“All hail, the
Left is dead!” Well at least according to the reality in which
Ken Phillips of the Institute of Public Affairs exists. Ken is
one of the Directors of this organisation and I guess he is far
more qualified than me to make such a bold claim.
In an article in
the Business section of The Age a week or so ago,
Ken wrote that, “About six years ago some left thinkers in Labor
made the shift to acceptance of market capitalism”. I won’t
argue against the words he writes but I will take exception that
this only happened six years ago. Ken obviously needs to bone up
a little on his history and look back at the Hawke and Keating
years. If he does he will recall that Hawke came out of the left
and transmogrified into a full blown market capitalist cheer
leader.
I suggest that
the present Prime Minister has always been a market
fundamentalist and technocrat. Just as Hawke was welcomed as a
saviour from the ‘excesses’ of the so called ‘right’, I predict
that within the next two years many will come to realise that
Rudd will not only continue to embrace market capitalism but
will give up even more of the working class ground to the real
masters of the universe.
So, not only
does Ken need to ‘get with the program’ he also needs to drop
the oh, so 20th century left / right rhetoric. I
suggest that since at least the end of the 1970’s the arguments
have not been about ‘left and right’ but about who holds the
power to influence the material conditions of large groups of
humankind.
If the supposed
‘left’ leaning Tony Blair was content and without qualms,
prepared to sanction and take part in the illegal invasion of a
sovereign nation, then anything is possible. If one of the
traits of the so called ‘left’ is a hankering for justice and
human rights, then where do Blair’s actions regarding Iraq fit?
Similarly, if Hawke was an old guard lefty, where does his
central claim to fame in dismantling and destroying the
solidarity of the union movement fit? Hawke’s Prime Ministership
was almost solely focused on destroying the structures that
united workers, regardless of their union affiliation and
turning the union hierarchy into career chasing functionaries
and thus bringing them ‘into the fold’. Looking at the outcome
of this today we find that the highly regarded waterfront
worker, asbestos victim and anti Work Choices campaigner, Greg Combet, is happy to endorse the global war effort by opening the
multinational arms manufacturer, Raytheon Australia’s,
“Engineering Centre of Excellence”. I would argue that many more
people will die because of Raytheon’s ability to build even more
powerful weapons than Combet’s principled stand against the
excesses of ‘the market’ ever saved.
No, Mr.
Phillips, the left is not dead, just being abandoned by those
who suddenly find that the attractions and baubles of power are
far more enticing than spending your days in draughty caravans
or hanging out with the dying and unemployed. The real issue is
not ‘left / right’ but the demands of power and the want to
influence. I’ve experienced this first hand.
Many years ago a
group of parents were fighting the education department over the
closure of a specialist school program for our disabled kids. We
fought hard, got great media coverage and were united, at least
in the beginning. As time progressed parents were ‘bought off’
by the department. We had all agreed from the outset that our
kids came first and we would always put them first. So when the
department offered free transport, extra class room assistance
and other incentives to parents, one by one they accepted and
their forthright support fell away. Each time they would express
their profound regret but said the offer was a once off, take it
or leave it situation and they had to take it.
Towards the end
of the fight, when we were reduced to a rump, the department
invited the remainder of us to a regional planning meeting to
discuss our claims. I was the only one who went. I put our case
but was, of course, out numbered. At the end of the meeting the
Director offered me a coffee with him and a couple of other
department heavies. What began as a general chat turned quite
bizarre when they offered me the opportunity to take up a role
on a department committee as a parent representative. I
declined, said my goodbyes and left.
Reflecting on
this I realised that what they wanted me to experience was
firstly, disenfranchisement from the ‘movement’ I was part of.
Secondly, they wanted me to realise the futility of the struggle
to prevent their “expected outcome” from prevailing. Thirdly,
they wanted to reinforce my feelings of isolation and
powerlessness in the face of their plans and finally, they
wanted to offer me a way out and an entrance ‘into the fold’.
They wanted to second me to their structures of power and
influence. Rather than meeting around the kitchen table, I would
experience air conditioned conference rooms. Rather that
photocopying things myself, I could ask the committee
secretariat to do that. Rather than be on the receiving end I
could “deliver high quality educational outcomes for our school
communities”. Bollocks!
Ken, the ‘left’
is not marching to the tune of the market at all. If it was, why
all the concern over the Chavez and Morales governments in South
America? If it was dead, why are hundreds of thousands still
calling for the prosecution of Bush, Blair and Howard over their
failed Iraq adventure? If it is, why are thousands still
struggling for a fair go for carers? No Ken, the left is not
dead, just abandoned by those who are willing to give up their
role in the struggle and take up residence in the halls of
power.
Ken Phillips
writes from the perspective of one who is so limited in his
outlook that he believes his own propaganda. As one who has
access to the ‘levers of power’ Ken finds that many who once
challenged his world view are now greeting him as an equal. With
that in mind I can understand why he would make such a bold
statement. However, what his article really exposes is the
disconnect between the ruling classes and the society they are
trying to rule.
The left is not
dead, it is alive and thriving. It is not concerned with
pursuing the trappings of power and prestige but in pursuing the
concerns of those who the market devours as it attempts to sate
its inexhaustible appetite for power.
I’m sorry to
tell you Ken that it’s not the left that is dead but the empty
rhetoric you turn to in your need to reassure yourself and your
peers that ‘all is well’ in the world. The bad news for you Ken,
is that the left has moved on from aligning itself with
particular party political ideological claims. After all, anyone
who considers the Hawke, Keating and Rudd governments as “left”
is obviously just as out of touch with reality as you are.