All the way (to hell) with the USA

Sorry for the radio silence, friends, but I was very busy with work and then managed to get laid low by a nasty respiratory virus, which I’m still battling. So, just a few thoughts in this post on a couple of not necessarily related things that have been really exercising my mind.

First of all, the increasing frustration with the complete unwillingness of the Albanese government to embark on an independent foreign and defence policy. Let me be clear – I’m not a campist who thinks that the US is the sole source of evil in world affairs. US imperialism is at a new level of aggressiveness at the moment, but Russia remains a major threat to peace in Europe and a malignant player in many other regions. Its genocidal invasion of Ukraine requires real leftists and supporters of national independence struggles to provide unwavering support for the Ukrainian people, just as we should do for the Palestinians. Russia remains the ideological and financial centre of the global ethno-nationalist far-right, and is in effective alliance with the Trump regime and funding fascist and far-right parties throughout Europe, intervening in electoral processes and spreading lies and misinformation.

China has the distinct virtue of at least being committed to developing the technological means to move beyond the climate-destroying fossil fuel economy. But its internal repression and tech-driven authoritarianism, its willingness to support Russia’s war on Ukraine, its appalling workers’ rights records in companies it owns in industries like nickel processing in Indonesia, and its willingness to sell weapons into conflict regions like Sudan, make it far from a model global citizen.

But let’s be clear in considering who exactly Australia’s friends and enemies are. In terms of aggression and global instability, there is only one real contender for the crown of the world’s most destructive state, and it happens to be Australia’s “great friend”.

The USA, together with Israel, started a war against Iran that has plunged the world’s supplies of energy, fertiliser and other important goods into crisis. The war has driven up inflation in Australia and threatens our economy in multiple ways. It has exacerbated cost of living pressures and harmed large numbers of Australian households and businesses. The US President has abused Australia for not being more involved in its illegal war.

The interim report of the Bondi Royal Commission found that the war waged on Iran by the US and Israel “is likely to have increased the risk of attacks directed at the Australian Jewish community”.

The US government is trying to destroy the renewable energy industry in its own country, and working against action to save the world from civilisation-ending climate change. The US government’s efforts to create more climate pollution via support for fossil fuels and opposition to renewables will, if it is successful, cause more deaths than any of the 20^th century’s dictators – Stalin, Hitler, Mao. We should stop beating around the bush about this. Supporting expansion of fossil fuels now, when the science and lived experience are very clear about the damage they do, is to be fully implicated in the destruction of civilisation and the deaths of many millions.

Trump’s regime imposed tariffs on Australia without any consultation, and is trying to drive up prices of medicines in our pharmaceutical benefits scheme.

The US is the single greatest source of global instability and conflict in the world. It is a supporter of genocide in Gaza and the West Bank and is actively working against Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s genocidal invasion. It’s war in Iran is devastating the world economy.

Why would Australia choose to rely on this failing hegemon, this vicious bully, for its defence? Why would Australian governments continue to make Australia, effectively, the 51^st state when it comes to foreign policy and our relations with the world? Are we that pathetic, still so unable to come to terms with our geography, still so unwilling to properly engage with our Asia-Pacific neighbours, still unable to throw off the cultural baggage of the empire and the anglosphere?

NDIS – CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A PROPER DEBATE ABOUT THIS?

Last week Guy Rundle published a substack post that examined the Albanese government’s efforts to rein-in spending on the NDIS. It was an interesting take on the NDIS in general, especially the idea that part of the issue is that cultural expectations around disability have changed, with a growing belief “that the disabled life should be brought as close to the fully able-bodied, and able-minded, life as possible”. While this is a good thing, the problem, according to Rundle, is that “there is not enough resources in any government - even in cultures that tolerate Scandinavian style tax rates - to pay for this, without drawing it from other areas, some very basic.”

I think that making this a debate about whether the Australian government has the fiscal resources to pay for disability care is entirely wrong, and I responded to Rundle’s post with the words I’ll repeat below.

The Commonwealth is not constrained by tax revenue to pay for what it can buy in Australian dollars. It is constrained by real resources. In the case of NDIS this means availability of disability support workers and some equipment. I don’t understand why “leftists” continue to argue that we can’t have the things we need or deserve because the government doesn’t have enough money to pay for them, that we have to choose between good things and that we need rich people to pay taxes so that we can provide decent services. This is all just an argument for the importance of rich people, which seems a bit stupid to me.

We don’t need to stop AUKUS to pay for NDIS. We need to stop AUKUS because it is a stupid defence policy and absorbs manufacturing capacity that could be used in the energy transition or to make things we actually need. Tax rich people to reduce their market and political power and to free up resources for useful things rather than luxury products, not because we need their money for social services.

The NDIS was flawed from the outset, one of Gillard’s “market-based solutions” to social problems. I’m surprised there has been so little comment on the negative effects it has had on disability support workers, driving increases in casualisation and outsourcing. But why is anyone surprised that markets seek to drive down labour standards or maximise profits - ie demand for public money?

Let’s have a proper debate about this. It’s not about a shortage of fiscal resources. That is an entirely neoliberal framing. The question is about whether there are sufficient real resources - workers etc - to staff an ever-expanding NDIS without driving continuing inflation in the sector. And it’s also about the broader allocation of resources. To be blunt - How much of our economy and workforce do we want absorbed by social welfare rather than other forms of economic activity? I don’t have an answer. But it’s a more important and actual question than “can we afford it?”

This image was taken in the Forbidden City in Hue, Vietnam, now a World Heritage site. It’s a beautiful place, which I spent quite a bit of time researching and writing about once upon a time. A large part of the city was damaged or destroyed during the American war in Vietnam, particularly during the Tet Offensive in 1968.