Continued:

Both countries are also still dealing with the legacy of living on stolen land. But these systemic and historic issues should not be so quickly confused with, or override, the often differing personal ideals, hopes, concerns and values of substantial sections of local communities and substantial numbers of well intentioned citizens. And this is where the challenge in America begins.

Many people are less readily categorized. Many appear to possess their own individual mix of values and beliefs – e.g. they may be ‘conservative’ on finance issues and ‘radical’ on the environment, or strong on law and order and the right to bear arms, but very ‘liberal’ on social security or health issues.

Shared cultural complexities

America, it seems, possesses just as many - if not more - cultural and social complexities and paradoxes as the land down under. If anything I find the easy divide in Australian beliefs (between loose left or progressive and loose right or conservative) leaves us looking somewhat more one-dimensional.

Australians don't like standing out from the mob in many respects (for fear of a 'tall poppy' lopping?) and seeking out commonalities and the like-minded tribe is a natural response.

America's so called 'liberal' media & 'public' opinion

By contrast, at the personal level Americans can feel comfortable holding more individualistic views. However, paradoxically, in the context of public debate much more simplistic and sharper divisions of opinion are fostered by not only radio shock jocks and talk show hosts, but by the success of self serving, right wing political machinations aimed at having all oppositional viewpoints (and there are many!) instantly painted as bleeding heart liberalism - and therefore something to be condemned and disregarded.

The overlooked right to effective free speech

The sad flaw with America's First Amendment on the right to free speech is not the right itself, but its lack of a meaningful context. It is the right to effective free speech (in a world in which so much of the media is monopoly controlled) that really puts any such constitutional right to its true test.

Australia by contrast has no such guaranteed right to begin with, and archaic libel laws are flagrantly being used to further limit the free flow of opinion and any serious attempts at exposing major wrong doings - no matter whether criminal or moral/ethical in origin.

Overwhelming goodwill towards Aussies

Cultural cross comparisons are always rewarding. I too subscribe to the notion that many of non-Aboriginal Australia's insecurities - particularly the 'cultural cringe', which despite some change still exists in counterproductive new forms, are to do with its relative youth.

Compared to the USA, Australia as a fellow 'new world' nation is still a teenager, but more and more appears to be moving towards adulthood. Hopefully part of this process of growth will ultimately involve reciprocating what I find daily to be most American's overwhelming sense of goodwill to Australians.

It is in this context in particular that intelligently separating party and state policy from the people (particularly during the Bush era) remains as meaningful in the USA as it is Down Under.

The value of learning from each other

To conclude, I'm beginning to feel that America and Australia really could learn much from the best aspects of each other’s cultures, social outlooks and policies. It would seem that - more often than not - where the approach seems weak in one, there is often a lesson of value and strength available from the other.