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The Lucky Country
With an introduction by Hugh Mackay 'Australia is a lucky country, run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck.' The phrase 'the lucky country' has become part of our lexicon; it's forever being invoked in debates about the Australian way of life, but is all too often misused by those blind to Horne's irony. When it was first published in 1964 The Lucky Country caused a sensation. Horne took Australian society to task for its philistinism, provincialism and dependence. The book was a wake-up call to an unimaginative nation, an indictment of a country mired in mediocrity and manacled to its past. Although it's a study of the confident Australia of the 1960s, the book still remains illuminating and insightful decades later. The Lucky Country is valuable not only as a source of continuing truths and revealing snapshots of the past, but above all as a key to understanding the anxieties and discontents of Australian society today.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1964
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1415 people want to read
About the author
Donald Horne
64 books13 followersDonald Richmond Horne AO was an Australian journalist, writer, and public intellectual. He was editor of The Bulletin, The Observer, and Quadrant, and was best known for his 1964 book The Lucky Country.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 82 reviews
March 2, 2015
Pungent. Much of the analysis still applicable today 2015 with a conservative government in Canberra, a prime minister exhuming knighthoods on Australia Day. Is progress an illusion?
The chapter on Menzies, a valuable record for future reference.
The chapter 'Living with Asia' worth reading again today, gives an understanding of how Asia views Australia.
Other topics I'd highlight are:- Nation without a mind, The first suburban nation, Snobs, Women, Between Britain and America, Lost bearings, Provincial Australia, A Republic?, Men in power, Who runs Australia?, Forming Opinions, inc. Censors, Schools, Images of life, The press.
The chapter on Menzies, a valuable record for future reference.
The chapter 'Living with Asia' worth reading again today, gives an understanding of how Asia views Australia.
Other topics I'd highlight are:- Nation without a mind, The first suburban nation, Snobs, Women, Between Britain and America, Lost bearings, Provincial Australia, A Republic?, Men in power, Who runs Australia?, Forming Opinions, inc. Censors, Schools, Images of life, The press.
July 13, 2016
Mainly an interesting period piece, but always good to know where hackneyed phrases come from, particularly if, as in this case, they get misused: Australia is a lucky country, it turns out, because even though our politicians and other 'leadership' types are entirely incompetent, the state somehow struggles on. Horne writes well, and he's funny, but it's unclear to me whether his fundamental argument was true: was Australia really a country being held back by a lack of ambition and gusto at the highest levels? Was Australia really being held back at all? In cultural terms, yes, but keep in mind that when Horne published this, White had just published Voss and Riders in the Chariot, modernist art was getting going, and Peter Sculthorpe was about to publish Sun Music I. So things were really on the upswing. Horne's book itself might have been a part of that.
On the downside, it's very irritating to read a book this long that avoids proper nouns almost entirely. I say White had just published Voss, and Horne does mention that novel--but not in the section on literature. There are few to no names at all, regardless of the context. So one doesn't really learn much about who or what Horne thought was to blame, or who was helping, or even that there were people in Australia in the late '50s and early '60s at all.
More amusingly, he says the Young Liberals were energetic, while the other political parties were totally moribund. Somewhere, Whitlam is laughing.
On the downside, it's very irritating to read a book this long that avoids proper nouns almost entirely. I say White had just published Voss, and Horne does mention that novel--but not in the section on literature. There are few to no names at all, regardless of the context. So one doesn't really learn much about who or what Horne thought was to blame, or who was helping, or even that there were people in Australia in the late '50s and early '60s at all.
More amusingly, he says the Young Liberals were energetic, while the other political parties were totally moribund. Somewhere, Whitlam is laughing.
July 10, 2016
"The lucky country" is a phrase any Australian is familiar with, one often applied with beaming happiness to things like Vegemite advertisements or Australia Day speeches. Yet few Australians would be able to quote the sentence it originally appeared in: "Australia is a lucky country, run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck."
Donald Horne wrote The Lucky Country in the early 1960s as a stark assessment of a nation he felt had lost its way. Australia possessed fabulous natural resources and enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world; yet, unlike other advanced nations, he felt it had done little to earn its success. It rested on its luck and was unimaginative, uninspired and unexceptional. It was almost a dependency, looking to Britain and the United States to tell it what to do and unable to shake the feeling that it was an unimportant backwater, albeit a pleasant one. It reminded me of an assessment by Ted Simon in Jupiter's Travels, when he visited Australia in the early 1970s:
Like most people everywhere they spent most of their time just getting by, but there was no collective dream or mythology that told them what it was they were supposed to be doing.
Now, The Lucky Country was written half a century ago and much of it is irrelevant today - the influence of the Australian Communist Party, the White Australia Policy, and the tension between Catholics and Protestants, to name a few things. But a larger portion of the book is surprisingly relevant.
The most striking thing to a modern reader is how little has changed. Horne knew Australia was at a tipping point in the 1960s, like much of the world, and that if it was ever going to seize its own destiny, that was the time. And indeed, the 1970s saw the election of Gough Whitlam, a prime minister who stood up to Washington, engaged with Asia, introduced universal healthcare and began the process of recognising Aboriginal land rights. But he was dismissed after only a few short years, and Australia sank back into a swamp of lazy complacency. And now here we are in 2012: still not a republic, still looking to America and Europe for guidance in cultural, political and economic matters, and still relying entirely on our natural resources to maintain our economy. Australia was renowned in 2008 for being the only OECD country which did not enter recession, but virtually the only reason this was so was because our economy is centred around selling ore to China. How lucky.
And our current leaders hardly inspire confidence - indeed, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott regularly poll less than 40% as preferred prime ministers, among the lowest ratings of all time. Say what you will about John Howard and Kevin Rudd, but they were both titanic figures who led with vision (my vision of hell, in the case of Howard, but vision nonetheless) and imposed themselves mightily upon the Australian psyche. Gillard and Abbott, on the other hand, feel like understudies thrust into the spotlight. They might make able politicians, but in the grand narrative of history, they will never go down as great leaders.
So the Australia of today is strikingly similar to the Australia of The Lucky Country. It reminded me of what Nick Bryant, the BBC's Sydney correspondent for many years, wrote upon leaving the job in 2011:
The anger and hostility [in Australian politics] is currently being compared with the mood in 1975 during the Gough Whitlam dismissal crisis. But it also has a late-60s feel - a post-Menzies, pre-Whitlam interlude when the country appeared to be treading water, and waiting for something to happen.
The curious thing when reading The Lucky Country is that Horne seemed to be optimistic, to believe that change really was around the corner, that the next generation - John Howard's generation - would prove to be far less stagnant and conservative than their predecessors and lead Australia into a bold new future. (He seemed particularly convinced that a republic would happen any year now.) That didn't happen. And while I myself am optimistic that Australia might grow up a little in the coming decades, in an era of global connectivity and an emerging Asia and a rising Green Party, I can't help but feel that perhaps we'll just see a repeat of the last 50 years.
The question is whether this time our luck will run out.
Donald Horne wrote The Lucky Country in the early 1960s as a stark assessment of a nation he felt had lost its way. Australia possessed fabulous natural resources and enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world; yet, unlike other advanced nations, he felt it had done little to earn its success. It rested on its luck and was unimaginative, uninspired and unexceptional. It was almost a dependency, looking to Britain and the United States to tell it what to do and unable to shake the feeling that it was an unimportant backwater, albeit a pleasant one. It reminded me of an assessment by Ted Simon in Jupiter's Travels, when he visited Australia in the early 1970s:
Like most people everywhere they spent most of their time just getting by, but there was no collective dream or mythology that told them what it was they were supposed to be doing.
Now, The Lucky Country was written half a century ago and much of it is irrelevant today - the influence of the Australian Communist Party, the White Australia Policy, and the tension between Catholics and Protestants, to name a few things. But a larger portion of the book is surprisingly relevant.
The most striking thing to a modern reader is how little has changed. Horne knew Australia was at a tipping point in the 1960s, like much of the world, and that if it was ever going to seize its own destiny, that was the time. And indeed, the 1970s saw the election of Gough Whitlam, a prime minister who stood up to Washington, engaged with Asia, introduced universal healthcare and began the process of recognising Aboriginal land rights. But he was dismissed after only a few short years, and Australia sank back into a swamp of lazy complacency. And now here we are in 2012: still not a republic, still looking to America and Europe for guidance in cultural, political and economic matters, and still relying entirely on our natural resources to maintain our economy. Australia was renowned in 2008 for being the only OECD country which did not enter recession, but virtually the only reason this was so was because our economy is centred around selling ore to China. How lucky.
And our current leaders hardly inspire confidence - indeed, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott regularly poll less than 40% as preferred prime ministers, among the lowest ratings of all time. Say what you will about John Howard and Kevin Rudd, but they were both titanic figures who led with vision (my vision of hell, in the case of Howard, but vision nonetheless) and imposed themselves mightily upon the Australian psyche. Gillard and Abbott, on the other hand, feel like understudies thrust into the spotlight. They might make able politicians, but in the grand narrative of history, they will never go down as great leaders.
So the Australia of today is strikingly similar to the Australia of The Lucky Country. It reminded me of what Nick Bryant, the BBC's Sydney correspondent for many years, wrote upon leaving the job in 2011:
The anger and hostility [in Australian politics] is currently being compared with the mood in 1975 during the Gough Whitlam dismissal crisis. But it also has a late-60s feel - a post-Menzies, pre-Whitlam interlude when the country appeared to be treading water, and waiting for something to happen.
The curious thing when reading The Lucky Country is that Horne seemed to be optimistic, to believe that change really was around the corner, that the next generation - John Howard's generation - would prove to be far less stagnant and conservative than their predecessors and lead Australia into a bold new future. (He seemed particularly convinced that a republic would happen any year now.) That didn't happen. And while I myself am optimistic that Australia might grow up a little in the coming decades, in an era of global connectivity and an emerging Asia and a rising Green Party, I can't help but feel that perhaps we'll just see a repeat of the last 50 years.
The question is whether this time our luck will run out.
February 2, 2011
2 February 2011
Update
One of the things that makes Australians feel so lucky is, having satisfactorily subjugated the indigenous population, it has never really faced an external threat. We have sent, I suspect, more than our fair share of men to fight other people's wars, if you like, but despite Japanese bombing of part of Australia in WWII, we are rarely concerned with such issues.
And yet.
We have this incredible balancing enemy within: the weather. To have watched the bushfires a couple of years ago in Victoria where two hundred died, whole towns razed to the ground; the devastating floods a couple of weeks ago in Queensland and then Victoria where a vast unnatural inland unanchored sea floated about; followed by what is happening this moment as I write:
The cyclone that is hitting Queensland, which sounds like it will be even worse when that is hard to imagine.
Natural enemies abound and they have their impact in unexpected ways. Julia Gillard's government is in a precarious position at the best of times. Evidently rallying together is not on the mind of the Liberal (ie conservative) Opposition leader. He is begging for donations to finance a fight against the idea of a national once off tax levy to pay for the rebuilding which must next take place. It is almost enough to make one laugh.
--------------------
So I'm sitting on the pavement at the Marion Shopping Centre, covered in blood and thinking, yes, indeed, Lucky Country.
My mother had caught her foot on some loose pavement, and fallen down hitting her head which bled horribly for a while.
Two lovely girls independently stop. One of them gives me her mobile so I can call a friend to come and get us. The other one gives me a packet of tissues. Shane, Security from the Shopping Centre comes out and deals with phoning an ambulance while dishing out sensible advice and first aid.
The ambulance comes and a couple of great guys give my mother a thorough examination, the bleeding has stopped, they think she can go home as long as she is happy to.
Honestly. We are the luckiest people in the world to live in this country.
I'm with Mikael on this one: 'who cares if donald horne meant it ironically, it bloody is a fucken lucky cuntree' http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Update
One of the things that makes Australians feel so lucky is, having satisfactorily subjugated the indigenous population, it has never really faced an external threat. We have sent, I suspect, more than our fair share of men to fight other people's wars, if you like, but despite Japanese bombing of part of Australia in WWII, we are rarely concerned with such issues.
And yet.
We have this incredible balancing enemy within: the weather. To have watched the bushfires a couple of years ago in Victoria where two hundred died, whole towns razed to the ground; the devastating floods a couple of weeks ago in Queensland and then Victoria where a vast unnatural inland unanchored sea floated about; followed by what is happening this moment as I write:
The cyclone that is hitting Queensland, which sounds like it will be even worse when that is hard to imagine.
Natural enemies abound and they have their impact in unexpected ways. Julia Gillard's government is in a precarious position at the best of times. Evidently rallying together is not on the mind of the Liberal (ie conservative) Opposition leader. He is begging for donations to finance a fight against the idea of a national once off tax levy to pay for the rebuilding which must next take place. It is almost enough to make one laugh.
--------------------
So I'm sitting on the pavement at the Marion Shopping Centre, covered in blood and thinking, yes, indeed, Lucky Country.
My mother had caught her foot on some loose pavement, and fallen down hitting her head which bled horribly for a while.
Two lovely girls independently stop. One of them gives me her mobile so I can call a friend to come and get us. The other one gives me a packet of tissues. Shane, Security from the Shopping Centre comes out and deals with phoning an ambulance while dishing out sensible advice and first aid.
The ambulance comes and a couple of great guys give my mother a thorough examination, the bleeding has stopped, they think she can go home as long as she is happy to.
Honestly. We are the luckiest people in the world to live in this country.
I'm with Mikael on this one: 'who cares if donald horne meant it ironically, it bloody is a fucken lucky cuntree' http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
February 24, 2008
who cares if donald horne meant it ironically, it bloody is a fucken lucky cuntree
July 20, 2016
Funny - I don't feel very lucky.
I know! Horne was just being sarcastic, much like Men At Work were when they wrote "Land Down Under".
But really, I don't feel lucky. We’re fast heading for a healthcare crisis, housing is unaffordable for most of the population, we are the most over-taxed, and over-governed nation in the world, yet we hand out way too much in welfare payments and of course, there’s Australia’s “Greed Tax”. Greed Tax? Anything we import (which is almost everything because we’ve imported a hell of a lot of unemployment) ends up costing us twice as much as it does in America or the UK...or anywhere else. Questions have been asked and no satisfactory answers forthcoming, because our complacency allows it. It explains why internet purchases are booming here. But now...the government is figuring out a way to tax those too.
I digress. Some of what Donald Horne wrote about in the ’60’s is still relevant. If it weren’t for this country’s incredible natural resources, we’d be a third world country hanging off the UK’s apron strings, or more likely, we would have been invaded long ago. It also seems we will never be ready for independence and stuck in the role of a country with “strings attached” . Strings pulled by our US friends. Apathy rules. Greed drives us now (and sport - any sport).
Must be feeling negative today.
I know! Horne was just being sarcastic, much like Men At Work were when they wrote "Land Down Under".
But really, I don't feel lucky. We’re fast heading for a healthcare crisis, housing is unaffordable for most of the population, we are the most over-taxed, and over-governed nation in the world, yet we hand out way too much in welfare payments and of course, there’s Australia’s “Greed Tax”. Greed Tax? Anything we import (which is almost everything because we’ve imported a hell of a lot of unemployment) ends up costing us twice as much as it does in America or the UK...or anywhere else. Questions have been asked and no satisfactory answers forthcoming, because our complacency allows it. It explains why internet purchases are booming here. But now...the government is figuring out a way to tax those too.
I digress. Some of what Donald Horne wrote about in the ’60’s is still relevant. If it weren’t for this country’s incredible natural resources, we’d be a third world country hanging off the UK’s apron strings, or more likely, we would have been invaded long ago. It also seems we will never be ready for independence and stuck in the role of a country with “strings attached” . Strings pulled by our US friends. Apathy rules. Greed drives us now (and sport - any sport).
Must be feeling negative today.
January 10, 2022
Donald Horne gave Australia the kick in the arse it required in 1964, with this book. Well-traveled, Horne focused on Australia's racism, provincialism, and to some extent, sexism, and a lack of intellectual and cultural leadership. Ahead of his time, Horne places our country within Asia, and examines international trade and political systems. Our racist prime minister and defence minister should be forced to read this book, and it's sequel.
August 26, 2023
4.5 Stars!
“Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck.”
This is a book I’ve wanted to read for a while, and it doesn’t take long to see why this has remained such an enduring piece of work. Horne has a deep and thorough understanding of his country and the mentality of it. He describes his homeland and the people within it, along with their hopes, dreams, fears and all the rest with clarity, perception and insight.
I really enjoyed his style, and there’s some lovely writing in here, his prose and his descriptions of each of the then biggest cities of Australia. He doesn’t hold back on what he perceives to be some of the biggest limitations of the nation and its mindset, and he is particularly ruthless on Australia longest serving PM, Robert Menzies.
This is a snapshot of Australia in the early to mid-60s, a nation in transition, stuck between the powerful influences of Uncle Sam and Mother England, and all the complexities that come along with that baggage. Enriched by colourful and expansive descriptions of the cities all the way to the sun baked interior, this stubbornly resists stereotypes and often confronts them producing some memorable detail as well as some finely crafted points.
In here we find a nation which remains shackled by its own toxic masculinity and its anti-intellectualism and a deep distrust of foreigners, a country which remains uncertain about its identity and its place in the wider world, and just as confused about what the future might bring.
It’s easy to see why this remains one of the most popular books written on Australia by an Australian and it still more than holds its own six decades on proving to still be a fresh and engaging read.
“Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck.”
This is a book I’ve wanted to read for a while, and it doesn’t take long to see why this has remained such an enduring piece of work. Horne has a deep and thorough understanding of his country and the mentality of it. He describes his homeland and the people within it, along with their hopes, dreams, fears and all the rest with clarity, perception and insight.
I really enjoyed his style, and there’s some lovely writing in here, his prose and his descriptions of each of the then biggest cities of Australia. He doesn’t hold back on what he perceives to be some of the biggest limitations of the nation and its mindset, and he is particularly ruthless on Australia longest serving PM, Robert Menzies.
This is a snapshot of Australia in the early to mid-60s, a nation in transition, stuck between the powerful influences of Uncle Sam and Mother England, and all the complexities that come along with that baggage. Enriched by colourful and expansive descriptions of the cities all the way to the sun baked interior, this stubbornly resists stereotypes and often confronts them producing some memorable detail as well as some finely crafted points.
In here we find a nation which remains shackled by its own toxic masculinity and its anti-intellectualism and a deep distrust of foreigners, a country which remains uncertain about its identity and its place in the wider world, and just as confused about what the future might bring.
It’s easy to see why this remains one of the most popular books written on Australia by an Australian and it still more than holds its own six decades on proving to still be a fresh and engaging read.
August 5, 2024
“Australia has not been a country of great innovation or originality. It has exploited the innovations of others and much of its boasting is that of a parasite.”
September 11, 2025
The greatest critique on Australia I have ever read. It's hard to summarise, because he goes through everything with incredible layers of nuance and detail. For something written in the 1960's it is a timeless work. Many of the problems he mentioned then, still exist today. He discusses the economy, administration, work life, politics, the communist party, religion, intellectual life, aboriginal affairs, trade, military, and more. To give a summary of his main point, Australian in the upper echelons of society are mediocre, and that we've inherited our ideas from Europe, Britain, and America. That we lack a cohesive intellectual tradition that binds the people together, we have an amnesia of the past, we copy other people's models and ideas, we have no innovation, our technological advancement is copied from the US, we are bought off by foreign firms, our intellectuals aren't cross disciplinary but are siloed off into specialisations with no relevance between the public and the higher ups, that the youth culture is homogeneous. It doesn't seem like the 1960's at all. It almost seems like a timeless problem that we have in ths country that he is referring to. Everything is mediocre, he calls Australians stupid and dumb at one point in the book. A deeply cynical but strangely wise critique. He sees the future of Australia as being one that increases migration of Asians, with Asians enriching the intellectual tradition, and with intermarriage helping migrants assimilate, and that racial change is Australia's "Destiny", quite prophetic words given that the immigration has increased to such a high level in the modern age. Whether this demographic shift will help Australian identity, I don't know. It might disappear altogether or become something new entirely.
I highly recommend every Australian read this, regardless of their position on the political or religious spectrum.
I highly recommend every Australian read this, regardless of their position on the political or religious spectrum.
July 21, 2018
We are now fifty odd years since The Lucky Country's publication, and it's hard to see what all the fuss was about. Donald Horne provides rambling short essays about a dozen aspects of society (a form many of his other publications also take) . His greatest intellectual strength is a non-doctrinaire opinion, but other than not saying what has already been said, it's unclear what is valuable about what he does say.
If you've heard the book's most famous line, "Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people" you know most of the content. I hesitate to call it an 'argument' because the book's central theme is pursued in the same way as it offers short asides: quickly asserted in broad, blurry generalities. Where Horne does tackle specifics, such as his disdain of Menzies, he can write with some verve. But generally The Lucky Country is as languid and lazy as the country he describes.
I remember trying to read this "classic" at least twice before, and a bookmark 30-odd pages in suggests I tried a third time a few years back. I only pressed through this time since I'm trying to get a better sense of Australia in the 1960s for a piece of writing. But I don't feel much closer having reached its end. Time is always unkind to works targeted towards the contemporary. The impact of the book proves it resonated back then. But today, at least in my reading of it, the vibrations have rung silent and all we are left with is a historical shell.
If you've heard the book's most famous line, "Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people" you know most of the content. I hesitate to call it an 'argument' because the book's central theme is pursued in the same way as it offers short asides: quickly asserted in broad, blurry generalities. Where Horne does tackle specifics, such as his disdain of Menzies, he can write with some verve. But generally The Lucky Country is as languid and lazy as the country he describes.
I remember trying to read this "classic" at least twice before, and a bookmark 30-odd pages in suggests I tried a third time a few years back. I only pressed through this time since I'm trying to get a better sense of Australia in the 1960s for a piece of writing. But I don't feel much closer having reached its end. Time is always unkind to works targeted towards the contemporary. The impact of the book proves it resonated back then. But today, at least in my reading of it, the vibrations have rung silent and all we are left with is a historical shell.
June 23, 2022
some amazing insight in here on the direction australia has travelled and still continues to travel. i think the author is fairly prophetic about topics such as the arts, culture, education and general attitude. unfortunately to get to any of that you have to read about such topical issues of communism, global trade and labour unions. the chapters on 60s politics are just as boring as politics today. this is however a great resource for 60s attitude, unfortunately much surrounding women and indigenous people is flown through or disregarded ironically a lot like the australia this author seems to despise.
August 1, 2024
A bit too dumb for this book at times but interesting + some parts eerily relevant still + author is funny
Thx @callimopie ❤️
Thx @callimopie ❤️
July 21, 2023
A really evocative read on the ill found “luck” Australians continue to believe in since the book’s publication. Covers a lot of ground but at times I wish it did so in more depth. Also seemed irrelevant in very few parts but the chapters that sparkled made the entire read worthwhile. Would be interesting to read Horne’s take on 2023 Australia with a side by side comparison of his predictions.
April 10, 2024
Excellent
January 7, 2018
Horne's controversial 1964 book is a problematic read in 2018, because at times one is expected to know and understand the Australia that he was writing about, and at others one is diverted or focused on how different (or same) contemporary Australia is to the vision he posited 54 years ago.
The first thing that does need to be said is that Horne's criticisms 'feel' valid, insofar as they are the starting points for much of the critical discourse about Australia since the book was published. Those Australians who have looked askance at our nation, its body politic, culture, society, economy, geopolitics etc have either echoed, reconfigured or riffed off the critiques Horne made. When one reads the book you can hear echoes of the voices of Paul Keating for example. Also, from my own experience as someone who was born just after the book was published, I can recall with significant clarity aspects of the Australia that Donald Horne describes being still in effect in the 1970s and 1980s, and of course not entirely eradicated since the turn of the century.
If one is to take two central arguments of the book, i.e. that Australia is led and organised by mediocrities, and that it needs to realign its engagement with the multiple facets of 'Asia', then I think it would be safe to say we have not done well on the first account but have done much better on the second. I suspect that Horne would see the likes of Pauline Hanson and Lyle Shelton as being characters that would fit right at home in the mediocre, isolationist Australia he describes.
I would suggest however that Horne is not always right about both the Australia he knew as well as the future that he posits for the country. It is surprising how vapid and shallow Horne is when it comes to examining Australia's migrant history and the (then) recent influx of non-Anglo European immigrants. He also also less substantive than a modern reader would wish when it comes to his assessment of indigenous issues.
Another aspect of the book which is both a strength and a weakness is 'The Lucky Country' is at times like a compilation of op.ed. pieces written by a very cynical and idiosyncratic observer who has set himself a little too apart from his subject. Obviously the book is a flag post in post-WW2 Australian literature and analysis, however I wonder how much of its impact is because it takes such a big axe to then contemporary shibboleths about Australian exceptionalism. I would argue that a more learned, less opinionated series of articles on the subjects Horne raises would be more credible as criticism, though obviously less engaging for the public.
The prose in 'The Lucky Country' is mostly engaging, though at times Horne writes overly complex and semi-redundant passages that might make the readers' eyes glass over (such as his discussion of business and the economy). At other times he works with a clear and accurate language that cleavers his subject. Also, this book is not one that requires great hours of contemplative reading; it is a relatively brief work that moves from topic to topic with much ease.
Perhaps the most important value of 'The Lucky Country' in 2018 is two-fold; first as a historical document it presents a fascinating vision of Australia that those born since it was written or in the future can read and critique with alternate sources. Secondly, this book can be used a yardstick to measure how far Australia has come since 1964, how much it has stayed the same, and if in fact it has regressed.
I would suggest anyone with a serious interest in Australian history and/or its recent political, economic, social and cultural development should read 'The Lucky Country'
The first thing that does need to be said is that Horne's criticisms 'feel' valid, insofar as they are the starting points for much of the critical discourse about Australia since the book was published. Those Australians who have looked askance at our nation, its body politic, culture, society, economy, geopolitics etc have either echoed, reconfigured or riffed off the critiques Horne made. When one reads the book you can hear echoes of the voices of Paul Keating for example. Also, from my own experience as someone who was born just after the book was published, I can recall with significant clarity aspects of the Australia that Donald Horne describes being still in effect in the 1970s and 1980s, and of course not entirely eradicated since the turn of the century.
If one is to take two central arguments of the book, i.e. that Australia is led and organised by mediocrities, and that it needs to realign its engagement with the multiple facets of 'Asia', then I think it would be safe to say we have not done well on the first account but have done much better on the second. I suspect that Horne would see the likes of Pauline Hanson and Lyle Shelton as being characters that would fit right at home in the mediocre, isolationist Australia he describes.
I would suggest however that Horne is not always right about both the Australia he knew as well as the future that he posits for the country. It is surprising how vapid and shallow Horne is when it comes to examining Australia's migrant history and the (then) recent influx of non-Anglo European immigrants. He also also less substantive than a modern reader would wish when it comes to his assessment of indigenous issues.
Another aspect of the book which is both a strength and a weakness is 'The Lucky Country' is at times like a compilation of op.ed. pieces written by a very cynical and idiosyncratic observer who has set himself a little too apart from his subject. Obviously the book is a flag post in post-WW2 Australian literature and analysis, however I wonder how much of its impact is because it takes such a big axe to then contemporary shibboleths about Australian exceptionalism. I would argue that a more learned, less opinionated series of articles on the subjects Horne raises would be more credible as criticism, though obviously less engaging for the public.
The prose in 'The Lucky Country' is mostly engaging, though at times Horne writes overly complex and semi-redundant passages that might make the readers' eyes glass over (such as his discussion of business and the economy). At other times he works with a clear and accurate language that cleavers his subject. Also, this book is not one that requires great hours of contemplative reading; it is a relatively brief work that moves from topic to topic with much ease.
Perhaps the most important value of 'The Lucky Country' in 2018 is two-fold; first as a historical document it presents a fascinating vision of Australia that those born since it was written or in the future can read and critique with alternate sources. Secondly, this book can be used a yardstick to measure how far Australia has come since 1964, how much it has stayed the same, and if in fact it has regressed.
I would suggest anyone with a serious interest in Australian history and/or its recent political, economic, social and cultural development should read 'The Lucky Country'
August 20, 2023
Not Particularly Flattering
16 August 2023
You know, it is not surprising that the media have co-opted the title of a book that is rather critical of Australia and turned it into something to be proud of, but the reality is that we are indeed a lucky country because there are many countries out there that have been given much more and have produced much less. Like, Australia was really only a side product of the British Empire because they needed a place to dump their convicts. Even then they weren’t the first Europeans to discover the place. The Dutch, who had known, and mapped, Australia much earlier, didn’t even bother setting up a port for their ships to stop at on the way to the East Indies.
The full quote is that Australia is a Lucky Country, led by second-rate men who share in its luck. Looking at the state of our politics, and our pressure groups, I completely understand, and honestly nothing has changed since the book was written back in the 60s. Hell, even Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister turned out to be pretty useless, and the only reason he kept on getting elected was that the opposition was in a complete shambles. In fact, it got to the point that just getting elected was good enough for the party leadership.
The really frustrating thing is that even if we get a half-decent Prime Minister elected, they don’t last, and are frustrated at every turn, not by the people, but by the elite who pretty much pull the strings. Even if they do manage to implement some policies, once the conservatives get elected they pretty much start ripping everything up. The reality is that there is no boldness in our politicians because they learn pretty early on that being bold is a quick road to a quick exit. Fortunately, the punters have started to get sick of that rubbish and we are now seeing minor parties being elevated to the halls of power.
So, why do we get such mediocre leaders – well, Horne points out that the only way to get to a position of influence, such as a ministry, is to spend years warming a seat, and occasionally handling citizen queries – but then again you have staff to deal with that. Mind you, what is even worse is that when a politician gets a ministry, they are so busy that they never have any opportunity to meet with their constituents. However, some of them are good and do respond (though they are usually the backbenchers, namely because they don’t have anything better to do).
One of the reasons that I do prefer Labour over the Coalition is because the Coalition is basically stuck in an era that has long past. In their mind Asia is an annoyance that we have to deal with, and they don’t have time to deal with all of the problems that the South Pacific has to deal with. Labour at least accepts that we live in a multipolar world, and all of our traditional allies sit on the other side of the world.
That wasn’t always the case, but then World War II, and the Vietnam War, changed all of that. While the war in the Pacific was in part a Sino-Japanese War, it was also a war against Western colonial oppression. The main reason that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour was because they wanted to cripple the United States before invading the Philippines (which at the time was a US protectorate). The Chinese Civil War was pretty much the same – it was a war between the Chinese people (being the communists) against the Western-backed government. Okay, things have changed, but the end result of World War II was that Europe was effectively expelled from the Asian continent, yet there are still people here that have this belief that Europe will come and protect us. To be honest, ever since I was a kid we have known that we are on our own, but the people in power seem to be oblivious to this.
Okay, we do have a strong relationship with the United States, and it turns out that they have a vested interest in having us remain who we are, and we have a vested interest in keeping them onside, since their navy keeps the direct trade route between our East Coast, and their west Coast, open. Mind you, things have changed a lot, especially since Horne finished is last edition – we now have China as a world power, and are being hemmed in by the Americans by sea. Sure, Japan was occupied, but since the US was never an occupying power, they ended up withdrawing, however when the communists won the civil war in China it became evident that they still needed influence in the region – of which Australia plays a very important role.
I still remember a time when Japan was one of our most important trading partners – it was a world economic power – however these days it is basically a US aircraft carrier in East Asia. Singapore is fiercely independent, as are the other countries in the area. I remember Indonesia being referred to as ‘the arc of instability’ but I’m not entirely sure if that is the case anymore. Honestly, I’m not even sure if much has changed, considering most people's image of Asia is white beaches and good food.
Well, not quite – things have changed dramatically. First of all, Australia has opened up – back in the era of the White Australia Policy there was a resentment, we had land, we were incredibly wealthy, but our borders were pretty much closed to everybody except for the English and the Americans (and Australia, when you consider its immigration laws, is still notoriously difficult to get into – much like the United States). I can understand the resentment, especially considering that a lot of Asia is quite crowded, yet the reality is that 90% of Australia is desert, and we simply cannot support a huge population.
Still, the Australia of my childhood, and the Australia of now is a much different place. I think we are starting to accept our position in the world, though of course we still have a bunch of second-rate men ruling from Canberra. Like, Labour is still tied down by its interest groups, and we tend to forget that they aren’t the party of the intellectuals, they are the party of the working person – which in Australia is mining. While they are progressive in a lot of ways, and realise that we need to work with our neighbours as opposed to pining for a world that has long gone.
Yeah, it was a pretty good book, and quite enlightening, and it was interesting actually discovering that Menzies was actually a bit of a tool (he got dumped as Prime Minister while he was in England, and was literally just about to hand leadership of Australia over to Winston Churchill). In fact, I can understand why the Howard years were so painful, and that was because he literally took after Robert Menzies – yeah, he pretty much did nothing, and just coasted along on Australia’s luck, and the fact that the Labour Party were way to disorganised to get rid of him.
16 August 2023
You know, it is not surprising that the media have co-opted the title of a book that is rather critical of Australia and turned it into something to be proud of, but the reality is that we are indeed a lucky country because there are many countries out there that have been given much more and have produced much less. Like, Australia was really only a side product of the British Empire because they needed a place to dump their convicts. Even then they weren’t the first Europeans to discover the place. The Dutch, who had known, and mapped, Australia much earlier, didn’t even bother setting up a port for their ships to stop at on the way to the East Indies.
The full quote is that Australia is a Lucky Country, led by second-rate men who share in its luck. Looking at the state of our politics, and our pressure groups, I completely understand, and honestly nothing has changed since the book was written back in the 60s. Hell, even Australia’s longest-serving Prime Minister turned out to be pretty useless, and the only reason he kept on getting elected was that the opposition was in a complete shambles. In fact, it got to the point that just getting elected was good enough for the party leadership.
The really frustrating thing is that even if we get a half-decent Prime Minister elected, they don’t last, and are frustrated at every turn, not by the people, but by the elite who pretty much pull the strings. Even if they do manage to implement some policies, once the conservatives get elected they pretty much start ripping everything up. The reality is that there is no boldness in our politicians because they learn pretty early on that being bold is a quick road to a quick exit. Fortunately, the punters have started to get sick of that rubbish and we are now seeing minor parties being elevated to the halls of power.
So, why do we get such mediocre leaders – well, Horne points out that the only way to get to a position of influence, such as a ministry, is to spend years warming a seat, and occasionally handling citizen queries – but then again you have staff to deal with that. Mind you, what is even worse is that when a politician gets a ministry, they are so busy that they never have any opportunity to meet with their constituents. However, some of them are good and do respond (though they are usually the backbenchers, namely because they don’t have anything better to do).
One of the reasons that I do prefer Labour over the Coalition is because the Coalition is basically stuck in an era that has long past. In their mind Asia is an annoyance that we have to deal with, and they don’t have time to deal with all of the problems that the South Pacific has to deal with. Labour at least accepts that we live in a multipolar world, and all of our traditional allies sit on the other side of the world.
That wasn’t always the case, but then World War II, and the Vietnam War, changed all of that. While the war in the Pacific was in part a Sino-Japanese War, it was also a war against Western colonial oppression. The main reason that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour was because they wanted to cripple the United States before invading the Philippines (which at the time was a US protectorate). The Chinese Civil War was pretty much the same – it was a war between the Chinese people (being the communists) against the Western-backed government. Okay, things have changed, but the end result of World War II was that Europe was effectively expelled from the Asian continent, yet there are still people here that have this belief that Europe will come and protect us. To be honest, ever since I was a kid we have known that we are on our own, but the people in power seem to be oblivious to this.
Okay, we do have a strong relationship with the United States, and it turns out that they have a vested interest in having us remain who we are, and we have a vested interest in keeping them onside, since their navy keeps the direct trade route between our East Coast, and their west Coast, open. Mind you, things have changed a lot, especially since Horne finished is last edition – we now have China as a world power, and are being hemmed in by the Americans by sea. Sure, Japan was occupied, but since the US was never an occupying power, they ended up withdrawing, however when the communists won the civil war in China it became evident that they still needed influence in the region – of which Australia plays a very important role.
I still remember a time when Japan was one of our most important trading partners – it was a world economic power – however these days it is basically a US aircraft carrier in East Asia. Singapore is fiercely independent, as are the other countries in the area. I remember Indonesia being referred to as ‘the arc of instability’ but I’m not entirely sure if that is the case anymore. Honestly, I’m not even sure if much has changed, considering most people's image of Asia is white beaches and good food.
Well, not quite – things have changed dramatically. First of all, Australia has opened up – back in the era of the White Australia Policy there was a resentment, we had land, we were incredibly wealthy, but our borders were pretty much closed to everybody except for the English and the Americans (and Australia, when you consider its immigration laws, is still notoriously difficult to get into – much like the United States). I can understand the resentment, especially considering that a lot of Asia is quite crowded, yet the reality is that 90% of Australia is desert, and we simply cannot support a huge population.
Still, the Australia of my childhood, and the Australia of now is a much different place. I think we are starting to accept our position in the world, though of course we still have a bunch of second-rate men ruling from Canberra. Like, Labour is still tied down by its interest groups, and we tend to forget that they aren’t the party of the intellectuals, they are the party of the working person – which in Australia is mining. While they are progressive in a lot of ways, and realise that we need to work with our neighbours as opposed to pining for a world that has long gone.
Yeah, it was a pretty good book, and quite enlightening, and it was interesting actually discovering that Menzies was actually a bit of a tool (he got dumped as Prime Minister while he was in England, and was literally just about to hand leadership of Australia over to Winston Churchill). In fact, I can understand why the Howard years were so painful, and that was because he literally took after Robert Menzies – yeah, he pretty much did nothing, and just coasted along on Australia’s luck, and the fact that the Labour Party were way to disorganised to get rid of him.
September 16, 2011
Horne's sprawling though concise work of social criticism exposed Australia and Australians not to sheer vitriol but to a reasoned lament of the mediocrity of it's "elites" and many the negative elements of Australian society in the 1960s, especially of general apathy and malaise.
Yet even today many of the things he talks about are not only as relevant as ever (for instance, his assessment of Australian republicanism still holds mostly true 50 years, which is actually quite sad) and even when they are not (as times have obviously changed over the ensuing decades) they still are very informative from a historical point of view and inform the debates Australians are having as of now, and our place in the world.
I highly recommend this book to not only Australians but those who wonder at why this nation is almost this odd, somewhat grey speck in the consciousness of the world.
Yet even today many of the things he talks about are not only as relevant as ever (for instance, his assessment of Australian republicanism still holds mostly true 50 years, which is actually quite sad) and even when they are not (as times have obviously changed over the ensuing decades) they still are very informative from a historical point of view and inform the debates Australians are having as of now, and our place in the world.
I highly recommend this book to not only Australians but those who wonder at why this nation is almost this odd, somewhat grey speck in the consciousness of the world.
July 17, 2010
This book was written in the mid-1960s but is relevant today because Australia still faces similar dilemmas. Having said that, Australia has come a long way from those days so it is helpful and interesting to understand which paths we chose to take and why, and why we are the people we are.
I found the middle section dull because I am more interested in the social changes than politics. Although, it was interesting to learn about the role the Communists played in Australian politics and some of the secret deals that took place.
To be honest, it isn't a page turner (at times) but it is an important book for Australians to read so I recommend it.
I found the middle section dull because I am more interested in the social changes than politics. Although, it was interesting to learn about the role the Communists played in Australian politics and some of the secret deals that took place.
To be honest, it isn't a page turner (at times) but it is an important book for Australians to read so I recommend it.
June 20, 2019
I have a lot of issues with my country. And while it wouldn’t be possible to air these grievances with my fellow countrymen, it’s comforting to know that someone recognised those very same issues 60 years before.
December 11, 2010
as a time capsual yes it has some interest but read in todays light it's just 200 pages of whinging
January 16, 2025
The main feeling I have in finishing this book is disappointment that I wasn't able to read it in its own time. So much of the subject matter is hard to take seriously without 60 years of hindsight colouring my view.
At times Horne seems to be no more than a painful crank who is loathe to give Australia its chocolates in any particular way, while at other times this critical look at Australia is able to cut to the core of some of our biggest issues. The main contention of Australia being a "Lucky Country" (in a dumb luck sense) is still absolutely true, we remain a country with mediocre leadership, unsure of our place in the world.
He raises other key issues with Australia, the spirit of the wowser that lingers "... even in the mind of the most libertarian Australian", the willingness of Australians to censor often and extremely. These are things with which we still suffer. The main issue with his pieces on these subjects, though, is that they are over almost as soon as they start. The book itself is much more a series of think pieces, rather than a well formulated assessment of Australia.
Ideologically I feel that I depart from Horne a significant amount, but it is always good to pay mind to writing from those with whom you would disagree. It's clear from this that often, irrespective of ideology, we can reach the same conclusions - understand the same problems - it's just the getting there, and the where to in which we might disagree.
At times Horne seems to be no more than a painful crank who is loathe to give Australia its chocolates in any particular way, while at other times this critical look at Australia is able to cut to the core of some of our biggest issues. The main contention of Australia being a "Lucky Country" (in a dumb luck sense) is still absolutely true, we remain a country with mediocre leadership, unsure of our place in the world.
He raises other key issues with Australia, the spirit of the wowser that lingers "... even in the mind of the most libertarian Australian", the willingness of Australians to censor often and extremely. These are things with which we still suffer. The main issue with his pieces on these subjects, though, is that they are over almost as soon as they start. The book itself is much more a series of think pieces, rather than a well formulated assessment of Australia.
Ideologically I feel that I depart from Horne a significant amount, but it is always good to pay mind to writing from those with whom you would disagree. It's clear from this that often, irrespective of ideology, we can reach the same conclusions - understand the same problems - it's just the getting there, and the where to in which we might disagree.
May 25, 2025
3.5 stars - a ‘frank’ view of Australia, especially how it’s “second-rate” leaders who “lack curiosity” have been and still are one of the countries greatest weaknesses.
Some comments from Horne have lost their contemporaneity, whilst others are remarkably relevant in 2025. It’s a refreshing view through the looking glass at (some of) what the country has been through to become the Australia we know.
At times, I would have enjoyed some more considered views from Horne on how we can change for the better. Parts of the book feel as if reading about a country so uninspired it is a lost cause, but this is contrary to the heart and soul demonstrated by Australian people I meet everyday. In spite of the average leadership and lacklustre political domain in Australia - which seems devoted to emulating the ‘ways’ of US/UK rather than forging its own unique and admirable reputation - it is a rare and bountiful slice of the world which offers many overlooked contributions.
This book would be interesting for people to glimpse what ‘life was like’ and see how Australia has progressed, with limited considerations on how international relations (and other phenomena around the world) influenced changes over time. Horne’s work is best treated and read as one instalment in an enduring evolutionary tale of Australia who now, more than ever, has to forge its own identity in the ‘modern age’.
Some comments from Horne have lost their contemporaneity, whilst others are remarkably relevant in 2025. It’s a refreshing view through the looking glass at (some of) what the country has been through to become the Australia we know.
At times, I would have enjoyed some more considered views from Horne on how we can change for the better. Parts of the book feel as if reading about a country so uninspired it is a lost cause, but this is contrary to the heart and soul demonstrated by Australian people I meet everyday. In spite of the average leadership and lacklustre political domain in Australia - which seems devoted to emulating the ‘ways’ of US/UK rather than forging its own unique and admirable reputation - it is a rare and bountiful slice of the world which offers many overlooked contributions.
This book would be interesting for people to glimpse what ‘life was like’ and see how Australia has progressed, with limited considerations on how international relations (and other phenomena around the world) influenced changes over time. Horne’s work is best treated and read as one instalment in an enduring evolutionary tale of Australia who now, more than ever, has to forge its own identity in the ‘modern age’.
September 27, 2023
It's a bit depressing that much of what Horne first wrote in the 1960s could still be applied to the Australia of today. The Lucky Country is an indictment of some of the worst aspects of Australian society, but it's not entirely bleak in its outlook.
Horne's observations cover a range of aspects of Australian life, to the extent that trying to label The Lucky Country as a political book doesn't feel completely accurate. Across these various facets of Australia, a sense of contented mediocrity, comfortable ignorance, and friendly hedonism prevails, which would be troubling for an intellectual but far less so for an average member of a fairly prosperous society. This book was recommended to me by a friend so that I could appreciate the difficulties in trying to affect positive change in the country, and on that front it succeeded. A lot of what people like about Australia and its people are what makes it so hard for advancement to take off.
The Lucky Country is a product of its time and that diminishes its applicability and framing, which does have an impact on how useful it can be as an informative text. However, Horne's diagnoses of the problems afflicting the country remain sharp, and make for essential reading for anyone interested in Australia.
Horne's observations cover a range of aspects of Australian life, to the extent that trying to label The Lucky Country as a political book doesn't feel completely accurate. Across these various facets of Australia, a sense of contented mediocrity, comfortable ignorance, and friendly hedonism prevails, which would be troubling for an intellectual but far less so for an average member of a fairly prosperous society. This book was recommended to me by a friend so that I could appreciate the difficulties in trying to affect positive change in the country, and on that front it succeeded. A lot of what people like about Australia and its people are what makes it so hard for advancement to take off.
The Lucky Country is a product of its time and that diminishes its applicability and framing, which does have an impact on how useful it can be as an informative text. However, Horne's diagnoses of the problems afflicting the country remain sharp, and make for essential reading for anyone interested in Australia.
June 24, 2022
Horne was ahead for his time in much of what he predicted, such as Australia turning towards the USA and Asia as economic partners. Many of his arguments, such as Australia (and its leaders) mimicking other cultures, rather than coming up with their own ideas is accurate, albeit harsh. However, his anti-republicanism tone came across as rather Anglo-phobic, and particularly towards the end, his criticisms of anyone with some respect for the current constitutional system seemed short-sighted. His claim that nobody of a younger generation would support a monarchy was naive at best, especially given the result of the Republic Referendum in the '90s, though it would be unfair to assume that Horne was able to predict the future.
It is understandable that Horne did not support Sir Robert Menzies, but the chapter on Menzies seemed like an entire rant about how inefficient he was as Prime Minister, all because he had some sympathy for the constitutional monarchy. Although I can understand why this was such a radical and powerful book for its time, this bias against the UK detracted from otherwise strong points.
It is understandable that Horne did not support Sir Robert Menzies, but the chapter on Menzies seemed like an entire rant about how inefficient he was as Prime Minister, all because he had some sympathy for the constitutional monarchy. Although I can understand why this was such a radical and powerful book for its time, this bias against the UK detracted from otherwise strong points.
July 25, 2018
First published in 1964, The Lucky Country by Donald Horne reveals the typical character of the Australian people, their national spirit, their strengths, weaknesses and the possible direction for our future.
What I liked
✅ witty, robust, insightful writing
✅ lays bare the basic truths of Australian life which linger under the surface, expressing it in an easy-to-digest way
✅ valid and insightful criticisms on the weaknesses of Australia and its people
What I didn't like
✖ the book overestimated the influence of communism on modern Australia
✖ the book was slightly alarmist, not predicting the middle route which Australia would walk down as it moves into the future
Rating
4.5/5 🌟
View my bookstagram here.
More reviews and writing tips here.
What I liked
✅ witty, robust, insightful writing
✅ lays bare the basic truths of Australian life which linger under the surface, expressing it in an easy-to-digest way
✅ valid and insightful criticisms on the weaknesses of Australia and its people
What I didn't like
✖ the book overestimated the influence of communism on modern Australia
✖ the book was slightly alarmist, not predicting the middle route which Australia would walk down as it moves into the future
Rating
4.5/5 🌟
View my bookstagram here.
More reviews and writing tips here.
December 17, 2018
Surprisingly interesting and relevant for a book about Australia written over 50 years ago.
- insights into the society in which I was being raised and which clearly implanted certain notions
- a tart assessment of Australian intellectual, business, and political leadership (or lack thereof), that is not entirely unrecognisable today
- some excellent predictions of where the country needed to go and which have held up strongly
- some others that thankfully didn’t pan out
- a window into conventions, assumptions, and prejudices of the time, and how much things have improved (the role of women is dealt with in one sub-chapter, and the use of the generic “men” when describing all actors in society, are very jarring to modern sensibilities, something Horne himself acknowledges in the introduction written for the mid-90s reissue)
- insights into the society in which I was being raised and which clearly implanted certain notions
- a tart assessment of Australian intellectual, business, and political leadership (or lack thereof), that is not entirely unrecognisable today
- some excellent predictions of where the country needed to go and which have held up strongly
- some others that thankfully didn’t pan out
- a window into conventions, assumptions, and prejudices of the time, and how much things have improved (the role of women is dealt with in one sub-chapter, and the use of the generic “men” when describing all actors in society, are very jarring to modern sensibilities, something Horne himself acknowledges in the introduction written for the mid-90s reissue)
July 16, 2023
Loved the first half, some lovely and clever writing; second half a battle to get through as it trawls through the details of political parties that no longer exist, at least not in the same form.
"Life assumes meaning in the weekends and on holidays."
"Australians like people to be ordinary. One reason might be the inability to imagine a life different from one's own. For instance, talking about sport, money and motor cars takes up so much of male conversation - indeed it provides a lingua franca between income groups and gives reality to the convention of equality - that sometimes to engage in a conversation it is necessary to have mastered these topics. Not to have done so is not to be a man. Interests run so evenly throughout the community that not to share them is to be an outcast. To be different is considered an affectation."
"Perhaps the best way of putting it is that Australians do not find distasteful the official story of what America is supposed to be. Freedom, equality, affluence, the pursuit of happiness... these words are all right by Australians. When Australians and Americans use these words there may be more common meaning in them than when Englishmen and Australians use them."
"Even Australian egalitarianism is derived: it shoudl be remembered that, beneath the acceptance of the deferential system in Britain, there has long been an egalitarian spirit too; mateship has been submerged ideology in Britain affecting the lives of a great number of people. When the TV series Z Cars came to Australia, Australians saw part of themselves - with North Country accents. Even Australian laconicism has its derivation; it is an extreme form of British understatement. Australia is very 'British' in the sense that both societies are outwardly sceptical and pragmatic, distrusting public emotion and any complicated form of conceptualization and systematization. The Australian 'let's give it a go' concept may be an extreme form of the British concept of 'muddling through'."
"Life assumes meaning in the weekends and on holidays."
"Australians like people to be ordinary. One reason might be the inability to imagine a life different from one's own. For instance, talking about sport, money and motor cars takes up so much of male conversation - indeed it provides a lingua franca between income groups and gives reality to the convention of equality - that sometimes to engage in a conversation it is necessary to have mastered these topics. Not to have done so is not to be a man. Interests run so evenly throughout the community that not to share them is to be an outcast. To be different is considered an affectation."
"Perhaps the best way of putting it is that Australians do not find distasteful the official story of what America is supposed to be. Freedom, equality, affluence, the pursuit of happiness... these words are all right by Australians. When Australians and Americans use these words there may be more common meaning in them than when Englishmen and Australians use them."
"Even Australian egalitarianism is derived: it shoudl be remembered that, beneath the acceptance of the deferential system in Britain, there has long been an egalitarian spirit too; mateship has been submerged ideology in Britain affecting the lives of a great number of people. When the TV series Z Cars came to Australia, Australians saw part of themselves - with North Country accents. Even Australian laconicism has its derivation; it is an extreme form of British understatement. Australia is very 'British' in the sense that both societies are outwardly sceptical and pragmatic, distrusting public emotion and any complicated form of conceptualization and systematization. The Australian 'let's give it a go' concept may be an extreme form of the British concept of 'muddling through'."
August 17, 2021
Resonant in the sections which rightly condemn the intellectual vacuity of much of Australian life. Several of Horne's arguments, however, have aged extremely poorly, particularly his assertion that Australian's involvement in the Vietnam war was a positive step in its relations with Asia. Maybe with the reactionary strongman leaders of South-East Asia it was, in terms of actual cultural engagement it was not. Horne's calls for the emergence of a 'vigorous' technocratic elite also leave a slightly sour taste in the mouth given the economic pillaging this class has presided over since the 70s. Nonetheless, The Lucky Country is still an essential window into the post-war world and the dying days of White Australia
August 24, 2021
Horne's phrase 'The Lucky Country' has lost any sense of irony and negativity as it has been embraced by a country who is (with some irony of its own, given the text) completely ignorant of its original source.
Some of Horne's work remain relevant. His commentary on a lot of Australian attitudes - particularly towards intellectuals, towards our politicians and towards our attitude of 'just give it a go' (instead of planning) remain apt. His commentary on the Labor and Liberal parties do show their age (although still bare some wisdom), and some of his commentary on international relations is well out of date.
The book is still informative, and a worthwhile read - particularly if you're keen on reflecting on your own culture as an Australian.
Some of Horne's work remain relevant. His commentary on a lot of Australian attitudes - particularly towards intellectuals, towards our politicians and towards our attitude of 'just give it a go' (instead of planning) remain apt. His commentary on the Labor and Liberal parties do show their age (although still bare some wisdom), and some of his commentary on international relations is well out of date.
The book is still informative, and a worthwhile read - particularly if you're keen on reflecting on your own culture as an Australian.
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