Tasmania is a large island state south of the Australian mainland. It considers itself different from the rest of Australia, but is pretty similar. It is perhaps best known to Americans from the Tasmanian Devil, which is actually a somewhat diminuitive creature and not as fierce as the cartoons suggest. Tasmania does have a variety of interesting wildlife, although the settlers managed to extinct perhaps the most interesting, the misnamed Tasmanian Tiger. And they tried the same on the aboriginal peoples. Not exactly the British and other Europeans’ finest day.
The country is very hilly, very forested in parts, and has more sheep and cows than there are people in the Unitd States. Or so it seems. It has a spectacular coast, wonderful rain forest regions and some lovely hikes. The people are very friendly. Unlike the United States, it is an extremely clean country, no trash to be seen anywhere, although the cities have some graffiti. Tasmania, and much of Australia is also in the grips of woke ideology and whacko environmentalism. The guides love to spout ill-informed climate change nonsense, like ice extent is the lowest it has ever been in Antarctica and the Artic and melting is accelerating. The same garbage exists everywhere but China apparently. The Chinese now have the best scientists in the world and they don’t seem worried, in fact they are adding coal plants as fast as they can.
The youth of Australia look disturbingly like the youth of America. Self-mutiliation and decoration is popular. I. wonder if anyone stops to think that this is a clear sign of self-loathing. Obesity, especially among the young, is much higher than I remember from our last trip to Australia. And the gender insanity is here as well. The Chinese and Russians are doing a great job of spreading this everywhere in the West, and their comrades in academia are all too happy to assist. Whether Australia recognizes it or not, their future is grim if they don’t get a grip on the problem of how to give young people a sense of purpose and meaning; and a mission to help make society and the quality of life better. Just like the US, only whether people like hearing it or not, the US is already doomed financially and socially. Let us pray Australia avoids the same fate.
The public there, who I always assumed were a tough lot, were easily bullied by the covid fascists. A many-months pregnant mum was taken from her home by several police officers, arrested, for posting on FB, “Let’s go to the town square and protest these lock-downs.” It’s not hard to find many instances of police brutality there, all in the name of public health: “you might get a flu-like virus if you don’t follow the directive so we will beat the tar out of you until you comply with our orders.”