Psychologically Speaking

with Stewart Hase

Supersize It

I've spent the last three weeks working in Hawaii and then Canada (its tough but someone has to do it). It had occurred to me to write a column about the differences between the places I visited and good old Oz. This was sparked by my sitting at Waikiki beach one evening and being struck by the contrast. Out front of me was the best of nature. A lovely evening, the waves gently lapping the shore and the stars shining bright. Well, those you could see because the glitz was behind me. Large, no huge numbers of people shopping, queuing for restaurants or just strolling in the warm night air. In the US they have an up-market 7-11 or corner story. There is one every 60 metres along Waikiki beach and they are always busy. They call it 'scuse me beach and if you want to catch a wave you'll be sharing it with about 10 others. Mind you the surf at Waikiki is not the Pipeline or Waimea Bay. Much, much more docile. And for a large portion of the waterfront the hotels encroach right onto the beach. I thought about the empty beaches at Iluka and Patch's.

So, it was this back drop that had me noticing the differences. Then I got to thinking that in fact this was just an up-market Gold Coast. And all that Byron Bay, Lennox and our other resort minnows aspire to be. It's just that we haven't quite got there yet. But give it time and I am sure we will be able to supersize and succumb further to human greed.

While in Canada I saw the movie Supersize Me. It's the very amusing and revealing documentary about a guy who eats nothing but McDonalds for a month and does himself a good deal of damage. It is a horrifying movie and you shake your head with pity at the silliness of human behaviour. But it looks like we are going down the same track. The McDonaldisation of Australia is well entrenched in so many ways, from baseball caps to going to war. We are getting to the front in the race to become the fattest nation on earth.

It is interesting that the Canadians seem to share the same concern for their environment that we do and their national parks are fantastic. There is a consciousness everywhere you go about their rich environmental heritage, and their pride in it. At the same time, though, the forests of British Columbia are being raped as human greed, the market prevails. Canada sits on massive oil reserves. This sentiment and reality are mirrored here of course.

We are all held, it seems, in the ruthless grip of economic greed, that we live in economies not societies. Our governments no longer rule. Rather it is the interests of big business. And it's evident where ever you go in the Western World. It is also evident in other parts of the globe as well, but manifest in different ways. Interestingly, there was a lot of talk among your everyday Americans and Canadians about this problem.

If we think so similarly maybe it's not too late.