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When I was a
teenager I was at work one day and one of my work colleagues came into work
wearing a jumper with a U.S. flag on it. I said to him, “Why are you wearing a
U.S. flag?” He just looked at me and replied, “What’s the big deal, it’s just a
jumper?” I responded, “No, it’s a foreign flag, aren’t you patriotic?” It turns
out that he wasn’t, he didn’t really care about representing another nation’s
flag and he saw patriotism as silly. He liked American music, American fashion,
American culture, and he was very happy to represent it even by wearing the
American flag, despite being an actual Aussie.
From a young
age that idea of wearing another nation’s flag has never sat well with me, and
it shouldn’t. The flag you fly represents your allegiance. To this day whenever
I see someone wearing an American flag, or any foreign flag, I feel like saying
something. I don’t always do so, but I have the impulse. Many Australians will
wear the U.S. flag without thinking it is an issue. Not realizing how
un-Australian that is…
…Or should I
say, how un-Australian I thought it was.
Let me just
say before I go further, I have no issue with Americans, or their flag. I actually
admire how patriotic Americans are about their nation in a way that most
Aussies are not. My issue is not that at all. My issue is with a person flying
foreign colours. I just cannot fathom why anyone would do that and also be
proud of it. I cannot imagine the patriotic Americans I know wearing Aussie
flags. Maybe they would if they were on holiday here? But it just wouldn’t seem
right in any other context. However, despite these considerations, I have come
to realize something, it is not un-Australian at all to fly the U.S. flag, not
in the slightest.
Australia is
a psychologically fractured nation. It is almost as if our nation,
collectively, and historically, has had multiple personality disorder,
with two strongly competing
identities. One is the Australian identity that we are famous for, the larrikin
persona shown to the world by Crocodile Dundee and the Crocodile Hunter Steve
Irwin. The laid back, confident, speaking-a-language-most-Brits-and-Yanks-can’t-fully-understand,
Aussie culture that we used to sell across the world and the Simpson’s once
lampooned so well. The other Australian identity is that we are nothing more
than the loyal servants of a greater Imperial power. First it was Britain,
which is reasonable, as we were founded as a British Colony. But now it is
America. It is as if many Australians, especially in power, now just see
Australia as the 51st state of the United States of America. In this
framework we are the “little U.S.” that adopts every social issue the United
States pedals within a few years, loyally tags along on any war the United States
says we should, and completely subjugates ourselves to the foreign policy,
climate goals and cultural rule of the United States. These two identities make
up the dominant way Australia now presents itself to the world, and how it sees
itself internally.
When you
recognize these twin identities of the Australian nation, then you really can’t
say wearing an American flag is un-Australian. Because Australians can’t really
make up their mind about who they really want to be and have for some time now tied
their identity to their propagation of American culture, in many, but not all
of its forms. This doesn’t just have implications for fashion though, it feeds
into every level of society, and is causing Australia to quickly head towards
falling off a dangerous cliff. Because of our close relationship, really subjugation,
to America, Australia is gearing up for war against a nation that we cannot
beat, should not seek to fight, and have no interest in being enemies with;
China.
Australia is
not ramping up for war with China because this would be good for us, we have
always been a nation on good terms with China[1].
Australia is doing this because it is what is good for the United States[2]
elite and it is what is required of us by the United States elite to stay on
their good side. This has always been how Australian foreign policy has
functioned, our leaders have considered: what do our overlords require of us?
Australia
may be one of the oldest democracies in the world, but it is one of the
youngest nations, and before we had even settled into our national identity, we
tied ourselves very closely to our patrons in Britain for the first two World
Wars and then this was neatly handed over to the United States during World War
2 and beyond. Australia never gave itself a chance to become its own nation, we
have always been the loyal lap dogs of the greater Anglo-Saxon powers[3].
Don’t just take my word for it, here is Jo Hockey’s, the former Australian
Treasurer’s, take on this issue, as recorded by Caitlin Johnstone. Johnstone[4]
writes,
“As part of Australian media's relentless onslaught of
war-with-China propaganda, the government-run Australian Broadcasting
Corporation just aired a radio segment on RN Breakfast about the newly revealed
details on the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine deal, featuring two guests who
are enthusiastic supporters of the deal, and hosted by another enthusiastic
supporter of the deal.
One of the guests, Australia's former treasurer and
ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey, made some interesting remarks.
"This locks us in with the United States for decades to
come; is there a risk, as the smaller partner in this deal, we'll just have to
do what the US tells us when it comes to future wartime engagements?" host
Patricia Karvelas asked Hockey.
"Well we're already fully integrated with the United
States military, and arguably have been for more than one hundred years,"
Hockey replied. "We're the only country in the world that has fought
side-by side with them in every major battle for the last one hundred years.
And already today a lot of our navy has the Aegis Combat System, which is an
American combat system; our current Collins-class submarines use American torpedoes...
and in every major way, communications systems and integration, we already have
American technology, and we're integrated with American systems. So there's
nothing new here in that regard."
This is true; Australia is inseparably intertwined with the
US military and is in practice nothing other than a US military and
intelligence asset in every meaningful way, to such an extent that the US navy
is reportedly planning to use the country as a full-service submarine station
for the entire range of undersea activities in the Asia-Pacific region. In an
incredibly brazen admission that the Australian government has fully given away
the nation's sovereignty to a foreign power, Deputy Prime Minister and
Secretary of Defence Richard Marles said last year that the Australian Defence
Force is moving "beyond interoperability to interchangeability" with
the US military so they can "operate seamlessly together, at speed."[5]
There you
have it, Australia’s former treasurer has acknowledged the reality of the relationship
of Australia to the United States. One of subservience.
Johnstone is
also not kidding about the “relentless onslaught of war-with-China propaganda”.
Here is an example from Sky News which has been especially beating the
drums of war, “As an ally and partner of the United States, Australia will need
to do its part in coming to Taiwan’s aid if China reclaims the self-governing
island by force…”[6]
You can watch the full video here, it is less than two minutes long
and is quite ridiculous because of what it does not say. It does not mention
that tackling China is far out of Australia’s league, and it is especially so,
while we are allying with two nations that are far out of China’s reach,
whereas we are within its almost direct sphere of influence. We are taking far
more of the risk in this endeavour than either of the other AUKUS nations,
Britain and America. Remember, China is also our largest trading partner for a
reason, they are the dominant power and population in our region. It is the
size and wealth of their nation which makes them such an attractive trading
partner. So, we’d be foolish fighting against China for the very same reasons
that we trade with them, they are big, rich and powerful, in a way that we are
not.
People also forget
that Britain, supposedly[7],
went to War with Germany to save Poland. But while Britain won the war with its
allies, and succeeded in crushing Germany into smithereens, this did not
happened before both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia pulverized Poland which was
within both their sphere’s of influence. We are not as close to China as
Germany is to Poland, but we are certainly far closer to China and its allies,
than we are to the United States and are therefore in great danger of being
turned into one of America’s next proxies[8]
for war. After all, why fight the enemy at home when he can be fought abroad?
Isn’t that a staple of American foreign policy, and indeed that of other empires?
It is, therefore,
vitally important to take on board what Hockey says about the nature of
Australia’s relationship with the United States. When asked does this AUKUS
deal place us in the dangerous position of being required to go to war whenever
the U.S. requires it, Hockey correctly notes, “‘Well we're already fully
integrated with the United States military, and arguably have been for more
than one hundred years,’ Hockey replied. ‘We're the only country in the world
that has fought side-by side with them in every major battle for the last one
hundred years.’” In other words, we are, and have been for some time,
subservient to the United States and nothing in this regard has changed, it is
just becoming more entrenched. We are, therefore, in effect a U.S. auxiliary
force.
Rome never
went to war without its auxiliaries. Often their auxiliary forces were among
some of their best and most specialized troops as well. But this did not change
that they were merely subjugated peoples who did as Rome told them. We have
served as first a British colonial force and now as an American auxiliary force.
Australia has never gone to war primarily for its own interests, but always in
the interests of larger powers. This does not mean that our soldiers are not
brave and capable fighting men, they are good at their job, it simply
highlights that even at the highest levels of foreign policy, Australians do
not have their own identity. We serve the interests of a foreign empire. I
would argue this trend is also built into how we memorialize ourselves as a
nation.
Our most
memorable military day of remembrance, in deed our most important national day,
ANZAC Day, commemorates the first major battle where Australian and New
Zealander troops faced major casualties during World War 1, at Gallipoli, and following
from that all subsequent battles. The bravery, capability and honour of our
fighting men is without question. But let’s note a few things about ANZAC DAY.
First, the acronym ANZAC means: Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. So,
inherent in this national day of remembrance is our inclusion as a nation with
New Zealand, another nation sovereign in its own right and a distinct people. So,
our most sacred national day again highlights how Australians don’t see ourselves
apart from our allies on the world stage.
Second, recall
also what the battle of Gallipoli was about. We were there fighting alongside
and under the command of Britain in its attack against her enemy in the region,
the declining Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the effort we were engaged in was as an
auxiliary, or colonial, force fighting against an old and decrepit empire, ‘the
sick man of Europe’ as it was called at the time, that was far away from any
strategic influence on Australia, and incapable of attacking our nation anyway.
Our most treasured day of military remembrance is a day where we memorialize
fighting for another nation, as a small part of their larger war efforts. This
is not incidental. How a nation chooses to memorialize itself, will come to
determine how it sees itself, and will have a big influence on how it acts on
the world stage.
It is not
surprising then that Australia has always struggled to assert its own identity
on the world stage and struggles to forge our own path. We don’t have a Magna
Carta moment where our nobles asserted their rights against an overarching
monarch. Nor do we have a revolutionary moment where we threw the troops of a
foreign oppressor off our shores. Or even a battle of Britain moment, where the
very safety of our whole nation was under threat if not for a desperate stand
of our own independent forces.[9]
There has never been that defining moment where Australia asserted itself for
its own purpose on the world stage and forged its identity in that assertion.
The Rum Rebellion was a nonstarter. We have not even managed to say no to any
foreign wars in recent memory. Australia is a passive nation, bent to the will
of others.
Australia did
have to defend its shores in the past from bombing raids of the Japanese during
World War 2. But we even did that as part of a larger war effort, because we were
fighting alongside of our allies in Pacific, who had their bases here in
Australia. There has not been that integral moment where we asserted ourselves
on the world stage for the sake of Australia alone. Neither the North Koreans,
Vietnamese, Mujahedeen, Taliban, or other peoples we fought with since World
War 2 were our actual direct enemies. At least not until after we went there
and attacked them. They were called “enemies of our way of life” for a reason. Because
they did not oppose us directly, but indirectly by having a very different way
of life to ours. Nor were these conflicts for the defence of Australian borders
against an invading army. They were all conflicts where we fought side by side
with the United States for its imperial purposes.
Even our
efforts on climate change are dictated by globalist policy and not Australia’s
best interests. We are a resource rich nation which should be energy self
sufficient, yet we are not by decree of foreign agreements.
I have
written elsewhere on an extensive theology of alliances in the Bible, and I
don’t want to repeat myself here on all those points. I only want to highlight
this, one of the reasons God told Israel to abstain from alliances with foreign
powers was because they would lose their national identity in the process.
Alliances in that era included submitting to the gods of other nations in
rituals which bound the nations together with spiritual bonds. They also
included the trading of people, daughters as wives, plus envoys and traders, all
of which added together to bring an allied nation under the influence of its
major ally or allies. Israel in this way became more like Egypt, Syria,
Assyria, or Babylon depending on who the major power of the day was. Because it
copied the customs of its allies. This process is unavoidable and observed
throughout history.
Alliances
may not be sealed with the same rituals today that they once were, but they
have the same effect. The more Australia draws near to America the less
Australian and the more American we becomes; adopting many of their ways in our
own idiosyncratic forms. I remember one writer noting about Australia in the
60’s, when it was still largely also in Britain’s orbit, that we had made a way
of life that was more British than the Brits. This is now becoming true with
the United States in some ways. Major social advances in the U.S. are adopted
in Australia within years, our manufacturing industry, which was always
partially reliant on U.S. investment, now just skips to buying more and more
American products. Taco Bells are going up everywhere and Wendy’s is on the way,
to supplement Cost Co. and other American businesses. Our theme parks now
replicate miniature Disneylands, rather than reflecting the unique Aussie
society they once did. Heck, one of them is called Warner Brothers Movie
World. This process is just the ramping up of a process that has gone on
for decades. Our identity is being lost more and more. It is being subsumed
into the identity of our largest ally, like a small comet caught in the orbit
of the earth.
But worse
than that, it is being lost for a dangerous cause; the rising likelihood of war
with China. Something we do not need and we do not want. Yet, do we have a
choice? Johnstone shares this brutally honest analysis from foreign policy expert John
Mearsheimer, that
warns us, if we won’t align with the U.S. then were are the enemy of the United
States, “ if you go with China, you want to understand you are our enemy. You
are then deciding to become an enemy of the United States. Because again, we’re
talking about an intense security competition.”[10]
Does it now make sense why our leaders follow America so closely when it tells
us to? Because they know what happens to those who oppose the United States,
they suddenly find themselves in need of a dose of freedom to replace the
current “regime”[11].
If we had a
strong national identity all of these issues would still be pressures we needed
to deal with. But we would be dealing with them more from a place of confidence
as a nation and less from a state of fear. From a Biblical perspective I think
the only hope for Australia is to repent and turn to the Lord, and seek his
protection from being caught between two global powers. From a practical
perspective, I think the sooner we seek to extricate ourselves from foreign
entanglements the better off we will be in the future. There will be a cost, we
may drop in our standard of living for a time, and we may have to learn to
become more self-sufficient. But self-sufficiency is a good thing for a nation.
I also do
not propose that we switch alliances with the United States to then draw
closely to China and its goals. I propose that we step out as a nation to
determine our own destiny on the world stage, one based on non-interventionism
and friendly relations with surrounding nations. Rome was always able to find
new auxiliaries, for a very important reason, its auxiliaries were expendable
and readily available by going to war and subjugating new nations. We should
recognize this because we are an auxiliary force.
Like the
small store owner in downtown Chicago in the time of Al Capone, it is likely
our leaders don’t really think they have a choice but to do as they are told.
Nor did ancient Israel, hence it continually played the alliance game, which
led to the eventual invasion of their nation and exile for their people. But I
see no better future for our nation if we continue to play this game. As a
proud Australian, I would like to see us have a new desire to forge our own
destiny as a nation. I don’t see how going to war over Taiwan, against China
achieves that at all. In fact, it is almost certainly going to ensure that we
will not be able to stand on our own. Because if the U.S. wins we then become
more entwined with the imperial police of this region more permanently which
will create growing resentment for our nation in the region, and if the U.S.
loses, which is more likely, we backed the wrong horse, and our nation will
then be in imminent great danger.
We no longer
stand on the shores of Gallipoli. But maybe, just maybe, if every Australian
remembered how the British Generals and Admirals drank tea as they sent ANZAC
forces into overwhelming and impossible odds to die for a cause not their own, then
perhaps this might give us reason to pause and think. And perhaps this can stir
a little bit of long-term foresight about how we better assert our independent national
identity soon, before we no longer have the chance.
List of
References
[1]
Perhaps too close, in fact. Australia is too reliant on China for prosperity
and immigration, which is setting us up to replace America with China is a near
future date. Something which would not enhance the Australian identity at all,
but propagate as continuing submission to larger powers.
[2]
While I use America and the United States interchangeably in this piece, people
should note there is a distinction as the American halls of power are currently
dominated with a foreign elite who have foreign interests at heart, that are
not inline with those of the founders of America. Who you may remember were
non-interventionists.
[3]
Some people hate hearing me say this, but it is true. I don’t say it because I
like saying it, I say it because the truth must be named, and then we can
consider how to deal with it.
[7] It
didn’t, it went to war with Germany to maintain its hegemonic dominance of
trade in Europe and top place among the colonial powers. Britain viewed Germany
as a threat precisely because Germany was starting to assert itself on the
world stage just as the British Empire had for more than a century. The war was
less ideological than is often thought today and much more an extension of
traditional Great Power politics, only on a scale that brought most of the
world this time into the conflict. This happened precisely because the sun
never set on the British Empire, that is it became a world war, because the
dominant world power went to war. Germany was a threat, but without the
dominant world power getting involved, it could have remained a localized
European threat as it had in the Prussian wars with France in the 19th
century.
[8] A
proxy war is when one nation fights another nation through an intermediary. So,
for example when America was fighting Vietnam, it was really fighting Global Communism. Vietnam was simply the proxy.
[9] We
did have multiple attacks from Japan in World War 2, and our soldiers bravely
defended our nation from them here and abroad, but we stood alongside both
larger British and American forces, which were fighting those enemies and
defending their bases here in Australia, as much as defending our nation. This
is qualitatively different to an existential threat to our way of life by a
major invasion from a major power. But who knows, maybe our day is coming?
[11]
Notice how friends are always governments and enemies are always regimes. Spot
the propaganda. Certain terms are used to trigger an expected emotional response.
