To be rich is indeed glorious…
And there we have it – a snapshot of our Prime Minister from his own lips.“TONY Abbott has described his visit to China as the most important
ever undertaken by an Australian leader and has congratulated the
Communist country for its pursuit of wealth.”
As Abbott echoed Deng Xiaoping’s advice that “to get rich is
glorious”, 700 Australian businessmen are about to sit down with their
Chinese counterparts to determine just how glorious they can be. They
won’t be discussing climate change or pollution. They won’t be
discussing human rights abuses or health. And they most definitely will not be discussing those inglorious poor.
Pope Francis may have a different idea of glory. He recently warned
that the existing financial system that fuels the unequal distribution
of wealth and violence must be changed, and he begged the Lord to “grant
us more politicians who are genuinely disturbed by the state of
society, the people, the lives of the poor.”
“How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless
person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two
points?” Pope Francis asked an audience at the Vatican.
In an apostolic exhortation he wrote:
“As long as the problems of the poor are not radically
resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial
speculation, and by attacking the structural causes of inequality, no
solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that matter, to
any problems.
A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often virtual, which
unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. To all
this we can add widespread corruption and self-serving tax evasion,
which has taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and
possessions knows no limits”
He goes on to explain that in this system, which tends to devour
everything which stands in the way of increased profits, whatever is
fragile, like the environment, is defenseless before the interests of a
deified market, which has become the only rule we live by.
“Just as the commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ sets a
clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also
have to say ‘thou shalt not’ to an economy of exclusion and inequality.
Such an economy kills,”
The World Economic Forum in Davos identified the large and growing
income gap between rich and poor as the biggest risk to the global
community in the next decade. The WEF said its annual survey of 700
opinion formers had identified the income gap, extreme weather events
and unemployment or underemployment as the three threats most likely to
cause major cross-border damage in the next 10 years.
Jonathan D. Ostry, the I.M.F.’s deputy head of research, and Andrew
Berg, another economist at the fund, published a study three years ago
suggesting that inequality makes growth less durable. A flatter
distribution of income, the study concluded, contributes more to
sustainable economic growth than the quality of a country’s political
institutions, its foreign debt and openness to trade, its foreign
investment and whether its exchange rate is competitive.
Economic policy cannot be only about promoting low inflation and
robust growth. Healthy, stable economies also depend on a reasonably
equitable distribution of the rewards.
Hugh Evans, the Australian founder and chief executive of The Global
Poverty Project (GPP), told an audience at the International Monetary
Fund-World Bank Spring Meetings on Thursday that Tony Abbott “broke his
promise” after his election victory.
“He slashed the foreign aid budget dramatically which
will have far-reaching consequences for the world’s poor,” Evans,
standing before World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and United Nations
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, told the audience. “We don’t want this
single act of political indecency to undo the great work Australia has
done to help end extreme poverty.”
Meanwhile, Joe Hockey criticised delays in implementing changes
agreed by the Group of 20 bloc of advanced and developing nations in
2010, which he said were letting down the international community and
were entirely the fault of the U.S. Congress.
“I am deeply disappointed that the IMF quota and
governance reforms that the G20 agreed to in 2010 have still not been
implemented and that the path forward for ratification is now highly
uncertain,” he said at an event organized by Johns Hopkins University.
“The failure to finalize this issue diminishes America’s global standing instead of enhancing it.”
I wonder how that compares to Abbott’s refusal to support the green
climate fund supported by the United Nations. In the Commonwealth Heads
of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka, Australia joined with Canada in
snubbing the green climate fund. Mr Abbott called it the “green capital
fund” while calling the profitable Clean Energy Finance Corp. the “Bob
Brown Bank” after the former head of the Australian Greens.
The government of a democracy is accountable to the people. It must
fulfil its end of the social contract. And, in a practical sense,
government must be accountable because of the severe consequences that
may result from its failure. As the outcomes of fighting unjust wars and
inadequately responding to critical threats such as global warming
illustrate, great power implies great responsibility.
Government economic responsibility is linked to protection from the
negative consequences of free markets. The government must defend us
against unscrupulous merchants and employers, and the extreme class
structure that results from their exploitation.
Governments argue that people need to be assisted with the economic
competition that now dominates the world. But the real intent of this
position is to justify helping corporate interests, siding against local
workers, consumers and the environment.
This government has tossed out its job description and is on a
corporate crusade. They are capitalist fundamentalists who believe all
things public are bad and all things private are good, and they are
determined to use their time in power to sell off Australia and to
further the interests of their wealthy donors.
According to Tony Abbot’s description, Gina Rinehart must be the most
glorious person in Australia – although I think she lives in Singapore?
For me, the glorious people are those that care for others – the
carers, nurses, social workers, teachers, paramedics, firemen,
charities, volunteers, environmentalists, animal protection activists.
Our scientists are glorious with their amazing research into a
sustainable, healthy future, as are our artists and musicians who speak
to our senses and our souls.
I used to think Australians were a pretty glorious race in general. Now I am not so sure.
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