust in each other, and achieve compromise or find common ground. Candidates who can restore mutual respect and trust are probably our only hope for overcoming this kind of divisiveness.

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