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As for politics, I can only answer that as far as I'm aware of the polarisation.
And I feel I should put some things in context before I try to tackle the question.
Firstly, that growing up John Howard and the Coalition party were in power for the majority of my politically aware life. (Hawke and Keating were PM's when I was younger, but really I wasn't aware of it). So, the Howard Years were, for a long time, my measuring stick when it comes to what is polarising, what is conservative and what is liberal.
If anyone is interested, here's a run down of the 'basic' outlines of our political parties.
[SPOILER=This is for anyone interested in reading the basics of our major political parties.]
This isn't a complete explanation. Just a very basic one.
The Liberal Party- Despite their name, they're our conservative party. They are meant to represent enterprise and businesses. They mainly only run in the city areas. They leave the country areas for The Nationals.
The Nationals- The country cousins, for want of a better term, for the Liberals. They represent the concerns of rural Australia.
Together, the Liberal and the Nationals form what's known as the Coalition. Despite being two separate parties, they often vote together and have basically the same guidelines/party lines.
The Labor Party- Finding their roots in the union movement, they're now the other major political party in Australia (though, they are on shaky ground after the last election). They're the left-wing/liberal movement. They will often form an alliance with The Greens.
The Greens- Environmental party. But also quite vocal on other social issues, like marriage equality.[/SPOILER]
With all of that context out of the way, I'll now attempt to answer-
I don't think our politics, in general, are overly polarising.
When Howard was in power, we became more conservative as a nation and our political parties reflected that, even the left-wing ones. So, polarisation isn't really something that happens, as much as our political pendulum swings and brings everyone to either the Left or Right.
On a personal level, politics don't tend to polarise individuals. I have more left-wing friends than I do right-wing. But it's not enough to stop a friendship and just because someone is right-wing about one thing, it doesn't always follow that they'll be right-wing about another. (Example- I have a friend who is Pro-Life but who regularly posts in support of same-sex marriage. Go figure!)
And I should mention, the man you saw in that ad, is a footballer turned commentator on 'social issues'. Australians, for some unknown reason, still hold up anyone who's thrown a ball around to be an authority on everything else.
Luckily, in the case of our Australian of the Year (Adam Goodes) it can sometimes be a good thing. But it's usually a rare occasion.
I really only drink soy milk in coffee. But I like it! I love soy icecream too. I was always told it was yuck, but I enjoy the nutty flavour.Originally Posted by Yingchen
Omg, those 'Lamb for Australia Day' ads are so cringe-inducing. But I laughed at the soy aftertaste ad......... *guiltily hands back vegan badge*
I love the taste of soy milk though, even the ones with a super strong aftertaste. I've been drinking it long before I even knew what vegetarian or vegan meant. But the aftertaste can be pretty disgusting in coffee.
Speaking of the Lamb for Australia Day ad, how liberal/conservative/polarised are Australian politics in general?
As for politics, I can only answer that as far as I'm aware of the polarisation.
And I feel I should put some things in context before I try to tackle the question.
Firstly, that growing up John Howard and the Coalition party were in power for the majority of my politically aware life. (Hawke and Keating were PM's when I was younger, but really I wasn't aware of it). So, the Howard Years were, for a long time, my measuring stick when it comes to what is polarising, what is conservative and what is liberal.
If anyone is interested, here's a run down of the 'basic' outlines of our political parties.
[SPOILER=This is for anyone interested in reading the basics of our major political parties.]
This isn't a complete explanation. Just a very basic one.
The Liberal Party- Despite their name, they're our conservative party. They are meant to represent enterprise and businesses. They mainly only run in the city areas. They leave the country areas for The Nationals.
The Nationals- The country cousins, for want of a better term, for the Liberals. They represent the concerns of rural Australia.
Together, the Liberal and the Nationals form what's known as the Coalition. Despite being two separate parties, they often vote together and have basically the same guidelines/party lines.
The Labor Party- Finding their roots in the union movement, they're now the other major political party in Australia (though, they are on shaky ground after the last election). They're the left-wing/liberal movement. They will often form an alliance with The Greens.
The Greens- Environmental party. But also quite vocal on other social issues, like marriage equality.[/SPOILER]
With all of that context out of the way, I'll now attempt to answer-
I don't think our politics, in general, are overly polarising.
When Howard was in power, we became more conservative as a nation and our political parties reflected that, even the left-wing ones. So, polarisation isn't really something that happens, as much as our political pendulum swings and brings everyone to either the Left or Right.
On a personal level, politics don't tend to polarise individuals. I have more left-wing friends than I do right-wing. But it's not enough to stop a friendship and just because someone is right-wing about one thing, it doesn't always follow that they'll be right-wing about another. (Example- I have a friend who is Pro-Life but who regularly posts in support of same-sex marriage. Go figure!)
And I should mention, the man you saw in that ad, is a footballer turned commentator on 'social issues'. Australians, for some unknown reason, still hold up anyone who's thrown a ball around to be an authority on everything else.
Luckily, in the case of our Australian of the Year (Adam Goodes) it can sometimes be a good thing. But it's usually a rare occasion.
