Ending the US alliance: America first means Australia last

Feb 5, 2025
Light box with letters - AMERICA FIRST - on an American national flag. Contributor: mauritius images GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo Image ID: 2S6MJ97

The foundation of Australia’s alliance with the US is that there is a shared commitment to the rule of law and constitutional democratic government. We are faced with the choice of waiting until there cannot be a shred of doubt that the US is committed to a dictatorship or beginning the process of cutting our ties with this latest incarnation of American democratic government.

There are those who think Trump is an aberration, things will return to normal once he leaves office in 2028. Trump is not an aberration, he is the logical consequence of a system of government that is essentially a plutocracy. The US is not alone in that politicians routinely invoke the social contract, but one of the arguments for that contract is that the parties to the social contract must be situated reasonably, that is fairly or symmetrically, with no one having superior bargaining advantages over the rest – this is not the case anywhere in the democratic world. However, Trump has taken that to the next step. Not content with a system that only pays lip service to equality, he is taking the next logical step and establishing a dictatorship.

When he said you just have to vote this once and you will not have to vote again, many believed it was little more than his usual braggadocio. But it is here that we need to put together a number of reputable sources. First of all, take the time to listen to the Coming Storm (BBC Sounds) it builds up a picture that there certainly is reason in his madness. Secondly, take the time to explore neo-reactionaries – a starting point could be: Hui, Y., On the unhappy consciousness of neoreactionaries. (use Google scholar). Finally Rachel Maddow’s analysis ties things together quite nicely. As I write, all public servants have been given the opportunity to participate in RAGE: Retire All Government Employees.

But why should we be concerned? The Americans have voted for Trump, surely they have to live with the consequences? We should not ignore that this is a problem for all democratic governments. At the heart lies the fundamental problem with true democratic government: it is bloody hard work. Much easier if you could ride roughshod over people’s objections to everything that you want to do. Just think of all of the environmental regulations with which we have to comply, all these anti-discrimination laws and regulations. How often do you hear someone bewail that we live in a “nanny state”? The Murdoch Press does a good job of stoking our permanent winter of discontent.

But what can Australia do? Do we not rely on the international community for our standard of living? To a certain degree, that is true. Our international trade relations have created a golden straitjacket. Yet there has never been a better opportunity to liberate ourselves from that straitjacket.

The main challenge is that we do need to have support across all political parties. Thus far, the Liberals under Dutton have shown themselves to be unimaginative and would rather hitch their fortunes to Trump. But certainly the growth of Independents, Teals and Greens has created opportunities for creating a different Australia. We need to start with the principle that we are all in this together. This country has the wealth to meet the needs of all of our residents, but we are falling a long way short of doing that. Part of this has been due to a fear of raising taxes. There is no shortage of research that shows that increasing the marginal tax rate to 90% for the top 1% of incomes would mean that 99% of Australians would be largely unaffected, but we would all benefit. It cannot be done overnight but in a country as rich as ours there is simply no excuse that some people do not have a roof over their heads, some cannot afford to buy healthy food, are afraid to go to the doctor for they cannot afford any out-of-pocket expenses.

How can we make this happen? Governments cannot wave a magic wand. Instead we need to embark on a program that involves all communities to look at what the options are for their local community. We are all in this together – that means we also need to work together to come up with solutions.

There is, of course, the option that we appoint a dictator to do all that for us….

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