Capitalism has been around a very long time and left to it's own devices never fails to have adverse effects on many people eg, lower healthcare, education, income, general standard of living and quality of life. It oppresses and then blames the poor for the situation they find themselves in. It espouses the myth that with a bit of hard work everyone can 'make it', 'live their dream' etc etc. It's all glib bullshit that only too many take on board. And meanwhile the 'masters' of this crap make themselves all the more richer.

Don't confuse socialism with strains of communism that purport to be something that they aren't. The communists 'stole' the works of Karl Marx (a democrat) and took it out of context and made it to fit their own ideologies.

The reason the eastern bloc communist states crumbled was because they were an overly oppressive and economically unsound institution. But since their fall and the opening up to capitalism the places have hardly prospered. And let's be honest, these countries were basically just dictatorships under another name.

What is really needed is for countries to develop a sound model that values its social capital as well as balancing economic considerations and seeing to it that fair and equitable wealth redisbribution becomes a reality.

Countries like Denmark have a small population, strong social justice and full employment. Infact their success was so strong that the US basically tried to ruin the nation economically as it saw it as a very real threat to it's version of what democracy should be.

People do pay more taxes in Scandinavian countries but people don't go hungry, without shelter, clothing, education, or healthcare because they can't afford it!

Australia Council Trade Unions 21 March 2006

The Federal Government has broken its promise to protect minimum wages with employers winning a new right to pay workers less than the federal minimum wage of $12.75 an hour during periods when business is slow says the ACTU.



Commenting on a new aspect of the industrial relations regulations that were released over the weekend, ACTU Secretary Greg Combet said today:


"Employers will be able to pay workers less than the federal minimum wage of $12.75 an hour under John Howard's new industrial relations laws.


The IR regulations show that employers will be able to take advantage of 'pay averaging' provisions which allow them to pay workers less than the minimum wage for part of the year so long as they promise to pay above the minimum at a later time.


The problem is that there is no real way for workers to make sure that employers keep their promise other than to try and take their boss to court in an expensive legal action.


The loss of the current 'no disadvantage test' and the changes to the Industrial Relations Commission under the new laws mean that workers will have no effective way of making sure their employers pay the right amount.


Workers in businesses that fluctuate from season to season such as the tourism, hospitality and seasonal agriculture sectors will be worst affected. This means that workers in rural and regional areas will be most at risk by the changes.


Your boss will be able to say "I'll pay you $8 an hour in the off season and double that when business is good" but if you get laid off in the meantime or business never really picks up then workers are going to be ripped off.


Under the new laws workers in most businesses will lose protection from being sacked unfairly and will have to go to court to make a case that they have been underpaid.


This just goes to show that the new IR laws are stacked against workers and deliver all the power to employers.


The Prime Minister has broken his pledge to maintain the minimum wage. Even the head of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission Geoff Guidice recently said that the real intent of the Government's IR changes was to bring down the value of the minimum wage.


Workers and their families will only be worse off by these 'pay averaging' changes," said Mr Combet.




Source: http://www.actu.asn.au/work_rights/n...107_25996.html

What have I done wrong?!

I agree with your comments about Howard, I disagree that Beazely is a buffoon, and I agree with your comments about socialism and capitalism (though I would add that socialism has never really been tried in any proper sense.)

I do, however, believe that capitalism is a two-edged sword; it's a fine servant, but a bad master.

For this reason, it requires careful control.

The Consensus at Aussie post, (Aussie post being a Major employer, of 36,000 people, in this Country is relevant to this thread)..... Is that After our next EBA rise in November, that there will be no rises, save for probable income tax cuts. In fact because of Howards attack on base rights. That Penalty payments will certainly be reduced. Or we in fact are headed for certain pay cuts, and possible Holiday cuts.... (taking away the extra weeks holiday for working more than 20 sundays in a year).


The above scenerio is certain to affect all other Major employers in this country.

The money coming out of our pockets, where is it Going ?

Spot on summary!

Where does it ever go? To the 'movers n shakers' of industry, govt coffers, shareholders and fat cat senior executive salaries and perks.

I'd love to try and really trace it. I beleive the Majority of it is going to Overseas interests.

Well, I hate to say it Ozzie [cos I know this is going to effect real people]....but it's probably going to make Aus post more compatible with the rest of the market in terms of its fees.

If I take the UK as an example, Royal Mail went through [and is still going through] changes in terms of having to slash their benefits to their workers. This was in order to compete with the private sector and whilst they are still having problems with these changes, they have had no choice. The die-hard workers who had worked there for many years and who had many benefits not known in the private sector, lost these privileges and I know it hit them hard.

Conversely though, I managed a large distribution network for a large company and we managed to out-do Royal Mail for small packages <25kg and indeed took away some of their long term contracts, costing them millions of pounds. That was a big wake up call for them, especially since other distributors were also starting to take their business elsewhere as others were able to do the work at lesser cost.

Sometimes even established institutions start to out-do themselves through massive overhead costs, which although enjoyed by the workforce, they become a burden in terms of productivity costs Vs the rest of the market.

As you say, this is the tip of the iceberg.

And it's gonna get a lot worse before it's get better

Hmm you have a good point especially with so many multi-nationals now operating here.

When the Gas and Fuel got sold off and the SEC.... There were no real reductions in fees. In fact for some services, like emergency calls there was an upfront fee to be paid IE: a credit card No, taken before work would commence. There has also been a marked reduction in investing in base Infrastructure. See what happens in California every year now, for the eventual result of that. which is mass power cuts every summer. Combine this with a slashing of wages of both Gas and Electricity power Employees. I think you could well be beleiving the spin doctors rather than the reality of the situation.

When Aussie post goes private.... That is if there isn't a labour government elected at the next election. There will be no benefit to the mass populace, prices will not go down. In fact services will. Where country people have a Guaranteed two day letter deliver across most of the country, this will pan out to a 4 day Guaranteed delivery. Private enterprise has already shunned the prospect of doing country deliverys. Aussie Post already has a competitor in the name of "street file" They cannot match Aussie posts infrastructure and their costs are higher in fact for mass mail outs.

Mind you some shareholders around the world will eventually be very happy about all these changes in 'lille old Aussiee"


The only Climate change really affecting the World at present, is the Work climate change. For the average person in most of Europe and this country It's not for the better either.

I will admit however things do seem better in places like Ireland and the UK, maybe they held off those bulls in the back rooms of Wall street.

Some valid points there Ozzie except the one about the spin doctors. It's not a matter of believeing, I've seen in, I've been involved in it, and unfortunatly this is just a re-run of things. Nowt's new....it's just spreading....

The reason why the world has changed it's work climate is because of free trade and increased shareholder greed. The reality is that companies now compete on a worldwide platform and goodness knows what it's going to be like competing with the Asia pacifics,what with their pay / profitability / productivity etc

No country was forced to or indeed has to stay in this global market economy the way we have been misled to believe. Countries can achieve a balance by reintroducing some level of tariffs instead of flogging off assets (which Howard has done like no other before him).

The global market is a scam developed by multi nationals and weak right wing govts. All the rhetoric about trickle down theory of economic rationalism is spin doctoring and has never developed as they said it would. We have had a quarter of century of this nonsense and now people just believe what they
are told and fail to question what's behind it all or why it has to be this particular way.

The workplace can change and be adaptable but it will only work if those who supply their labour or skills or knowledge are sufficently rewarded. The current climate and beliefs that are expressed by employers associations, chambers of commerce and the Howard govt will only continue to disenfranchise workers and destable the social environment and in time the economic one.

If you can employ indonesians at $2 an hour then eventually only those with skills very highly in demand will be able to make aliving. The rest of jobs will go offshore or to people beaten into subjection to accept this crap. It's not that unions stop economic progress, it's that employers look to bypass any semblance of decency that has been developed over decades in order to benefit themselves and their masters.

On a positive note The 29 sacked meatworkers have been reinstated. The employer was forced to take them back on their previous rates by a gov inspector. Hopefully this will set a precedent and workers rights won't die in this country.

Interestingly the country that crows the most about a free market and the global marketplace, the US, also practices incredible protectionism through it's policies.

Just try selling beef or sugar to them

Anyone who thinks their country does not need to perform on a worldwide platform is living in la-la land It's all about supply & demand and macro economics.

Australia can stay as it is ....or move on and improve.

No one said change is easy.....

If you do what you've always done......you get what you've always got!

Very well said; I agree with you entirely.

BTW - your PM inbox is full!