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I keep thinking of the comment on Marx & Engels that they never mentioned Methodism - one of the most significant makers of working class consciousness in the Britain of their time. So amidst all the writing I do on Bhaskar and Hegel, and Traverso and Berardi etc, I feel I should say something at least occasionally about what is happening politically in my back yard - Australia. There is a state election tomorrow that is noted for two things. A slowly, slowly right wing Labor government is in charge. (BTW There is a good argument for saying that "Right Wing Labor" is the natural form of government in Australia). Secondly they will survive because the right wing populist push, being led by Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party, is largely confined to the rural regions. I am inclined to think that Methodist discipline and respectability is a very strong force in Australian Labor in particular and in society generally - despite all the public persona of the drunken Aussie larrikin. That respectability and discipline works against One Nation. But what this post is meant to be about is the Federal Political scene. Specifically I want to ask "What is the significance of the imminent political demise of the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull?" To answer that I have to ask what did the PM stand for? The answer I think is that he combined two strands of politics - social progressiveness and a commitment to neoliberalism (of a lite nature). Thus he believed in global warming. He wanted Australia to become a Republic. He wanted refugees to be treated more humanely and he favored gay marriage. But he compromised on all the progressiveness to become Prime Minister. He leads a right wing party that despises him. Now that he has slipped in the polls, they intend to get rid of him. That dominance of the Right within the governing party effectively left Turnbull without a cover for his neoliberalism. Neoliberal conservatives concentrate on stoking up fears of the Despised Other while neoliberal progressivists rely on the warm inner glow we get for instance as in the marriage equality debate when we see "love winning". The crucial point to understand is that they all need a cover for neoliberal policies. My conclusion here is that the political moment of neoliberal progressivists is over. We will either have a turn to some variation of Keynesianism or to a barbaric authoritarianism designed to prop up the prevailing economic stage of capitalism. For what it is worth I would put my money on Keynesianism, especially here in Australia. 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
