Honestly I have no idea what spurred this on in Sydney. Although I hate Sydney in general, who wants to see this crap happen anywhere? Who wants to see people act this way toward one another? Also just because I don’t like it, doesn’t mean there aren’t some cool people there, and there’s not a good time to be had. It’s just a populous city with populous attitudes I detest, but do I hate the people? No.

Apparently, there were several catalysts for the rioting. Rapes by Muslim guys, ethnic gangs on beaches. God only knows what. You could even throw terrorism in the melting pot. Either way, I am not disgusted I am dumfounded. We live in a country where there’s plenty for everyone. Politically and economically not perfect, but for the most part OK. It’s not like where in Europe where people have been fighting for sovereignty and borders for hundreds of years. We’re 200 years old for crying out loud. We’ve never had a civil war (and you’d be surprised to see just how many countries have, ie Malaysia 1969) or anything where the national guard have been called in. I’m not disgusted, I am saddened.

One thing is clear though, is that the sun was shining, the beer was cold, a few people were pissed with their phones and felt like a punch on. They might have seen something on the TV and thought, ‘hey let’s jump on the train and start some shit’. White or muslim, equally unintelligent. Of course a few serious nutters were in the mix, like White Supremacists and Actual real Ethnic gangs. But for the most part, it was probably normal working types, that donned overalls come Monday morning (or even suits) and brag about their prowess at the water fountain or building site.

If you are from overseas, there is injustice in Australia and it would be most prevalent in Sydney. If only because the outer suburbs vary tremendously in living standards and the inner city areas are so impossibly unaffordable. People for the most part aren’t truly racist. There’s just trendy stereotypes, like ‘lebs’ and ‘wogs’ and a need to fit into a crowd. But we don’t have the pitfalls of New Orleans or Paris at the moment. We just have red blooded idiots with a TV, baseball bat and a mobile phone, pissed off by the ever increasing stresses of life that want to be the shit out of each other. And it’s enough to make you want to stay out of the trendy spots forever.

All I can really think of is perhaps the media can take a different tack in their treatment of this kind of violence. Instead of inciting people to grab a slab and call or their mates and get on the train to the beach. If this ever happens in Melbourne, I don’t know what the hell i’d do.