It is Geoff Kitney’s view that the unions, having created modern civilisation, should be punished for it. He also, this morning, spelled ‘Calwell’ wrong, twice.
His claim, that Australians are ‘over’ unions and want tyranny back, is odd in view of the unions’ WorkChoices campaign that threw Howard out of his seat.
The unions have supplied Labor with Curtin, Chifley,Mick Young, Hawke, Beazley, Crean, Beattie, Bacon, Shorten, Combet and Howes. It is hard to think of politicians more talented in either party.
He should go bag his head. And try to cope with an apparent, recurrent, neurological stifling of his ability to spell.
I look forward to his opinion, next week, of John Curtain, Ben Chudleigh and Geoff Wittenoom.
What a dumb-bum he has come to be. What a fool.
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Totally agree but why hasn’t Labor constantly reminded the populace of the wonderful gains unions have won for workers over the years.They should be reminding people that through the 80′s Howard voted against every single wage rise granted by the Arbitration system. When there are no unions there will be nobody to speak up for workers. The young girl working in the Chemist will be told to “fork or walk”.
Indeed.
Think of a worker in a non-union workplace, or effectively non-union workplace. Where can he or she go for help, to find like minded labour people who will help with grass-roots organisation?
It should be the the local ALP branch. There should be, if TV and radio ads are too expensive then posters everywhere, saying “Fight for your rights, make a better country and better world, build the unions, join the ALP”.
Could start tomorrow.
One of the prices of complacency is that we are forced to fight again the very battles our parents and grandparents fought : the rights of the workers, the rights to contraception and safe abortion, the rights of accused persons.
The one percent and their henchmen are always seeking to erode the rights and liberties of workers and of citizens in general.
The Murdoch media and the Noalition are the frontline henchmen in the battle. And the “aspirational” are the saps. They really do think they might get some of the money and property which the one percent covet!
There is no such thing as “trickle down” : the reality is “siphon up”.
You don’t have to go far to find them either Doug, some of those ” aspirational saps” post on this blog. Hey we don’t even have a working class anymore just ask them.
“siphon up” about covers it.
What’s all this talk about class, working class, middle class…please do not tell me we have aristocracy as well. Oz is supposed to be a classless, egalitarian society…
Perhaps we just have people who work; workers and a small percentage of unemployed; non-workers (temporarily), thanks to Labor.
I think you’re half right. Unions are certainly historically relevant, even though they represent fewer workers than in the past they still help to set the standard for treatment of workers. Its one they help raise more than many people can even recall.
We’d like to be more egalitarian, and may even aspire to it. Just because the classes we may speak of don’t quite fall in line with either a traditional aristocracy or your common or garden Marxist dogma, that doesn’t mean we’ve achieved our egalitarian utopia quite yet. Ask Gina she’ll explain it, probably in doggerel prose!
Oh and this Kitney bloke, he sounds like a bit if an idiot to me.
Helvi, you jest surely?
Aristocracy is a remnant of the feudal class system. The capitalist class system is alive and well, obviously.
It is just the language that confuses. Think of a person who you might describe as successful with “good responsible job”, whose opinions are “credible” so that a government should take notice of them, there you have a member of the Citizen Class, or the bourgeoisie as Marxists translate it, often referred to as the “middle class”.
Think of someone whose occupation would fit into the sentence “What would he know he is just a __”, that is 60/70% of the population. There yo have member of the “Breeding Class” or proleteriat, of tehn referred to by the more dignifies title of Working Class.
Then there are Big Citizens, or haute bourgeoisie like our lovely Gina. They might be better called an Owning Class. They are functionally equivalent to the aristocracy.
And of course between the the Citizen Class and the proletariat there is a Small Citizen class whose French name I will leave to you as homework.
In general to be elected to Parliament one has to be at least of the Small Citizen Class, preferably of the Citizen Class.
Men marry a member of their own class without remark, or one class down, not two. So a Citizen Class doctor might marry a nurse, one class down, but not without remark a cleaner. (“What one arht do they talk about?”)
I hope, Helvi, you find this helpful.
Jeremy, I suppose it’s called jesting…
Where I come from, we don’t talk about class/classes. Finland was an agrarian society, where the farmers were keen to make life easier to their off-spring by making sure they got a good education, make sure the kids go to Uni, which most kids wanted anyhow… So the intelligent farmers now have clever learned doctors and architects as sons/ daughters,not many aspired to be lawyers…
Money and possessions were never a great inspiration, education was.
So there they have two classes, if you wish, farmers and the educated…
Love the Oz idea of aristocracy, Gina, and Andrew Forrest( whom I know personally), who comes from squattocracy…
Helvi, perceptions of class, like the rainbow, depend a lot on where you are standing.
I don’t know much about Finland (though from what I hear I’d love to go there) but I’d give you plenty of six-to-four that I could find Finns who did talk about class…..
In his quest to represent Australia’s real history a friend taught high school History based on the Builders’ Labourers’ Song Book . The conservative forces at the school went at him hard. His crime? To allow his students access to the truth.
If Labor refuse to do the same with the public and the Libs spend their time kicking their fellow Australian workers in the head just where is the unionised workforce expected to gain a sense of pride and identity.
I hate Labor for the betrayal of its own history, and especially the Whitlam-era denial established by the Black Prince, Hawke. The unions trusted Hawke. They went into the Accord in good faith, and came out of it less empowered, real wages stagnant for over ten years; and like in ANIMAL FARM were left peering though the window at their man seen toasting the good life with his corporate mates.
All true FW.
It beggars belief, we have just had a Labor government take money out of the pockets of single mothers, and somehow this is just so hunky dory, no problem, they’ll get over it.Hey they are only breeding vessels after all.
I really don’t know what rarefied air some of these supposed Labor party stalwarts are breathing, if they don’t think, this is not going to have an impact on the election.
I know of at least three families who are going to change their vote, just over this one issue alone.
I can’t fathom it, that some people think, that most people, are that interested in politics.
The only thing that worries my wife and her friends, is which flavour jelly to make up for the grandkids birthday party.
Yes, the chattering class, a class that according to some contributers to this blog, should be told just shut the fuck up, we know what’s best for you.
Btw Doug, should you read this, Rudd will be back soon, of that I would risk my children’s life on.He will go on and take Labor to victory.
Gillard as they say, has shit it.
erm that was “What on earth do they talk about?”
I’m learning to touch type.
Of course I read it. You and I Phill have an enemy in common, a dastardly one that waits to pounce and roll back the gains of the last 5 years as if they’d never been.
I live in the hope that in their hearts the whole Party realises that, and that Gillard and Rudd realise that and all will work together towards ensuring the enemy is repelled from the gates, before squabbling over the spoils.
Solidarity, comrades.
Indeed we do Doug. We will be in for some tough times should the Gods have a joke on us. That joke being a one Tony Abbott.
He will punish the poor if he gets in, of that there is no doubt.
You know it’s a funny old world, conservatives have been screwing the poor people over since, like forever. The fact is, some poor sod that gets twenty bucks an hour working in a shit hole somewhere and refers to the boss as ‘Bawana’ votes for the likes of Abbott is a mystery of epic fucking wonderment.
But they do and they will. Strange……..
Union-bashing revisionism from the tabloids in an election year..who’da thunk..