Tastes Like Chicken

Being the right raving lefty of which I am often accused, I would like to raise two very relevant questions and then possibly offer you some plausible answers. I will then give you some Re:Port homework to complete in your own time.

Here Goes…

Question One: Will the amalgamation of the Douglas Shire Council and Cairns City Council put our local community at risk of becoming just another congruous and politically compatible society, with no real local identity or spirit?

Question Two: What is the difference between a heterogeneous and homogeneous society?

Just for fun, I’ll start with the second question first. If you took the time to look up the meaning of the words in the dictionary you will find that the word heterogeneous (pronounced hetero-genius) means either different in kind or unlike in genes, ultimately making reference to differences celebrated.

In contrast, the word homogeneous (pronounced homo-genius) means a part or elements (plural) that are all of the same kind; not heterogeneous: an homogeneous population.

Now one could argue that the Cairns and Douglas communities are infact both heterogeneous and homogeneous societies; in other words, some things that are different within our communities will remain so and others will become similar. Moreover, some things that are inherently similar between our two communities will no doubt change.

Now here’s your homework, read a book that deals with the issue of conformity like Orwell’s ‘1984’ or De Lillo’s ‘White Noise’, as you read the book, start to observe people as they go about their daily lives. Jot down your observations of both individuals and society in general.

Then read something by Charles Dickens or Toni Morrison that concentrates on celebrating individuality and the richness in cultural difference.

Once again, go through your day observing. After reading Dickens, you will find that you start noticing how individual everybody is. In contrast, after reading Orwell, you will notice how pathologically conformist everyone is.

It is the nature by which we humans perceive the world. In our daily lives we are constantly bombarded with way too much information, we can only focus on a portion of it at once. In order to get through our daily lives, we take our world and we map it onto our consciousness in a way in which all but a very small amount of information is completely ignored.

Now, what was the question?