".... fighty, drunken, miserable..." This is part of our history. You have to remember that the conquest of Australia was to do with finding a place for the better type of English person to rid themselves of an ever increasing criminal class who struggled to survive and often resorted to theft and a broad spectrum of unappreciated activities. When this "scum" arrived in the new colony understanding, humane treatment and rehabilitation were not high on the priority list. "For the Term of His Natural Life" was published by Marcus Clarke in 1870-72 and is a grim account of convict treatment in Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania.) That history is notorious for cruelty and barbarism including the appalling treatment of the children of convicts. As continues to the present day, alcohol and violence belong to those traditions. It really is a wonder that there are any "nice, funny, sarcastic, happy people interested in about everything."