Cry 'Havoc', let slip the dogs of capitalism
Melbourne Age January 23 2005
Perspective
John Howard's planned changes to the institutions of government after July 1 will mean an end to democracy as we know it, writes Terry Lane.
It is shaping up as an interesting year. Any contender for the leadership of the Australian Labor Party should be reading the signs and pondering the implications of heading a pseudo-quasi-ex-socialist party at a time when capitalist ideology reigns unrestrained and unchallenged.
In fact, 2005 could well be the year of the remaking of Australian society and the end to the century-old Deakinite settlement thatreconciled capital and labour and mediated their coexistence witha set of trade-offs. Letter writers took me to task last week for failing to give due credit to capitalism in my short catalogue of causes of our unlikely prosperity. The fact is that capitalism, as the powerhouse of affluence - Karl Marx had no misgivings or reservations about the driving force of capitalism - is only one factor in general national prosperity.
Indonesia and Thailand are capitalist paradises where labour has no rights, and the environment can look after itself, and the weak are in no position to cope with natural disasters. Capitalism, without the restraining, moderating and redistributive devices of democracy, free media and organised labour, is a devouring beast; and when it comes to capitalism no one can hold a candle to the Soeharto family and their pals.
This year could be the one in which Australia becomes more like Soeharto's Indonesia, or George W. Bush's America, and less like the civilised nations of Europe, where capital and labour have a more sophisticated and subtle understanding of the tension between the two thatis necessary for civilisation toflourish.
As from July 1, when the party of capital takes total control of the institutions of government, we may expect to see Deakin's co-operative edifice being demolished, brick by brick. And the justification for crying "Havoc" and letting loose the dogs of capital will be that this will, in the end, be best for us all.
We shall know prosperity as never before. When the Prime Minister and his cronies get their way, individuals will enjoy a new-found liberty to choose our own lives, limited only by our ability to pay.
Already we rank near the bottom of the international league table in all the measures of social well-being, except, significantly, in what we pay for medicines. How long do you think the pharmaceutical benefits scheme will last under the winner-takes-all Howard Government?
We won't be the first to be put through the capitalist experiment. New Zealand has been there and done that, eventually coming to its senses thanks to the persistence of democracy.
The same will happen here, always assuming that democracy itself is not a victim of the Howard revolution. Unhappily, it very well could be.
If Howard decides to change the method of electing the Senate to guarantee that the party with the majority in the lower house also enjoys a majority in the Senate, then an important component of our democratic system - proportional representation in the house of review - will be lost.
Say what we will about J. W. Howard, he is a radical ideologue with a well-defined concept of what an ideal nation should look like. It's no wonder the majority of electors choose to go along with him just to see what will happen next. It beats ladders of opportunity for excitement any day.
And if it all goes arse over elbow, we can always toss him out and put in the other lot who, as we all know, stand for, er, what, exactly?