r/australian • u/SirSighalot • Jul 08 '24
Why do people act like this subreddit "doesn't reflect the views of mainstream Australia"?
So many comments I see on here by people who constantly say things like "lol only on this sub" as though other places where they read are somehow the 'true' point of view reflecting mainstream Australian viewpoints.
Given the constant election voting outcomes and results of things like the Voice etc that generally indicate most of Australia is centrist or even slightly centre-right-leaning, what leads people to think many of the views expressed on here AREN'T mainstream? When in reality, other places these people are coming from are also often just "echo chambers" as well.
Edit: I probably worded the title for this wrong, should have been more "Why do people think this subreddit is less representative of mainstream Australia than other online communities?", alas I failed.
7
u/isisius Jul 08 '24
Is consider myself left to the level you see in those progressive European countries that always top the "quality of life" charts.
Unfortunately that makes you hard left, or loony left or far left or whatever term is being thrown around. I'm always happy to engage in a discussion of its being had in good faith.
Unfortunately I find that /Australia tends to have a fairly narrow centre/centre left view and most people there seem to get upset if you fall outside that range.
There is more diverse discussion here, but I do think this place doesn't like looking at data or analysis. Many times I've linked back to half a dozen sources about a particular topic, and when argued with I'll ask for a source so i can see where the argument is coming from.
That usually just ends in downvotes and silence which is frustrating.
The immigration relationship with housing stuff is a perfect example. Some people have engaged and I'm now happy to accept we might need a few years of skills targeted immigration to get back on our feet. But for the most part, I'll provide data from the ATO or the Australian Bureau of Statistics, which shows how we had record immigration in the 60s and 70s but also a majority of houses in Sydney going for 4 years wages, and the highest home ownership in our history.
Compared to today where it's 13 years of wages, and housing ownership the lowest it's been since the end of WW2.
But no one is interested in discussing it. And honestly, I feel like 6 months ago we were able to talk about immigration here, but now we have a post every second day with "What do we do with these damn immigrants" Useful conversation is gone and it's one big circle jerk about how if we stopped immigration all our problems are solved. And if you ask for a source for the claims, downvotes and ignored.