Why are Australians so jingoistic?

From Wikipedia:-

Jingoism is extreme patriotism in the form of aggressive foreign policy. In practice, it is a country's advocation of the use of threats or actual force against other countries in order to safeguard what it perceives as its national interests. Colloquially, it refers to excessive bias in judging one's own country as superior to others – an extreme type of nationalism.

(Emphasis mine, to identify the specific definition I am referring to here)

I was on YouTube a few minutes ago, looking for the film clip of Christine Anu's song, "My Island Home." For some reason I've had it on the brain recently, and also heard it on the radio three times in one day last week; so I've been trying to identify the synchronicity (if any) involved; it certainly seems as though someone's trying to tell me something with it, and I'm trying to figure out what it is.

Yet in simply wanting to listen to the clip, I unfortunately also couldn't avoid seeing the comments referring to alleged Australian superiority.

Economically and environmentally speaking, I genuinely am very grateful to be living in this country. The geography is extremely beautiful, and we are truly fortunate to maintain the level of comparitive economic stability that we have right now.

Socially, or in terms of the people, however, I truthfully feel exactly the opposite. Although there are exceptions to the rule, (such as my recent visit to Nimbin) Australians have consistently demonstrated themselves to me, as being among the least intelligent, and most anti-intellectual and politically apathetic populations on the face of the planet. Alcoholism, racism, and extreme, Neanderthal violence, in my experience, are the three defining characteristics of white Australia. I recently made friends in Nimbin with a forty year old English man who was widely travelled, and has been to a large number of different countries, and when I mentioned that to him, he agreed, which causes me to think that my opinion has some authority behind it.

The tendency towards triumphalistic, chest-beating jingoism also contributes to this view. Australian nationalism in my perception is usually a deeply ugly thing, and is often heavily associated with racism.

I've also noticed that this has increased, as Australia has become more politically and economically intertwined with America. Australia has no true seperate national sovereignty from America at this point, in practical terms; it is in name only. Julia Gillard and John Howard have both been transparent deputies of Washington, with Gillard moreso than virtually any other leader in Australian history, that I am aware of.

I have tended to suspect that this has come as a result of Australia gradually importing more of America's culture, as our level of economic imports from America also increases. America has always been a chronically, indeed fundamentally and systemically racist country, having exterminated one ethnic group, and enslaving another, at different points in its' history. So regrettably, it makes sense that as Australia increases its' ties with America, the negative elements of that country's culture would also rub off.

I would like to invite other Australians here, to remember that, as is true on an individual level, the strongest form of self-confidence, is paradoxically generally that which makes the least noise. Bombast is nearly always associated with the opposite of self-worth; insecurity, narcissism, and neediness.

Australians used to have this. We used to have a belief in our country which did not need excessive vocalisation. It was an internal thing, and it was much stronger and more real as a result of that. The sort of jingoism that I encounter now, is also exclusionary; it's virtually always expressed by Anglo-Celtic white males, and the goal is usually the same. By perceiving themselves as inherently "better," they imply that everyone else is worse.

I am not trying to discourage anyone from valuing the country, at all. There is much to value about Australia, as I have said. However, the next time you are feeling patriotic, I'd ask you to verify experimentally, whether or not you can actually make a more potent expression of such, by doing so silently. Sri Ramana Maharshi, a sadhu of India, often spoke of the comparitive power of silence over words; and I have come to believe that that power is a real one. Internalise that energy, and draw strength from it. Do not dissipate it, by projecting it outside of you.

Barely a whisper in response to this, I've noticed.

It can be fascinating, at times, to observe how the groupthink operates, on this forum. I remember a while back that I wrote a thread that was critical of Islam. It went on for 25 pages, and literally every post in it was starred.

The thing that I find myself wondering, is who it is, who defines the identity of the "good guys," and the "bad guys," and even more, how the people who make such definitions, are able to drive the actions of the majority of posters such, that the material which they want to see promoted, gets promoted, and the material which they want to see buried, gets buried.

Wheels within wheels.

Hey brother, you're not alone. In fact, there are many of us. The problem is you can't see or hear us over the crowd of morons covered in southern cross tattoos, flags and clothing, chanting various nationalistic anthems and racial slurs.

There's nothing to be proud of in Australia. Not for the youth, anyway. But sh*t man, what do you expect from a continent colonized by convicts? We certainly didn't get off to a good start, and we haven't really progressed far in terms of political and social awareness. Maybe that's where this rapidly spreading virus of "jingoism" spawned from, as it does in most under-educated predominantly-white societies - from the youth's hopelessness and insecurity. Australian youth are so insecure it's sad, really. I guess it's no surprise they turn to inflated nationalism and strong booze for relief and some false sense of self-worth. We sure picked a bad country to be born intelligent and aware in. But as you said, there's certainly worse places to be. The land itself is incredibly beautiful, no doubt, but how long until our degenerate culture erodes that beauty?

And our culture is totally Americanized now, no arguments there. We took every bad quality of American culture, politics and education and super-sized them, and I have no idea why. I don't know if it's just me, but I feel like all that bullsh*t is just a shallow, superficial facade to mask deep dissatisfaction with the world we live in. Australians are so sheltered from the external world that we tend to find comfort in our little bubble, ignoring the fact that we play a significant role in this amalgamation of world problems too. This must play on peoples' subconscious to some degree. Everybody knows the time is rapidly approaching where we're all going to have to face the music.

Or maybe our country's completely doomed. Time will tell. I have faith though man, not much, but it's something. I know a lot of Australians who are doing their part despite all evidence to the contrary. I know more who aren't, but hey, it's better than none, right? Peace and respect brother, I wish you a safe journey whatever happens. As for why this thread's so quiet, maybe all the aussies on this site fall into the categories of people you described. Or maybe they're just too ashamed to comment.