What would you have done differently if you had it all over again? How
do some people survive certain circumstances and others do not? Why do some
people live and some die before their time? How can people be so cruel to their
fellow humans? Is revenge such a bad act? Are we just puppets being oppressed
by the powers to be? Was it easier in the ‘good old days’? Was it your fault?
Was it out of your control? Do we simply think too much and act too little too
late? Everyone at one time or another would ask themselves and make attempts to
clarify the same or similar questions of their continuation. Have you been
walking along the beach, or strolling aimlessly in a holiday destination, or on
your favourite morning saunter and have your mind wander positively towards the
beauty of the scenery and the world in general only to have it interrupted by
the negativity of past decisions and nagging detrimental reflections. Don was
no different. As this book reflects on his childhood, and the secluded
lifestyle his dire informed upbringing ensued, he wondered what triumphs and
differences may have presented if other lifestyle decisions were made available
to his parents on settlement in Australia.
Although he does not bask in consequential remorse for his bush upbringing, because
the facts are he had a great beginning in childhood, but, at times, parts of
those early years and following has him ruminate and question the choices
taken.
Would his life have been richer if he was nurtured in a different
locality such as the city or its suburbs? He was far removed from political and
bureaucratic harangue, and isolated from the mainstream commerce and industry
experienced by others in main cities. Maybe if he paid more attention to the
likes of schoolbooks rather than partake in the mischievousness he so voluntary
shared in a different path could have transpired. Open to conjecture is whether
or not blame should be laid on the place of nurture or his own initiatives, or
if the lack of initiative was the blame of the place which subsequently played
a role in his inability to channel life in certain directions. Or is initiative
something one can learn within any specific environment, or without any
particular or necessary ingredient?
Conversely, when presented with the facts, looking back on his younger
years he had no parental ‘cotton wool’ wrapping to stifle his visions or
freedom, experiences were there to be experienced and restrictions limited. In
the past parents were not as paranoid as they are today, not because they did
not care about their children, after all, horrific things happened then as now
(the missing Beaumont children for example), but today, with population
augmentation, greater cultural diversity, and local and international media
propaganda surfeit on all topics having a much greater reach, it all combines
to freely offer the creation of mass trepidation which so easily allows for a
contribution to the over cosseting and oppression of children. The people have
become fearful of right over wrong due to the many bleeding hearts and the
minority voice which is spread so selfishly and without honourable
considerations through expressions of technology for profit. Yesteryear parents
were encouraged to discipline children with a smack. One could be strapped at
home for bad behaviour. Primary and high school rules and ethics were enforced
with the ‘cane’ or the ‘feather duster’; chalk or other items were thrown by
the teacher to gain attention. Don had to be strong in the playground and
understand the pecking order of those stronger. If he had a problem with
another he would be encouraged to ‘box’ it out in the ‘ring’ and shake hands
after. He was taught to stand up for himself, accept defeat graciously and
celebrate the spoils of victory. He ate what he wanted, as did his parents, and
was ignorant to words like diabetes, cholesterol and cancer. Shoes were a
rarity only to be worn on special outings, and laws did not exist to order the
donning of bike helmets, seat belts or special child restraints in cars. People
living in this conservative environment did not have to contend with the
breathalyzer, speed cameras, traffic lights, road rage, or credit and debit
cards. They were not bombarded with signs, mobile phones, computers, internet,
social media, television, advertisements, and other technological advances
intensifying information overload. All this tends to add to the disruption of
family life and nullify physical activity to contribute to varying degrees of
corpulence and robotic functioning which we accept as normal today.
In childhood Don was oblivious to child pornography, same sex marriage,
terms like ‘paedophilia’ and world conflict. Life was free from the domination
of hungry lawyers and over imposing government regulations. With no thought of
malice he could call an ‘Aboriginal’ an ’Abo’, an ‘Italian’ a ‘Wog’, an
‘Englishman’ a ‘Pom’ and others common slang expressions which rarely attracted
complaint or attention. The saying ‘sticks and stones will break my bones but
names will never hurt me’, was a phrase with meaning and authenticity. He was
taught not to swear in front of women or children and show obeisance to the
elderly or those less fortunate than himself. ‘Gay’ meant happy. Words or
phrases like ‘political correctness’, ‘discrimination’, ‘sexploitation’, ‘degradation
of women’, ‘racial slurs’, ‘homosexuality’ or ‘lesbianism’, and everything
said, done, or experienced today is categorized as prejudice for or against a
group or an individual’s moral standards and is received as exploitative,
hurtful, vexed or discriminatory. There is little tolerance to fellow beings,
and the law suppresses freedom of speech in places of work, sport, even in the
home and within the company of those whom should be trustworthy enough to allow
for the divulgence of opinions. Don was allowed guns, catapults, knives, bow
and arrows. He hitchhiked, never heard of fast foods such as ‘McDonalds’ (not
sure if they existed then). He would play games such as ‘Cowboys and Indians’,
be outside all day running and climbing without parental supervision. The use
of hands and mind were utilized in the construction and amusement of ‘billy
carts’, tree houses, farming and movement, not lethargically housebound playing
computer games. Obesity was not as common as today due to the natural play
relating to exercise; he could eat what he wanted because he burnt off more
energy than he took in.
Then everybody assimilated and fit into the ‘Australian culture’. If
someone entered the country illegally they would be dealt the full force of the
law; now we generously provide for them and prioritise in cases of unjust acts
based on race. With the influx of all people from all corners of the earth it
is being made a lawful directive the Australian people assimilate into the way
of life of the many minority groups rather than the other way around. Problems
with such inequitable rationale is the abundance of people entering from other
civilizations bring with them different traditions, customs, ethics,
philosophies and religions. Hence, as each group opposes Australian customs in
favour of their own practices the many varied beliefs provides for confusion in
laws and social harmony. Religion and apparel in schools, ‘Santa Claus’,
‘Christmas’, ‘Easter’, nursery rhymes like ‘baa baa black sheep’ and terms such
as ‘gollywog’ or the courtesy for the ‘Queen’ and her Anthem or the now
‘Australian Anthem’, are all going unnoticed as they change or are changing to
suit different minority groups. Some of these groups show offensive and
xenophobic behaviours towards Australia,
they can burn the Australian flag and call out discriminative names as they see
fit, but one dare not openly oppose their laws or creed or burn their
discipline. You go to another country and you are forced to show compliance and
act accordingly to their rules and regulations, and rightly so, the same rules
were apparent for those entering Australia when Don was a child.
Nowadays, it seems the core values of the past appear evermore eroded by a
changing society being desensitized in the manifestation of expression and
forced upon them is a binding yet distorted tolerance. Australians are becoming
marionettes to foreign ideals, religious goals, political rapacity and affluent
entrepreneurs to experience a festering subjugation; thus leading to the loss
of Australian values to external coercions.
As individuals from other cultures take lead positions in Australia in education, religion and
political authority, intolerances to freedom will escalate as each group
contests ‘Australian’ beliefs to preserve their own customs. Separatism already
opposes local ecclesiastical laws, cultural harmony, and political unions as it
once stood, unlike before the ‘50’s’ when patriotism was emblematic of the
nation. Today Don may be confused and in awe of the results of his own
upbringing, but he can be appreciative of the circumstances and living
conditions the few years his childhood offered. In youth he was not privy to
the constraints and rituals of today’s involved world because growing up in a
rural environment gave his parents a safe haven to raise children (as they
thought). Those ‘good old days’, a term for which the ethical and disciplined
past emphasizes what adults today relate to when they describe the correct
influence for a good upbringing. So how did it go so wrong for Don? What was
the catalyst which sent him on the road to hell? And could it have been
avoided? The values and attitudes within Don’s infancy so far conveyed in this
short prelude, later offer question whether or not ignorance and the lack of
knowledge was a reason for performing the sins he did. And if it be true evil
is inherent in all of us from birth, then could this together with such an
upbringing explain why he did not control his inner conflict? The Spartans,
Attila the Hun, the Vikings, Hitler and many others add perplexity in reply to
this question. One could argue, no matter in what environment, history has
confirmed there poses an unquestionable iniquity in all walks of life and in
all types of situations.
In this book I have mixed facts with fiction and told many anecdotes as
well as I can remember, all reminiscent of photographs shown and of yarns told.
But like most narratives there needed an accelerator in life to impart those
stories, for me the mechanism which got this book started was a form of diary,
tatty records I jotted in my teens providing now the memories of past
behaviours of Don Scotsdon, his family, friends, enemies and experiences. These
facts, mixed with fabrication and imagination, will I hope provide
entertainment and insight into his tolerance for the debauchery, stupidities,
dangers, and immoral actions he became involved in. And I ingeminate upon the
reader, this book and the course of the stories are mostly of notional vagaries
in the life of Don. There are nonfictional elements I tell from personal
experiences to base my works, and I do consider the possibilities of the
reality of the fictional tales to be very feasible because from the core of the
beginning we are all related to the generations before and since time began
there remains few matters exclusive or without equal. In Don’s upbringing,
being uninformed and void of worldly knowledge due to isolation of abode,
sanctioned independence which allowed for a less worrisome existence;
supposedly?
There are so many unanswerable questions as to why Don followed the path
he did, and as you read and maybe identify with his gloom, joy, beliefs and
background, I hope you enjoy adding opinion to some of those questions. So as I
begin a part of Don’s journey through life I question those old-fogeyish ideals
of the ‘good old days’, when times were less troublesome, people behaved with
decorum, and everyone allegedly acted with moral justifications.
Memories clouded by the immaturities
of childhood become nothing more than fantasies in the world of adults:-Dennis
Durant.
