There seems to be ongoing haggling on these threads about Capitalism vs Socialism and the inability of most to distinguish Social Policies by our Capitalist/Democratic governments and Socialist Policies per se.
To set the record straight lets look at the definition of Socialism (we all seem to have a fair handle on Capitalism) :
The distinguishing features of Socialism are, IMO, : (a) The State ownership of the means of production & distribution (b) no private property
True socialist policies either advocate/implement the State ownership of the Means of Production & Distribution or the conviscation of private propery by the State.
That to my mind is the "hard" side of Socialism.
In Australia since the mid 1980s (Thatcher in the UK & Reagan in the USA) we have seen Aus sell off (privatise) our State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) (Comm Bank, Qantas, Telstra etc etc) and States privatising Railways, Electricity Generation & distribution etc)
Has this de-Socialistising been good for Aus? I simply dont know. But the bottom line is that we as a country has drifted a flyshit towards hard Capitalism compared to where we were at in say 1970.
So to the RWNJs who yearn for the 1950s & 60s.....think again eh?
So its interesting that some on these threads still think that Socialist Forces are a real risk to Aus. We have only two significant Cimmonwealth SOEs left: AusPost (started in the 19th C) & the NBN (a Johny come lately) and IMO those two will be flogged off before 2025 as a neccessity to pay down some of our mountain of debt accrued by the Libs 2013 to date regardless of who is elected in a few months time..
Lets hope that the proceeds are not stuffed into the Pollies Pension Fund (The Future Fund) like Telstra etc!
So where to from here? Coincidentally or causally, we have seen the demise of Aus manufacturing since the privatisation of SOEs starting in the mid 80s by the Hawke Government# and to a reasonable person that de-industrialisation of Aus will continue no matter which Government is elected come May.
Are we doomed to a Financialised/Gig economy where the Rich get richer & workers & the poor get poorer and we export commodities owned by forneigners with the minimum of Aus labour and import manufactured goods with the maximum of foreign labour and outsource to the 3rd world every Aussie service possible. ( just talked to a South African Lady about my Foxtel and a Phillipino about my phone problem and I forget whatelse to an Indian call centre!
# Again, ironically the RWNJs on these threads (I'm a middle of the road small l Liberal for the record) have bagged previous Labor Governments as Socialist when in Fact the Hawke/Keating was the biggest contributor to Capitalist policies in Aus since WW2: (a) Floated the AUD & Started the privatisation of SOEs (b) converted working class stiffs to being Capitalists via a Compulsory Super (no RWNJs objectios here as Super being coersive...eh) which is almost exclusively invested in the Stock Market or Real Property (How Capitailst is that eh?)
