But the Left view of social justice is fast becoming a casualty, in a
society were the rich man seems to have an unrestrained right to
excessively indulge, whilst others languish behind razor wire or exist on
meagre pickings.
Thatcherism removed welfare cornerstones - on a mantle of every man for
himself. Her legacy is a more brutal, uncertain form of society where the
welfare and dignity of Australians (and those that would seek safe harbour
on our shores), far from being assured, are actively denied to some
sections of the community.
We are more vulnerable now, than ever before to the excesses of
capitalism: governments legislate away gains fought for in the past and
dismiss fairness principles as anticompetitive socialist baggage.
Disturbingly, disenfranchisement is matched with a feeling of
helplessness, marked by a lack of confidence in social change.
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We have perhaps entered what Adam Jamrozik calls the ‘post welfare
state’. Multiculturalism has been eclipsed, market dogma and the pursuit
of wealth dominate, treasury discredits poverty statistics, and advocates
for the poor squabble over a shrinking pie.
Conservatives appeal to our base nature, to the aspiring and upwardly
mobile class of Australia who have proven only too ready to enlist in
popular prejudice, real or presumed. It is their preference for racial
blindness and meanness directed at immigrants, processed or otherwise,
that won Howard his 2001 election victory.
Meanwhile in the halls of Opposition there are stirrings. Icons of the
ALP, like Barry Jones, have made submissions to the Hawke/ Wran Review.
They are critical of the contemporary party and argue the need for a
return to ideological honesty, in order to reverse the trends of the last
six years - where Labor in Opposition has failed to lay a glove on the
Howard Government.
But whatever your brand of soap powder, the reality is unchanged. With
the collapse of HIH, One-Tel and Ansett, we can attest to the fact that
the implicit contract between bosses and their staff is a sham. We are all
universally vulnerable to the crash of capital.
We are in challenging times. Yet our national political landscape is
dreary and self-serving. Speeches are lifeless, orthodox, and risk averse.
Euphemisms cover up any unpleasantries. Employers no longer sack workers
they ‘downsize’ them. People are referred to as 'cargo' or 'illegals'.
We no longer speak of war dead, but rather 'collateral damage'.
Regurgitated news takes the form of obfuscation and Orwellian
manipulation, as it passes through the hands of so many spin-doctors,
completely spars us the energy and effort of thinking. But as Harold Hark
says, there is a universal antidote. People need to install leaders who
will stop following them.
Its time the Left reclaimed the territory of the ordinary battler from
the potbellied thieves and found a way to win back its core and new
constituencies, without being damned for it.
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To find a space where decency and generosity of spirit are espoused
without apology.
To denounce Australia’s status of sycophantic deputy of US foreign
policy.
To recapture our Antipodean irreverence for things haughty, healing the
grief we all feel for our lamented loss of mateship values.
Some say that the era of the spin is over. Worn thin. The brainpower
that keeps this society engine running, the professional classes that make
up 20 per cent of the population, the amorphous middle Australia, the
marginalised underclass and the authentic working class, the sum of us,
are tired of highly staged and choreographed spin causing us to abandon
each other like unwelcome guests.
Leadership is the art of finding a way forward without leaving anyone
behind. We deserve better.