Letter
Albanese’s disgusting, trite vision for society
Albanese’s vision – “holding nobody back and leaving nobody behind” – has a superficial appeal: the most vulnerable have enough for a life of dignity, and the innovators, investors and boundary pushers reap the limitless rewards of their foresight and industry. Perfect, two popular cons (the rising tide and trickle down effects) rolled into one. But the mantra’s appeal is purely superficial.
It ignores the reality of a very rigid, highly stratified society in which society’s directions are set by select few who happily experience most of the beneficial and least of the harmful consequences. All societal decisions involve winners and losers and the same people tend to win and lose every time
It ignores the reality of the capitalist system – that capitalists accumulate more capital by stealing the surplus value created by others’ labour and by stealing the common wealth of the natural environment.
People do not want to be left behind but that is not all they want. As well as material sufficiency, people want a good life for themselves and their families and a fair society of which they feel part.
Albanese’s disgusting trite mantra guarantees both the perpetuation of inequality and oppression and its augmentation.
— Peter Sainsbury from Darling Point