thegreatdivide wrote on Jan 22
nd, 2022 at 3:01pm:
Karnal wrote on Jan 22
nd, 2022 at 1:53pm:
Stop fighting for scraps, leftards, let's give everybody a fair go and take back our fair share. Companies will still do business in Australia. It's time to take the next logical step in human evolution.
Yes the Right are laughing all the way to the bank, when Leftards all around the world are arguing among themselves.
The "right" are an ideological gaggle in Australia. They used to be a harmless mob of pastoral squatters, protectionists and fixed-currency types, pro-union, pro status quo.
This all changed in the 80s, not only due to new economic ideas, Friedman, Hayek, etc, but the monopolisation of the media by Murdoch, who took over the lion's share of the media in Australia, US and UK.
The "right" subsequently became a self-interested, morally-bankrupt outfit, led by the loudest columnists and commentators in the News Ltd press, Fox and Sky. They reached their peak with the election of Trump, then came crashing down just as hard.
Interestingly, the "right" is a different beast in English-speaking countries with non-Murdoch friendly media laws. Canada and New Zealand are completely different countries as a result.
The "left" have had a journey of their own, the centre-left being neutralised by the fact that, with the exception of the US, they have achieved their signature policies - universal education, health care, the welfare state, worker safety policies, etc.
This required a turn, which was met by the advancing Green parties, who ate into their base. The industrial base, or what's left of it, has increasingly turned right.
The rich, however, are above all this, but have formed a technocracy. While predominantly anti-union, the Silicon Valley elites are pro-Green and pro-wealth distribution. Unlike the pastoralists and wealthy landholders of the past, their investment requires a knowledge base, which brings an awareness of social issues.
The industrial/Cold War dichotomy of "left" and "right" doesn't do the new order justice. Such terms usually prevent understanding. They're blunt, ideological, and only rarely relevant, but carry so much baggage they're important.
It would be a mistake, however, to identify with either of them. The economy, like nature, is neutral.