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December 9, 2007
Modern Labor? What does it stand for in terms of social democracy? Something that lies beyond the resources boom and skills crisis, that’s for sure. But what lies beyond that horizon? Reform, clearly. What kind of reform though? After all, the Liberals were into reform—eg., welfare to work.
Old Labor was strong on social policy, such as public health and education, the welfare state and a strong interventionist state that addressed the negative consequences of capitalism. It’s perspective was the massive unemployment of the Great Depression.
And the reformers in modern Labor?
Modern Labor is out productivity:----the productivity of the nation arising from providing people with the skills for high paying jobs in the knowledge economy that is connected to the growth hubs in the Asia-pacific region. How are those high skilled jobs to be delivered? Through early childhood education and child care, schooling, training, universities, social inclusion. What is called investment in human capital.
Boosting the productive capacity of the economy is the main game for the modern reformers in the Australian ALP. This is their version of the commonwealth Treasury’s Three P’s (productivity, participation and population).
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"Modern Labor? What does it stand for in terms of social democracy?"
After reading "They threw me down, they hurt me, they searched my bra", a nasty story by Tom Allard in the SMH, 10/12, about police violence against a pensioner in the aggro world of the testosterone-driven search and detain laws of the NSW of Morris Iemma, I share fears expressed about how far genuine social reform will progress in our country in the post- Howard era, also.