Warren Kennedy, Mullumbimby
Boyd Kellner’s letter (14 November) reminded me of what Richard Flanagan said back in April: ‘What we’re seeing, more generally, around the world is that, for a hundred years, if you wanted change, whether you were on the right or left, you turned to politics…
‘And then, with the collapse of communism, politics ceded its control and the idea of its own agency to the market and we’ve gone a very long way down the idea that the market is the only force for change and now we don’t know how to get power back over our own destiny; as individuals, as communities, as nations. And so there’s an enormous crisis. No-one has the answer but what you do see is those old categories of left and right becoming largely meaningless.’
In English-speaking countries capitalism has become toxic to society. The drive for ‘free’ markets and trade (which is actually a freedom to exploit) have produced a form of predatory, dog-eat-dog capitalism in which only profits matter.
The only stakeholders served by this form of capitalism are shareholders. Other stakeholders in business – employees, suppliers, customers, and local and national communities as well as the three levels of government – are ignored.
What we need is not free markets but fair markets with regulations that force businesses to act in all stakeholders’ interests.
Boyd is right in asserting that if we, the people, are to get back power over our own destinies we have to change the way things are done, but change will take the participation of more than just progressives. It will need far wider appeal.
Anti-union propaganda and legislation have reduced union effectiveness. Where unions are weak, employers exploit. We also need an end to business contributions to political parties and banning the lobbying of politicians. They both lead to the corruption of democracy.
These are not left/right issues because both conservatives and progressives are part of the 99 per cent who are exploited by the one per cent.
