Australians had an alternative name during the First World War. Aussie was the name that was given to the Australians who had an ancestral ties with the Ireland or Britain. The term was initially used to refer to those people with strong personalities who would be able to fight through the toughest times in their (Peel) lives. The term continued to be used after the Second World War to refer and essentially to distinguish persons who were born in Australia and those who immigrated from Europe and other parts of the world. Most of these immigrants were coming from the southern and western parts of Europe and therefore the need to create a disparate characteristic and name for those who were originally born in Australia. The name has continually been used in the present times to refer to the Australians who are representing their country (Clark) to the world. Despite all this the name Aussie has been regarded by some commentators to be an anachronistic and very Eurocentric name since it has often been used to refer to the inclusivity that the Australian society has for the people of the outside world. It is essentially a nation that has a high commitment to inclusiveness in the aspects of race and ethnicity.
Orientation of the Australian people
This goes to the question of Identification of the Australian people. The name Australia had its adoption and became very popular (Clark) at around 1817. It was majorly coined by a British governor who was responsible for New South Wales. The name came about from the reference that was done to the Australian land. During this time it was fairly known as the Southland which was unknown. This, translated in Latin referred to Terra australis incognita. The name was widely used among those who made maps at the (Peel) time. Since very early Australia has been a receptor for many immigrants from all over the world. There also exist some other members known as the Aboriginal group. The peculiar attribute is the fact that there are sharp and distinctive features in the cultures of the disparate cultures that exist in Australia. These disparate facets have existed for a long time and have no prospect of disintegrating into major cultural practices. This aspect may be attributed to the fact that there exists fundamental differences (Clark) such as the skin colors that essentially signify different colors. The Aboriginals are the indigenous members of Australia. They have their own practices and have a black skin which is close to the Africans. On the other hand the British immigrants brought with them their forms of culture from Europe. From the early times there has been a contention on whether to assimilate the cultures into one British Australian culture. This proved to be futile. Luckily in the course of the 70’s there was a push for multiculturalism which was well received by the population in Australia who were very reluctant to accept the cultural changes. There was a popular notion that Australia was an amalgamation of different kinds of diverse culture. This is the notion that has been in existence for a very long time. Despite this acceptance, there are cultures that are still looking for a chance to be expressed in public life. This essentially originates from the differences in the social nature of lives that the two groups lead and have developed over time in the aspects of gender, social class, ethnicity and race.
Affiliation in Linguistics
The dominant language that is used in Australia is English. There are however others who use multi-lingual modes of speech. This is however different for some of the immigrants and Aboriginals who continue to use their native languages that are distinct from English. Before colonization by the British, there were around 250 languages spoken (Peel) by the Australian Aboriginals. Currently there are about ninety languages that are spoken by the Australians in which only close to 20 languages are spoken fluently by the Aboriginals. The aspect of the languages affect the accent that some of the speakers (Clark) have. Despite the fact that English is the predominant language that is used in most schools, some of the natives seek to include their local language to the education system through legislation.
Symbols
The national flag has been crafted in a manner to establish a sense of nationalism. There has been a movement from the colonial notions with some of the major pointers being the fact that the verse on the Queen of England was converted to advance Australian interests as opposed to British interests. There are many Symbols in Australia which give the notion of the far that all the societies in Australia have undergone. Some of these features include war monuments and the images of the Koalas and Kangaroos which symbolize a national outlook (Peel) of the Australians.
Ethnic Relations
Some of the immigrants in Australia came to the Continent as early as 1850’s where the Chinese were among the very first people to immigrate to the continent. The immigration process happened in series and the British immigration came in later at around late 1940’s. Most of these groups were those who were displaced during world war one. The largest number of immigrants featured immediately after the Second World War. The level of immigration has reduced in the recent past as from 1980’s. There is a lot of difficulty in the gaining immigration status due to the restrictions that now exist in the country to avoid over population.
Urban Culture
Most of the population reside in the fertile areas in the coastal regions because of the harsh climate that exists in the interior regions of the continent. Close to 70 percent of the people lives in just 13 cities in Australia by the year 1991. Two of the thirteen cities, that is Sydney and Melbourne basically accommodates close to 40 percent of this population. This has caused a sharp disparity between those who dwell in the urban regions and those who dwell in the rural and bush areas of Australia. This difference has even caused the two faction to have non-common interests. The cities themselves have a low density in the structure of housing and most people use their personal cars. The government has for a long tome structures a way to increase tourism in (Clark) Australia.
Food and Economy
The nature of food that is taken by the population in Australia include vegetables, bread, meat and even potatoes among many other modern foods especially those that are obtained from the natural habitat. Way before colonization by the Europeans the Aboriginal people of Australia used to survive on mere natural foods that naturally occurred in the surrounding including edible animals that traversed the expanse (Fitzpatrick) of the Australian continent.
After World War II the food culture has tremendously changed since there are diverse cultures who migrated into Australia after being displaced in the war. Each immigrant, not limited to Asian, Greek, Italian, German and Jewish origin, had their food cultures which they could not part with. Wine drinking also tremendously increased after the Second World War.
Political Life
The nature of government In Australia is basically a parliamentary democracy. This is because they have adopted the form of government in Britain. Their elections are held after about three to four years in the positions of territorial, state (Fitzpatrick) and Federal government. All citizens must vote at the federal and state level. The local government does not necessarily require any voting. The features of the political system in the parties draws its essence from the arrangements that were done in the early stages of the 20th century. These arrangements applied to the commonwealth nations. The levels of government are three which is the federal government, the state government and the local government which are led by prime minister, state premiers and the mayors. The nature of election is democratic. The higher the official, the more important he or she is in the making of policies. The military activities are arranged in a similar manner (Fitzpatrick) as any other modern country. However only twelve percent of the positions in the military are held by women.
Social Welfare
The social welfare mechanisms done in Australia are done under the principles of equity. Since after the Second World War the government has decided to issue all citizens with equal levels of social security. There is also increased and equal access to social services by the population in Australia. Despite all these improvements, Australia still faces social welfare challenges which aren’t limited to extreme poverty among others, child care, aging population and increasing unemployment levels. The country has had a lot of social welfare provisions that have effectively guided it to perform its duties well with regards to social welfare. It was Australia which was among the very first countries to vote in women into leadership (Fitzpatrick) positions.
France: A Historical Perspective
At the outset it is obvious that there are very fundamental differences between France and Australia. The present Australia is a multi-cultural nation with people originally from all parts of the world in it. This significantly began at around the period after (Price) the Second World War.
France on the other hand has a very rich history with much of its leadership and government starting at around 800-1589 AD. At this time the regime was majorly a Feudal Monarchy which had competing claims to authority and governance between the political and religious factions. There were several institutions at this time which brought about disparate interests which weren’t limited to the interests of the commoners, the clergy, the nobility and the (Ladurie).Three Estates. They were however majorly concerned with territorial consolidation. After this came the period of Absolutism which came after between the years 1589 and the year 1715. This was the time when international system of states were emerging. With this new realization there were fundamental changes with regards to the landed nobility who were disempowered during this (Ladurie) time. Power was centralized to one body and authority. Later after this came the Feudal reaction period in which there was a growing competition on the international state system which was realized previously. Capitalism started encroaching during this point in time. With the enlightenment of the age, many people started to question the essence of the (Ladurie) feudal land owners. A lot of tension was seen between the aristocratic class who had the land and the peasants who led pathetic lives. It was at this time that there was a repressive agriculture on the question of labor provision. Similarly there was a lot of authoritarianism that was experienced during this time. This age was followed by the revolution era in which there were wars and was characterized by a lot of ideologies, terror and increased conflicts. Capitalism at this stage was restructured to conform to the required standards. Various periods followed his revolutionary period. They included the Revolutionary instability period, the Third Republic period, the Vichy period, the Fourth Republic period, the Fifth Republic Period and the Fifth Republic (post-Gaulist) period. The social and economic attribute of early France rotate around the question of Land and property distribution. There was no equality at all with regards to land and property holding rights. There existed the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat who had distinct and disparate economic empowerment. This even later led to the uprising and the French revolution which was led by Napoleon Bonaparte. Most of the peasants at this time were related to working in farms and majorly depended on agriculture. They used to be tenants in the land that was held by the landlords who were exploiting the poor. There was also the class of the nobility who were more interested in shaping the society in accordance (Price) with God’s will. The nobility on the other hand to some extent aided the king in the administration of the Kingdom. There were the administrative nobility and the parliamentary nobility who were concerned with ruling and making decisions respectively. France later developed such that in the 18th century there already existed trading and petty cash industry. This developed to the development in the commercial aspects and the industrial development of the country. Later grew the class of merchants and working (Price) men and women. This developed gradually to the current France which has some of the best economy in the world. It is a leader in almost all aspects including cultural aspects.