******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. *****************************************************************
"Centre-left parties felt pressure to acknowledge the claims of identity movements, which allowed right wing candidates and parties throughout the Anglophone west to work a simple formula. In culture war mode, they [political parties of the Right] would rail against feminism, multiculturalism and queers. For their financiers, they’d cut taxes, cripple unions, and dismantle regulation and welfare systems. " The above is nipped from an intelligent article by Jason Wilson in the Guardian. He expresses neatly what I have argued for a long time, that there is a crisis on the Right among conservatives. They have been in bed with economic radicals for over 30 years in opposition among other things to one of the genuinely conservative forces in this country, namely, the Australian trade union movement. The conservatives have dined out on hatred of the Feared/Despised Other - queers and "rag--heads" while their standard of living has eroded steadily. Then they finally got their own government led by the deranged Tony Abbott. His failure is a bitter blow. He has been outflanked on social policy by the smoothest of conservatives, Malcolm Turnbull. But Turnbull continues to be committed to neoliberal policies. The government still thinks the way forward is to cut spending, instead of to massively increase it. Again it is Labor's refusal to break on the economic front and to embrace even Keynesianism that protects the Turnbull government. Labor should point out that neoliberalism destroys communities and families and individual lives. The British Labour Party is beginning to do this. They are combining their turn to the alternative Third Way - Keynesianism and the entrepreneurial state advocated by Mariana Mazzucato - with an attempt to appeal to the conservative value of protecting families. This excerpt from McDonnell's speech is spot on. McDonnell said "Well, for Michael O’Sullivan austerity was more than a word. Michael suffered from severe mental illness. He was certified by his GP as unable to work but despite the evidence submitted by 3 doctors, he was assessed by the company given the contract for the work capability assessment as fit for work. Michael killed himself after his benefits were removed. The coroner concluded his death was a direct result of the decision in his case. I don’t believe Michael’s case stands alone. I am grateful to Michael’s family for allowing me to mention him today. I send them, I am sure on behalf of all us here, our heartfelt sympathy and condolences." None of this is socialism for those of us who still dream of the Workers' Paradise to come. But it is at least something. Alas, there seems to be no one in Australian mainstream parties (Labor or the Greens) that can articulate the link between neoliberal austerity and the suffering of the people. Worse there is absolutely no sign that the Australian Labor Party is even faintly aware of the need to begin the necessary rethink. comradely Gary _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
