The Sydney Morning Herald Letters Jan 28, 2002 Repressed memories of a repressive regime
Has any other ex-South African who lived through the P.W. Botha era in South Africa experienced the unexpected shock of recognition, the crawling feeling that I have watching Philip Ruddock on TV? The contemptuous stare; the absolute assuredness, as if God (whatever or whoever Mr Ruddock's is) is at his right-hand side; the monotone of speech delivered with no emotion other than contempt; the emulation of reason to describe acts of barbarism. Shivers run through my spine when I see or hear Mr Ruddock speaking, and I have to turn the TV off to release the trigger of fear and despair that I had forgotten I had, but now realise will be with me until the day I die. Keith Wolfson, North Parramatta, January 25. What I find most distressing about the attitudes of those who support the Government's refugee policy is the amount of anger displayed. Given that the Woomera refugees are, by any account, poor, homeless, powerless and disheartened, why is it that so many Australians feel the need to speak vindictively about these individuals? What is it about us as a nation that has left us so eager to hate, so unwilling to share our riches with those less fortunate? Douglas Wilson, Watsons Bay, January 25. -- ------------------------------------------------------------ "The power of accurate observation is commonly call cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/ until 11 March, 2001 and Recoznettwo is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznettwo%40green.net.au/ from that date. This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
