Friday 27 February 2015
Friday 20 February 2015
The Australian Labor Government: A Very Brief Australian Political history. By Tim Brian Tufuga.
There are two Australian political and cultural histories, one is a Conservative and politically stagnant and uneventful political history; and, the other, a pragmatic, vibrant, dynamic, and progressive political history, spearheaded by The Australian Labor Party.
In moments of crisis:
I could glance through the history of Australia and realise that the most momentous achievements of Australian government leaders from the very beginning of the modern Australian political history for over a century, were significantly impacted most by an Australian Labor Government. During the lull times, however, a Conservative right-wing government, would assume the helm, only until a time of crisis would arise, then a pragmatic, roll-up-your sleeves Labor Government would stand up, front and centre, and to rescue Australia from the brink of collapse and anarchy. In the past century, only thirty three years the Australian political history was considered as Labor government incumbencies. Without sounding off the obvious, the ALP had made greater domestic and global impact than the dormancy steady-as-she-goes political incumbencies of their Conservative counterparts.
World War One
During the start of the Great War, an ALP PM Joseph Cook, stood at the helm, followed by another, and yet more colourful ALP, convert, PM Billy Hughes, whose demagogue charismatic political speeches encouraged a nation into resolute stoicism in the face of wartime chaos and uncertainty.
The Great Depression
During the Great Depression, in 1929, it was James Scullin’s Australian Labor Government, once again, that had befallen the momentous political and social economic catastrophic event of the century, and, although he had promised to steer the nation out of the Great Depression, with an Australian adaptation of John Maynard Keynes’, The New Deal, due to the overwhelming Conservative scepticism by the States, would have Keynesianism rejected, resulting in the annihilation of the federal Scullion ALP government at the Ballot and the rise of Robert Menzies Conservative government, but, what was more significant was the selling off of minerals such as Iron Ore, (Pig Iron), to Japan, earning the unenviable slur for Robert Menzies of ‘Pig Iron Bob’. From a Keynesian perspective, however, it would stagnate the recovery of the nation with a comparative result within the United States Government’s The New Deal policy for infrastructure development with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). However, the vision for the Snowy Mountain Scheme was not conceived by the Menzies government, even though, during the Great Depression, Scullion government had this vision in mind. Needless to say, with the benefit of hindsight the failed Scullion administration were precocious beyond their years. Finally, in 1949, during yet another Australian Labor Government of Ben Chiefly, The Snowy Mountain Scheme, would finally begin, and would finally be completed by the end of 1972, some fifty years after it was initially entertained in the minds by the Scullion administration, and was then quickly ignored, and forgotten by the Robert Menzies Government and the State Governments of the time.
World War Two
Once again, a left-wing Labor government, would answer the call to rescue a nation during a time of crisis particularly during the paroxysms of world war two when the Australian Labor Government PM John Curtin, would stand up, front and centre, and lead the nation during a time of imminent danger. Australia was saved from the brink of catastrophic chaos, once again, a Labor government would see Australia through the war period, save only the 1942 Darwin Bombing, through to the post war period somewhat unscathed.
United Nations and the End of the White Australia policy.
Domestically, would see the emergent population growth through a great influx of primarily European migrants, vis-à-vis, the One Million Briton policy, and, the Ten Pound Poms, would flood Australian immigration turnstiles; and, coupled with this dramatic increase of the Australian population was the dramatic rise of the natural domestic population through the Natural Increase levels, which would generate a new generation known collectively as the Baby boomers. The Baby boomers as a significant population group, from 1945-1950s, would dramatically have an impact upon the Australia socio-political landscape which would include universal citizenry rights entitlements to the universal welfare state system, was then considered a right and an entitlement and not a privilege. Also, with the hasten demands for economic and socio-political progressiveness, the White Australia policy was eventually thrown out by the Australian Labor government policy manifesto, in part, due to the demands for the domestic economic development and the labour market needs, and more symbolically moral, ethical and political correct was the need for the Australian Labor Government’s international obligations be considered reputably sound and correct. Hence, the winds of change included a need for the gradual decolonisation objectives, and the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, which was part of the foundation cornerstones of the newly formed United Nations Organisation. Australian domestic race relations had to revert to important reconciliation as consistent with the international obligations of Australia to the United Nations and other international bilateral and multilateral organisational affiliations and commitments.
Moreover, the international reputation of Australia after world war two revealed many contradictions which needed to be addressed by the Australian Labor Government. Since the Australian Labor Government had played a crucially important role within the recently formed United Nations Organisation, a former Australian Party Leader, Dr Evatt, would stand as the inaugural President (Secretary-General) of the United Nations General Assembly. Incidentally, the Australian Labor Party think tank, which would include Dr Evatt and Fred Whitlam, et al, who were instrumental in the penmanship of parts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter.
Fred Whitlam (Wikipedia)
It seems obvious that in times of Australia’s political turmoils the people of Australia would always rely upon a centralist left-wing government to steer the nation away from the brink of nihilism and anarchy. In times of international and domestic political significant events throughout Australia’s young political history the Australian Labor Government have played a significant role which would be considered more significantly important than the achievements of their political opposition.
From the paroxysms of significant political events of the past century the Australia Labor Party would be the bastion of strength, integrity, and practical functionality in preventing our nation falling into the abyss of absolute anarchic chaos and uncertainty. During moments when pragmatic government intervention were required such as during the Great Depression a conservative government would undermine the Keynesian practicality for stimulating full economic recovery through full employment stimulation through a much more rigorous think big undertakings which were then strongly discouraged by the conservative regimes. He Snowy Mountain Scheme was delayed until after world war two, when the scheme should have been introduced back in the 1930s when full employment was then required.
Rt. Hon. Sir James Scullion (Wikipedia)
After the war years, the white Australia was erased once and for all when the need to populate or perish would demand the expansion of the immigration quotas outside of the British white immigration quotas to meet the domestic employment and development targets. The Baby boomers would demand an increase of Macroeconomic stress in certain sectors of the economy whilst encouraging the perpetual suburban sprawl into the hinterland of Australian coastlines.
Finally, the United Nations, in its present form, would, undoubtedly, owe a great deal of its foundation to the leaders of the Australian Labor government. Dr. HV Evatt as the inaugural President of the United Nations would be bestowed this highest accolade and would symbolically crown the feats and unprecedented achievements of a powerful and courageous political party not only within Australia, but, throughout present and future international relations.
Dr. HV Evatt (Wikipedia)
The Overview of the Labour tradition: An ideological perspective: Realpolitik:
Nowadays, the Australian Labor Government is finding new unprecedented socio-political grounds to explore beyond the confines of conservativism. The dynamic forces of the social democratic mind is vibrant and progressive and will not become narrowly focused to the avarice market forces of profit making capitalism, it is viewed simply as a means to an ends, capitalism is not an end in itself. Social Democrats world over have realised the value of collective consciousness and the collective responsibility so as to ensure that our international obligations will not render us domestically as hypocrites. The Australian Labor Government had always aspired to pursue socio-economic autarky for their working Australians. The aim for the protection of the high quality of life and standards of living for all Australians is considered not a privilege for a few but is an entitlement for all citizens. Citizenry Democratic rights is enshrined into the fabric of any civilised society, notwithstanding, the citizen’s particular race, colour, creed, age, and gender, the Australian Labor Government in the past and present has traditionally always stood firmly to these universal values and would endeavour to remain consistently firm to these collective responsibilities. The antithesis to the Labour cause is the avarice individualism and the desire to undermine your fellow man and woman, in some dog eat dog contest, so as to undermine communities into chaotic competition for scarce power resources, and to plunge nations into conflict over limited power resources.
The Collective responsible way of the Social Democrat would view public policy and government responsibility in the Public interest and the public interest is considered as paramount, over and above the individual wants. Moreover, the individual is not diminished in its collective value but rather the individual augments the sum total of the family unit, and, outwardly, to the community, and society, at large. The ideological compromise as one Labor leader had once chimed, is the consideration for Mutualism of the Third Way, In such an ideological compromise the acceptance of,
“In terms of organisational theory, it might be thought of this way. The first way lies in the individualism of the market. The second way lies in the hierarchies of the state. A Third Way can be found in the mutualism of network organisations. It is the coming way. “
In such a structural perspective of the Latham organizational systems theory we would realise that in the Digital Age we are overlapping Sovereign National borders, with our influences and multinational organization which will play a significant role within the localized socio-political Sovereign order. The interoperability of industrial relations interactions between domestic workers, their respective union sections, and their adaptability in a free market system which has effectively undermined the domestic industries and subsequently the detrimental effects upon local employment conditions.
Geospatial Revolution: Climate Change
New global questions has arisen which has included the political contentious Climate Change. The global impact of an Agenda 21 geo-spatial influence on respective domestic public policy, has ushered in the dawn of a new age of the Geo-spatial revolution. The impact of environmentalists has set a new age precedent away from the industrial democratic platforms of the traditional neo-Marxist class conflict. The influence of energy security and the impact of the global war on terror has dramatic impact in the geo-spatial influence in global politics. The rise of Shale Oil and the fracking of shale oil has impacted upon the levels of protest and environmental outrage whilst at the same time influencing the price of oil from traditional suppliers from the Middle East. OPEC member nations have viewed the power of the Shale Oil market as being real and have responded with competitive oil prices cutting the price of the barrel of oil WTI by over 50% since 2014-15.
The neo-Marxists have viewed the impact of the Shale oil in the Oil wars as diffusing the impact of the core-periphery exploitation of the Middle Eastern emergent economies whilst the West extract their own oil from within their sovereign borders.
The Digital Age: The cyber-threats and the impact of the Social Media as a Political weapon of choice.
The impact of the Australian Labor Party members within international organisations such as the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) has constantly reminded individual members of their universal commitments to their kindred collective spirits who share these common values of fraternity and collective responsibility to their community. The Social democratic view of the transition of liberal democracy to Social democracy is a revisionist ideal although a gradualist view which in Realpolitik’s terms may seem impractical. However, since Perestroika and Glasnost, the Neo Marxist traditional mindset had made a default reset and would revise the ineluctable path for a Liberal democratic regime becoming Social Democracies.
Instead, the impact of the ever shrinking world through the Digital Age has emboldened the power and reach of the atomised individual, sitting inside his or her bedroom, being able to articulate information, and even to conduct individual commerce, and social networking, with extra spatial and extra dimension impact, other than the physical and audio-visual confines with their immediate physical proximity. The impact of the individual has become further more paramount with aid of the social media platform.
Conversely, the collective impact of flash crowd gatherings has also been significant with the power of the digital age, the Arab Spring revolutions were sparked and encouraged through social media particularly through Twitter and Facebook users. The social media weapon of choice has made the individual more powerful than the totalitarian powers that be may like, although, the collection of Meta Data, via social media accounts, has also added to the greater social profiling of individuals by the State as well. The great Firewall of China and Cyber conflict measures such as the Stuxnet cyber warfare virus, which has been downloaded into military and government servers in target nations, causing malfunctions to installations and institutions.
The comprehension of the full impact of the digital age upon the information technology is ubiquitous significant. In appreciating the full propaganda meme influence of the social media platform the political propaganda machine on both sides of the political spectrum have faced off in both positive and negative measures. The political psychological war is perpetual ground war from behind the keyboard. Internet trolling and scandalous memes would aim to incite a political and even physical reaction and whomever is able to influence the most and to persuade the most undoubtedly has gained the upper hand in the propaganda warfare.
The modern Labor government is facing the new challenges of a dynamic digital age in which the individual looms larger than the collective. The transference of information is no longer limited by conventional means, such as a phone call or a snail mail letter. People are fully informed instantaneously in an age of convenience. A consumer led economy has diminished the desire to protect passionately traditional jobs because most are no longer in existence. The changes of the working environment has had a dramatic impact on the intergenerational occupational location traditions of the Australian society. The Digital age is primarily responsible for most of this change. Traditional jobs like the Typing pools within government departments are no more, the entire automobile manufacturing industry in Australia has moved offshore, many clothing factories have gone offshore, also due to favourable production costs, i.e., lower labour costs, etc.
Labour politics and the ideological relevance within a Bear/Bull Market system. The Greek, case study.
The free market system has led to our interdependence upon many goods and services from afar, it has rendered localised autarky near impossible. The domestic labour market has not shrunk it has simply changed and the aim to stimulate full employment with the Australian Labor traditions are still ideologically relevant still. The change of perspective requires a refocus and adaptation to a dynamic environment. Old things decay, and become outdated, upgrades and innovative thinking opens up more opportunities than viewing merely from within the square box. The limitations of austerity measures are blamed on the avarice of those who actually benefit disproportionately from this unbalanced global economic arrangement. There is a need for homeostasis within the macroeconomic system which would render the limited avarice designs of the world market system directly responsible for the market failures of some nation’s economies.
Greece, as a case in point, has demonstrably revealed an over commitment to maintaining a very inefficient macroeconomic arrangement which in time had succeeded only in increasing their foreign debt. Debt, in essence, as we all know, increases only from the interest calculated, over a time period, upon the principle amount that was borrowed. Therefore, the profit margin factor as sought after by the creditors needs to be reconciled with interest. Only when there is a cut in the interest, which is the business incentive, will the principle debt be finally reconciled. Of course, capitalism will not function properly without the adequate systemic organisational procedural structures and the transaction costs have been factored will the conduct of international commerce and transaction cost arrangements be fully accounted.
The Bear Market system is demonstrably of the lack of speculative confidence by the investment sectors of the Greek domestic economic performance. The problem seems to have focused on the legitimacy of the purported failures of the Keynesian macroeconomic helium balloon in raising the Greek economy from the outset, then the bailout from the Monetarists from the Hedge fund investors and European Central Banks and other international financial institutions which were operating on the Milton Friedman “Austerity” Monetarist laissez faire formulae. What seems to have become the paradox with the post Global Financial Crisis (GFC) with the Greek economic formulae has been the seemingly failure by the initial Keynesian macroeconomic standard which led into the Greek GFC in 2008 resulting with international intervention by Monetarists who subsequently introduced harsh austerity measures in order to rectify and ameliorate the Greek economic woes. The austerity measures have hurt the local economy and the people so much that a socialist government was voted back into office. The relevance of the Keynesian approach to the Greek Global Financial Crisis (GFC) economic recovery will revert Greece to a period just prior to the 2008 GFC. The amount of scepticism understandably is very salient. The Syriza government of Greece has endeavoured to re-introduce government intervention measures in order to stimulate their economy rather than relying upon Hedge Fund investors, international banks, and other international organisations, in seeking to lend more money, and to dictate terms in this Principal-Agent reciprocal arrangement, based primarily on austerity measures of reconciliation, in redressing the economic paroxysms of the Greek economy.
It will be a matter of months if not a year or so will the economic fortunes reveal the full extent of full government intervention in stimulating the Greek economy. Keynesianism will favour the present Syriza approach to full government intervention with an increase of domestic consumerism in order to stimulate the local economy to a quasi-autarky. Such a closed shop perspective may consider overlooking the omniscient oversight by the European Union, the European Central Bank; and, more significantly, to the chagrin of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well.
The Greek example will illustratively reveal a modern day application of post-GFC economic recovery package, not unlike, the American Congress printing a trillion dollars in a desperate attempt at bailing out the floundering Blue Chip industries within the capitalist heartland of American society. General Motors Holden during the GFC had received a total of $13.5 billion USD in Congress funded bailouts until GMH finally came out of bankruptcy. Such an example will augur well for the Greek GFC case. The Keynesian formulae has saved the American bacon so why shouldn’t this formulae work for cash strapped Greece? The Syriza government will reveal, in time, what Keynesianism macroeconomic government intervention can do for their economic recovery.
Australian Labor History legacy
The international ideological relevance of Keynesianism has had its left wing influences which has been relevantly ignored during the early 1930s by a Conservative Australian government. The Australian Labor Government of the Rt. Hon. Sir James Scullion had tried in vain to entreat the respective Australian States to reason to the wonders of the New Deal. It never sank in until 1949 when the Snowy Mountain scheme commenced and even then after employing over 100,000 jobs and creating new townships within the Snowy Mountains, and providing invaluable electricity power to Victoria and New South Wales, it too a quarter of a century to complete. There were inter-generations of Snowy Mountain workers who were fully employed throughout these decades. The Keynesian formulae has been the bedrock of the economic ideological foundations of the Social democratic political parties for most left wing and Labour government world over. The Australia Labor Government has carried this Macroeconomic mantra until the 1973 OPEC crisis and then the demise of the Keynesianism from the lips of Labour politicians. During the 1980s the nascent new right echoed the magic elixir of Microeconomic reforms in injecting the business best practise in public sector industries which would lead to leasing and eventually privatisation. Public asset sales was synonymous with austerity measures and the Laissez faire mantra for the Liberal Conservative governments. Conversely, the Keynesianism would become synonymous with inefficient big government and national debt. Stagflation would exacerbate the problem for the Left wing ideologues who shuddered at the thought that national debt was going hand and hand with rising unemployment levels. Stagflation effectively nailed the coffin for Keynesianism once and for all.
That was until a Bear Market and a recession event would occur, throughout these periods from the mid-1990s, and especially during the 2008 GFC, Keynesianism would suddenly find some pragmatic and realpolitical relevance. Now, all eyes are gazing once again at Greece and the American economic recovery miracle which has also been helped with the Shale Oil economic impact as well, and, suddenly, the Bear market has sought John Maynard Keynes as the relevant macroeconomic saviour of the free world. An ideological paradox it seems.
Needless to say, an Australian Labor Government will always be needed in times of an economic emergency, especially in times of warfare. When times are buoyant like during a Bull Market, economic rationalist would always contumely chastise the left as being inefficient and irrelevant until another Bear comes stalking by.
By Tim Tufuga 20th February, 2015
Tim Tufuga
In moments of crisis:
I could glance through the history of Australia and realise that the most momentous achievements of Australian government leaders from the very beginning of the modern Australian political history for over a century, were significantly impacted most by an Australian Labor Government. During the lull times, however, a Conservative right-wing government, would assume the helm, only until a time of crisis would arise, then a pragmatic, roll-up-your sleeves Labor Government would stand up, front and centre, and to rescue Australia from the brink of collapse and anarchy. In the past century, only thirty three years the Australian political history was considered as Labor government incumbencies. Without sounding off the obvious, the ALP had made greater domestic and global impact than the dormancy steady-as-she-goes political incumbencies of their Conservative counterparts.
World War One
During the start of the Great War, an ALP PM Joseph Cook, stood at the helm, followed by another, and yet more colourful ALP, convert, PM Billy Hughes, whose demagogue charismatic political speeches encouraged a nation into resolute stoicism in the face of wartime chaos and uncertainty.
The Great Depression
During the Great Depression, in 1929, it was James Scullin’s Australian Labor Government, once again, that had befallen the momentous political and social economic catastrophic event of the century, and, although he had promised to steer the nation out of the Great Depression, with an Australian adaptation of John Maynard Keynes’, The New Deal, due to the overwhelming Conservative scepticism by the States, would have Keynesianism rejected, resulting in the annihilation of the federal Scullion ALP government at the Ballot and the rise of Robert Menzies Conservative government, but, what was more significant was the selling off of minerals such as Iron Ore, (Pig Iron), to Japan, earning the unenviable slur for Robert Menzies of ‘Pig Iron Bob’. From a Keynesian perspective, however, it would stagnate the recovery of the nation with a comparative result within the United States Government’s The New Deal policy for infrastructure development with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). However, the vision for the Snowy Mountain Scheme was not conceived by the Menzies government, even though, during the Great Depression, Scullion government had this vision in mind. Needless to say, with the benefit of hindsight the failed Scullion administration were precocious beyond their years. Finally, in 1949, during yet another Australian Labor Government of Ben Chiefly, The Snowy Mountain Scheme, would finally begin, and would finally be completed by the end of 1972, some fifty years after it was initially entertained in the minds by the Scullion administration, and was then quickly ignored, and forgotten by the Robert Menzies Government and the State Governments of the time.
World War Two
Once again, a left-wing Labor government, would answer the call to rescue a nation during a time of crisis particularly during the paroxysms of world war two when the Australian Labor Government PM John Curtin, would stand up, front and centre, and lead the nation during a time of imminent danger. Australia was saved from the brink of catastrophic chaos, once again, a Labor government would see Australia through the war period, save only the 1942 Darwin Bombing, through to the post war period somewhat unscathed.
United Nations and the End of the White Australia policy.
Domestically, would see the emergent population growth through a great influx of primarily European migrants, vis-à-vis, the One Million Briton policy, and, the Ten Pound Poms, would flood Australian immigration turnstiles; and, coupled with this dramatic increase of the Australian population was the dramatic rise of the natural domestic population through the Natural Increase levels, which would generate a new generation known collectively as the Baby boomers. The Baby boomers as a significant population group, from 1945-1950s, would dramatically have an impact upon the Australia socio-political landscape which would include universal citizenry rights entitlements to the universal welfare state system, was then considered a right and an entitlement and not a privilege. Also, with the hasten demands for economic and socio-political progressiveness, the White Australia policy was eventually thrown out by the Australian Labor government policy manifesto, in part, due to the demands for the domestic economic development and the labour market needs, and more symbolically moral, ethical and political correct was the need for the Australian Labor Government’s international obligations be considered reputably sound and correct. Hence, the winds of change included a need for the gradual decolonisation objectives, and the Universal Declaration for Human Rights, which was part of the foundation cornerstones of the newly formed United Nations Organisation. Australian domestic race relations had to revert to important reconciliation as consistent with the international obligations of Australia to the United Nations and other international bilateral and multilateral organisational affiliations and commitments.
Moreover, the international reputation of Australia after world war two revealed many contradictions which needed to be addressed by the Australian Labor Government. Since the Australian Labor Government had played a crucially important role within the recently formed United Nations Organisation, a former Australian Party Leader, Dr Evatt, would stand as the inaugural President (Secretary-General) of the United Nations General Assembly. Incidentally, the Australian Labor Party think tank, which would include Dr Evatt and Fred Whitlam, et al, who were instrumental in the penmanship of parts of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter.
Fred Whitlam (Wikipedia)It seems obvious that in times of Australia’s political turmoils the people of Australia would always rely upon a centralist left-wing government to steer the nation away from the brink of nihilism and anarchy. In times of international and domestic political significant events throughout Australia’s young political history the Australian Labor Government have played a significant role which would be considered more significantly important than the achievements of their political opposition.
From the paroxysms of significant political events of the past century the Australia Labor Party would be the bastion of strength, integrity, and practical functionality in preventing our nation falling into the abyss of absolute anarchic chaos and uncertainty. During moments when pragmatic government intervention were required such as during the Great Depression a conservative government would undermine the Keynesian practicality for stimulating full economic recovery through full employment stimulation through a much more rigorous think big undertakings which were then strongly discouraged by the conservative regimes. He Snowy Mountain Scheme was delayed until after world war two, when the scheme should have been introduced back in the 1930s when full employment was then required.
Rt. Hon. Sir James Scullion (Wikipedia)After the war years, the white Australia was erased once and for all when the need to populate or perish would demand the expansion of the immigration quotas outside of the British white immigration quotas to meet the domestic employment and development targets. The Baby boomers would demand an increase of Macroeconomic stress in certain sectors of the economy whilst encouraging the perpetual suburban sprawl into the hinterland of Australian coastlines.
Finally, the United Nations, in its present form, would, undoubtedly, owe a great deal of its foundation to the leaders of the Australian Labor government. Dr. HV Evatt as the inaugural President of the United Nations would be bestowed this highest accolade and would symbolically crown the feats and unprecedented achievements of a powerful and courageous political party not only within Australia, but, throughout present and future international relations.
Dr. HV Evatt (Wikipedia)The Overview of the Labour tradition: An ideological perspective: Realpolitik:
Nowadays, the Australian Labor Government is finding new unprecedented socio-political grounds to explore beyond the confines of conservativism. The dynamic forces of the social democratic mind is vibrant and progressive and will not become narrowly focused to the avarice market forces of profit making capitalism, it is viewed simply as a means to an ends, capitalism is not an end in itself. Social Democrats world over have realised the value of collective consciousness and the collective responsibility so as to ensure that our international obligations will not render us domestically as hypocrites. The Australian Labor Government had always aspired to pursue socio-economic autarky for their working Australians. The aim for the protection of the high quality of life and standards of living for all Australians is considered not a privilege for a few but is an entitlement for all citizens. Citizenry Democratic rights is enshrined into the fabric of any civilised society, notwithstanding, the citizen’s particular race, colour, creed, age, and gender, the Australian Labor Government in the past and present has traditionally always stood firmly to these universal values and would endeavour to remain consistently firm to these collective responsibilities. The antithesis to the Labour cause is the avarice individualism and the desire to undermine your fellow man and woman, in some dog eat dog contest, so as to undermine communities into chaotic competition for scarce power resources, and to plunge nations into conflict over limited power resources.
The Collective responsible way of the Social Democrat would view public policy and government responsibility in the Public interest and the public interest is considered as paramount, over and above the individual wants. Moreover, the individual is not diminished in its collective value but rather the individual augments the sum total of the family unit, and, outwardly, to the community, and society, at large. The ideological compromise as one Labor leader had once chimed, is the consideration for Mutualism of the Third Way, In such an ideological compromise the acceptance of,
“In terms of organisational theory, it might be thought of this way. The first way lies in the individualism of the market. The second way lies in the hierarchies of the state. A Third Way can be found in the mutualism of network organisations. It is the coming way. “
In such a structural perspective of the Latham organizational systems theory we would realise that in the Digital Age we are overlapping Sovereign National borders, with our influences and multinational organization which will play a significant role within the localized socio-political Sovereign order. The interoperability of industrial relations interactions between domestic workers, their respective union sections, and their adaptability in a free market system which has effectively undermined the domestic industries and subsequently the detrimental effects upon local employment conditions.
Geospatial Revolution: Climate Change
New global questions has arisen which has included the political contentious Climate Change. The global impact of an Agenda 21 geo-spatial influence on respective domestic public policy, has ushered in the dawn of a new age of the Geo-spatial revolution. The impact of environmentalists has set a new age precedent away from the industrial democratic platforms of the traditional neo-Marxist class conflict. The influence of energy security and the impact of the global war on terror has dramatic impact in the geo-spatial influence in global politics. The rise of Shale Oil and the fracking of shale oil has impacted upon the levels of protest and environmental outrage whilst at the same time influencing the price of oil from traditional suppliers from the Middle East. OPEC member nations have viewed the power of the Shale Oil market as being real and have responded with competitive oil prices cutting the price of the barrel of oil WTI by over 50% since 2014-15.
The neo-Marxists have viewed the impact of the Shale oil in the Oil wars as diffusing the impact of the core-periphery exploitation of the Middle Eastern emergent economies whilst the West extract their own oil from within their sovereign borders.
The Digital Age: The cyber-threats and the impact of the Social Media as a Political weapon of choice.
The impact of the Australian Labor Party members within international organisations such as the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) has constantly reminded individual members of their universal commitments to their kindred collective spirits who share these common values of fraternity and collective responsibility to their community. The Social democratic view of the transition of liberal democracy to Social democracy is a revisionist ideal although a gradualist view which in Realpolitik’s terms may seem impractical. However, since Perestroika and Glasnost, the Neo Marxist traditional mindset had made a default reset and would revise the ineluctable path for a Liberal democratic regime becoming Social Democracies.
Instead, the impact of the ever shrinking world through the Digital Age has emboldened the power and reach of the atomised individual, sitting inside his or her bedroom, being able to articulate information, and even to conduct individual commerce, and social networking, with extra spatial and extra dimension impact, other than the physical and audio-visual confines with their immediate physical proximity. The impact of the individual has become further more paramount with aid of the social media platform.
Conversely, the collective impact of flash crowd gatherings has also been significant with the power of the digital age, the Arab Spring revolutions were sparked and encouraged through social media particularly through Twitter and Facebook users. The social media weapon of choice has made the individual more powerful than the totalitarian powers that be may like, although, the collection of Meta Data, via social media accounts, has also added to the greater social profiling of individuals by the State as well. The great Firewall of China and Cyber conflict measures such as the Stuxnet cyber warfare virus, which has been downloaded into military and government servers in target nations, causing malfunctions to installations and institutions.
The comprehension of the full impact of the digital age upon the information technology is ubiquitous significant. In appreciating the full propaganda meme influence of the social media platform the political propaganda machine on both sides of the political spectrum have faced off in both positive and negative measures. The political psychological war is perpetual ground war from behind the keyboard. Internet trolling and scandalous memes would aim to incite a political and even physical reaction and whomever is able to influence the most and to persuade the most undoubtedly has gained the upper hand in the propaganda warfare.
The modern Labor government is facing the new challenges of a dynamic digital age in which the individual looms larger than the collective. The transference of information is no longer limited by conventional means, such as a phone call or a snail mail letter. People are fully informed instantaneously in an age of convenience. A consumer led economy has diminished the desire to protect passionately traditional jobs because most are no longer in existence. The changes of the working environment has had a dramatic impact on the intergenerational occupational location traditions of the Australian society. The Digital age is primarily responsible for most of this change. Traditional jobs like the Typing pools within government departments are no more, the entire automobile manufacturing industry in Australia has moved offshore, many clothing factories have gone offshore, also due to favourable production costs, i.e., lower labour costs, etc.
Labour politics and the ideological relevance within a Bear/Bull Market system. The Greek, case study.
The free market system has led to our interdependence upon many goods and services from afar, it has rendered localised autarky near impossible. The domestic labour market has not shrunk it has simply changed and the aim to stimulate full employment with the Australian Labor traditions are still ideologically relevant still. The change of perspective requires a refocus and adaptation to a dynamic environment. Old things decay, and become outdated, upgrades and innovative thinking opens up more opportunities than viewing merely from within the square box. The limitations of austerity measures are blamed on the avarice of those who actually benefit disproportionately from this unbalanced global economic arrangement. There is a need for homeostasis within the macroeconomic system which would render the limited avarice designs of the world market system directly responsible for the market failures of some nation’s economies.
Greece, as a case in point, has demonstrably revealed an over commitment to maintaining a very inefficient macroeconomic arrangement which in time had succeeded only in increasing their foreign debt. Debt, in essence, as we all know, increases only from the interest calculated, over a time period, upon the principle amount that was borrowed. Therefore, the profit margin factor as sought after by the creditors needs to be reconciled with interest. Only when there is a cut in the interest, which is the business incentive, will the principle debt be finally reconciled. Of course, capitalism will not function properly without the adequate systemic organisational procedural structures and the transaction costs have been factored will the conduct of international commerce and transaction cost arrangements be fully accounted.
The Bear Market system is demonstrably of the lack of speculative confidence by the investment sectors of the Greek domestic economic performance. The problem seems to have focused on the legitimacy of the purported failures of the Keynesian macroeconomic helium balloon in raising the Greek economy from the outset, then the bailout from the Monetarists from the Hedge fund investors and European Central Banks and other international financial institutions which were operating on the Milton Friedman “Austerity” Monetarist laissez faire formulae. What seems to have become the paradox with the post Global Financial Crisis (GFC) with the Greek economic formulae has been the seemingly failure by the initial Keynesian macroeconomic standard which led into the Greek GFC in 2008 resulting with international intervention by Monetarists who subsequently introduced harsh austerity measures in order to rectify and ameliorate the Greek economic woes. The austerity measures have hurt the local economy and the people so much that a socialist government was voted back into office. The relevance of the Keynesian approach to the Greek Global Financial Crisis (GFC) economic recovery will revert Greece to a period just prior to the 2008 GFC. The amount of scepticism understandably is very salient. The Syriza government of Greece has endeavoured to re-introduce government intervention measures in order to stimulate their economy rather than relying upon Hedge Fund investors, international banks, and other international organisations, in seeking to lend more money, and to dictate terms in this Principal-Agent reciprocal arrangement, based primarily on austerity measures of reconciliation, in redressing the economic paroxysms of the Greek economy.
It will be a matter of months if not a year or so will the economic fortunes reveal the full extent of full government intervention in stimulating the Greek economy. Keynesianism will favour the present Syriza approach to full government intervention with an increase of domestic consumerism in order to stimulate the local economy to a quasi-autarky. Such a closed shop perspective may consider overlooking the omniscient oversight by the European Union, the European Central Bank; and, more significantly, to the chagrin of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well.
The Greek example will illustratively reveal a modern day application of post-GFC economic recovery package, not unlike, the American Congress printing a trillion dollars in a desperate attempt at bailing out the floundering Blue Chip industries within the capitalist heartland of American society. General Motors Holden during the GFC had received a total of $13.5 billion USD in Congress funded bailouts until GMH finally came out of bankruptcy. Such an example will augur well for the Greek GFC case. The Keynesian formulae has saved the American bacon so why shouldn’t this formulae work for cash strapped Greece? The Syriza government will reveal, in time, what Keynesianism macroeconomic government intervention can do for their economic recovery.
Australian Labor History legacy
The international ideological relevance of Keynesianism has had its left wing influences which has been relevantly ignored during the early 1930s by a Conservative Australian government. The Australian Labor Government of the Rt. Hon. Sir James Scullion had tried in vain to entreat the respective Australian States to reason to the wonders of the New Deal. It never sank in until 1949 when the Snowy Mountain scheme commenced and even then after employing over 100,000 jobs and creating new townships within the Snowy Mountains, and providing invaluable electricity power to Victoria and New South Wales, it too a quarter of a century to complete. There were inter-generations of Snowy Mountain workers who were fully employed throughout these decades. The Keynesian formulae has been the bedrock of the economic ideological foundations of the Social democratic political parties for most left wing and Labour government world over. The Australia Labor Government has carried this Macroeconomic mantra until the 1973 OPEC crisis and then the demise of the Keynesianism from the lips of Labour politicians. During the 1980s the nascent new right echoed the magic elixir of Microeconomic reforms in injecting the business best practise in public sector industries which would lead to leasing and eventually privatisation. Public asset sales was synonymous with austerity measures and the Laissez faire mantra for the Liberal Conservative governments. Conversely, the Keynesianism would become synonymous with inefficient big government and national debt. Stagflation would exacerbate the problem for the Left wing ideologues who shuddered at the thought that national debt was going hand and hand with rising unemployment levels. Stagflation effectively nailed the coffin for Keynesianism once and for all.
That was until a Bear Market and a recession event would occur, throughout these periods from the mid-1990s, and especially during the 2008 GFC, Keynesianism would suddenly find some pragmatic and realpolitical relevance. Now, all eyes are gazing once again at Greece and the American economic recovery miracle which has also been helped with the Shale Oil economic impact as well, and, suddenly, the Bear market has sought John Maynard Keynes as the relevant macroeconomic saviour of the free world. An ideological paradox it seems.
Needless to say, an Australian Labor Government will always be needed in times of an economic emergency, especially in times of warfare. When times are buoyant like during a Bull Market, economic rationalist would always contumely chastise the left as being inefficient and irrelevant until another Bear comes stalking by.
By Tim Tufuga 20th February, 2015
Tim Tufuga Saturday 14 February 2015
Friday 6 February 2015
The Russian Syrian Conspiracy theory: The oil conspiracy. By Tim Tufuga 6th Feb. 2015
The Russian Syrian Conspiracy theory: The oil conspiracy. By Tim Tufuga 6th Feb. 2015.
Recently, I had read an article regarding the Syrian civil war [1]and a conspiracy theory had formulated on the Russian and Syrian connection, or rather the purported Shia and Russian connection on the war against the Sunni led Al Qaeda network. Moe specifically was the conspiracy of the West endeavouring to undermine this connection through the overthrow of the Syrian regime and paving a clear route for a Qatar-European oil route, however, what these theorists had neglected to notice, or at least they have belittled the significance of the nascent rise of the production of shale oil globally and in particular within America which has dramatically influenced the price of oil today. Moreover, whilst the Syrian conspiracy theorists have noticed the red herring with Qatar, the world has noticed however, the impact of tight oil or shale oil which has dramatically affected OPEC nations and in particular it has affected Saudi Arabia directly, subsequently, in 2014-15, the price of oil and petrol at the bowsers have dramatically reduced.
Therefore, it is not the Kremlin leverage on Europe energy reserves which America and NATO were noticing it was the behaviour of the OPEC members in response to Shale oil production particularly from the Americans themselves.
Needless to say, the reduction of the price of oil is a direct confrontational strategy against the expensive to produce tight oil (Shale Oil), from all over the globe, especially within America, in which, although expensive to produce, but, has ameliorated the American energy crisis situation to a point that their surplus supplies are considered for export abroad. The cost effective and easy supply of Middle Eastern and Venezuelan oil for the West has been the only leverage for the OPEC members.
Therefore, in a futile attempt to counter the Shale oil production and in order for OPEC to undermine the nascent rise of the American Shale oil industry, Saudi Arabia has led the way in reducing the price of oil in a two prong attack against Russia-Shia backed Syria and American Shale oil, in a strategy of reducing the price of oil in order to undermine American shale oil production. In the meantime, raising oil prices to counteract the Russian monopoly of European energy supplies is counterproductive for the Saudi and OPEC nations for the obvious reason of American and other nations producing shale oil which invariably includes Australia which has shale oil in abundance enough to easily meet Australian energy needs and enough for Australia to export abroad just like America and even China and Brazil whose shale oil reserves are surprisingly abundant. Saudi Arabia and most Middle Eastern nations have realised this new threat to their livelihoods and it is worse that Christianity and the demise of their Caliphate spheres throughout the world. In short, the war on terror has been won through shale oil and the Middle Eastern world are afraid of this reality. Hence, perpetual war will continue to undermine the Middle East and anarchy and nihilism will further destabilise the region.
In the meantime, the global war on terror has found a very indirect weapon, through the domestic production of fracking of shale oil from American, Australian, Chinese, Mongolian, Brazilian and the myriad of global localities where there are black gold within the rock formation seams beneath the soil much to the chagrin of Saudi Princes and Middle Eastern and South East Asian oil producing nations. The price of oil will remain in the double figures perhaps for very long time in order to suppress the eager production of Shale oil supplies flooding the Western world. Oil autarky seems imminent and for the foreseeable future an oil crisis throughout the Western World seems very unlikely with the nascent era of self sufficient supplies of domestic shale oil.
Australia has realised the benefits of the Shale oil phenomena even in the very short term, with the reduction of petrol at the bowsers by as much as 30%. What seems to be obvious to the laity is the horse trading amongst the global leaders with regards to whom is supporting whom in order to achieve the bigger picture objective in this obvious fog of war within the respective skirmishes throughout the Middle East and how this has undoubtedly impacted upon the lives of daily commuters within American or Australian suburban streets and in particular when heading down to the gas station to fill up the car. The war in the Middle East comes home to the garage as well as within the social media and our television screens.
Tim Tufuga
6th February 2015.
[1] http://friendsofsyria.co/2015/02/06/another-conspiracy-theory-becomes-fact-the-entire-oil-collapse-is-all-about-crushing-russian-control-over-syria/
Recently, I had read an article regarding the Syrian civil war [1]and a conspiracy theory had formulated on the Russian and Syrian connection, or rather the purported Shia and Russian connection on the war against the Sunni led Al Qaeda network. Moe specifically was the conspiracy of the West endeavouring to undermine this connection through the overthrow of the Syrian regime and paving a clear route for a Qatar-European oil route, however, what these theorists had neglected to notice, or at least they have belittled the significance of the nascent rise of the production of shale oil globally and in particular within America which has dramatically influenced the price of oil today. Moreover, whilst the Syrian conspiracy theorists have noticed the red herring with Qatar, the world has noticed however, the impact of tight oil or shale oil which has dramatically affected OPEC nations and in particular it has affected Saudi Arabia directly, subsequently, in 2014-15, the price of oil and petrol at the bowsers have dramatically reduced.
Therefore, it is not the Kremlin leverage on Europe energy reserves which America and NATO were noticing it was the behaviour of the OPEC members in response to Shale oil production particularly from the Americans themselves.
Needless to say, the reduction of the price of oil is a direct confrontational strategy against the expensive to produce tight oil (Shale Oil), from all over the globe, especially within America, in which, although expensive to produce, but, has ameliorated the American energy crisis situation to a point that their surplus supplies are considered for export abroad. The cost effective and easy supply of Middle Eastern and Venezuelan oil for the West has been the only leverage for the OPEC members.
Therefore, in a futile attempt to counter the Shale oil production and in order for OPEC to undermine the nascent rise of the American Shale oil industry, Saudi Arabia has led the way in reducing the price of oil in a two prong attack against Russia-Shia backed Syria and American Shale oil, in a strategy of reducing the price of oil in order to undermine American shale oil production. In the meantime, raising oil prices to counteract the Russian monopoly of European energy supplies is counterproductive for the Saudi and OPEC nations for the obvious reason of American and other nations producing shale oil which invariably includes Australia which has shale oil in abundance enough to easily meet Australian energy needs and enough for Australia to export abroad just like America and even China and Brazil whose shale oil reserves are surprisingly abundant. Saudi Arabia and most Middle Eastern nations have realised this new threat to their livelihoods and it is worse that Christianity and the demise of their Caliphate spheres throughout the world. In short, the war on terror has been won through shale oil and the Middle Eastern world are afraid of this reality. Hence, perpetual war will continue to undermine the Middle East and anarchy and nihilism will further destabilise the region.
In the meantime, the global war on terror has found a very indirect weapon, through the domestic production of fracking of shale oil from American, Australian, Chinese, Mongolian, Brazilian and the myriad of global localities where there are black gold within the rock formation seams beneath the soil much to the chagrin of Saudi Princes and Middle Eastern and South East Asian oil producing nations. The price of oil will remain in the double figures perhaps for very long time in order to suppress the eager production of Shale oil supplies flooding the Western world. Oil autarky seems imminent and for the foreseeable future an oil crisis throughout the Western World seems very unlikely with the nascent era of self sufficient supplies of domestic shale oil.
Australia has realised the benefits of the Shale oil phenomena even in the very short term, with the reduction of petrol at the bowsers by as much as 30%. What seems to be obvious to the laity is the horse trading amongst the global leaders with regards to whom is supporting whom in order to achieve the bigger picture objective in this obvious fog of war within the respective skirmishes throughout the Middle East and how this has undoubtedly impacted upon the lives of daily commuters within American or Australian suburban streets and in particular when heading down to the gas station to fill up the car. The war in the Middle East comes home to the garage as well as within the social media and our television screens.
Tim Tufuga
6th February 2015.
[1] http://friendsofsyria.co/2015/02/06/another-conspiracy-theory-becomes-fact-the-entire-oil-collapse-is-all-about-crushing-russian-control-over-syria/
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