Aussie Election Results

[Thumpalumpacus]

The unquestioned premise in this post is that assimilation automatically equals oppression. Oftentimes people assimilate voluntarily.

Forced assimilation is a form of oppression. Just ask Indigenous Australians. If people wish to migrate to Australia then of course there are some core Australian values they are expected to adhere to. One is that government is secular and not connected to church. Another is that people are free to practice their religions or cultures free from oppression. If they want to forget their cultures and convert to Christianity that is their choice to make, but it's not something that should be forced on anyone.

Well, if you're talking about Australia, sure, you may have a point. I don't know enough about your country's history to know whether you forced outsiders to assimilate or no.

Generally, here in America, we don't impose what passes for our culture onto others, except that business is usually carried out in English. But in the private sector, that is voluntarily and quickly losing ground to the smart business decision to, where possible, deal with limited-English customers in their own language; and in many state governments by printing official literature in multiple languages, depending on local demographics. Assimilation is not automatically opression here.

It does happen here sometimes (especially by private citizens who have a streak of xenophobia), and certainly has in the past, both officially and privately.

I certainly agree that forced assimilation is abhorrent. My own forebears, the Blackfeet tribe, were forced to do that; most chose to flee to Canada.