On 16/11/2013, at 3:02 AM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:
> And this is indeed what the evidence seems to support. Sweden's labor was
> organized mainly by socialists for whom social protections was an important
> agenda item. But even that was not enough, and it took government
> administration to implement the welfare state. In NZ the Labour Party
> tried nationalization policies in the 1920s but got cold feet due to
> electoral pushback. In Australia the Labour Party went with skilled trades
> unions demand for higher wages rather than social protections.
I hope you haven't overlooked racism and the White Australia Policy in the history of Australia and the Australian labour movement.
Of course it is probably worth noting that Australia, like the US, began life as a colonial society. So that, while racism is hardly unknown in Europe, it may have a distinct flavour in colonial cultures?
Even as we speak, this colonial/racist current in popular opinion continues to poison our society (and state) in new and bitter ways. After the Vietnam war there was a surge of refugees that came to Australia, amongst other places. The ruling class kept a lid of the resentment. But the last few years have seen outrageous exploitation of the issues by both major political parties. I suspect that this really is an issue of class, in the sense that the big difference between now and then is that both Labor and Liberal parties have drifted away from the strong class affiliations they still had in the 70's.
In the 1970's, Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser's Liberal party may have been kept in check on the issue by the sense that at least these non-white refugees were of an anti-communist persuasion. The Labour party too was a different creature then, made up of people with strong ideological ties, whereas today it is 100% composed of opportunists and careerists.
So while the 1970's Labour party wasn't too thrilled by the vietnamese refugee surge, that was mainly due to them also knowing that here was a big influx of people who would never vote for them. However, having only just fought their way out from the mire of slavish adherence to the White Australia Policy, Labor didn't dare stir up that foul concoction.
Nowadays, both parties vie to prove they would be more vile and pitiless than the other toward desperate refugees , fleeing from one or other of the world's trouble spots. (Often situations made worse by ourselves and our ally the US military intervention, but if not then at least made worse by the lawless world order encouraged by our great and powerful ally.) All in all, we cannot escape some blame for the fact many of these people are fleeing persecution.
Both major parties advocate cruel policies that effectively repudiate Australia's obligations under international refugee conventions and even amount to crimes against humanity. Mandatory imprisonment of all refugees, at first in harsh outback concentration camps, but when that seemed too mild, in purpose built camps in remote offshore islands, even in ill-equipped camps in third-world foreign countries that can be bribed to accept the "problem", like Nauru or Papua New Guinea.
It is difficult to convey the depth of horror/guilt/envy that is roused in the breast of the Australian by the pictures of ragged boat people making their pitiful way across dangerous oceans, desperate to join our nation. It seems to bring back cultural memories of the "Yellow Peril", the great hordes of asians which our colonial ancestors feared would deprive them of their undeserved now colony? I dunno, but certainly these factors are crucial and have always ben crucial in Australia's history.
Perversely, the more recent migrants to Australia are often the worst offenders.
Class in is there too, in very important ways. But maybe in ways which are subtly different, in complex ways I can't really grasp.
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas
> So this is
> the crucial test case that demonstrates that the interests of the same
> class can lead to very different outcomes, depending how they are
> articulated and articulated by institutions representing these classes.
>
> That is the way things stand right now. The ms is due by the end of this
> year so there may be some changes but I do not think they will be major.