Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Lost opportunities

By Peter McMahon - posted Thursday, 20 February 2020


Anyway, what did happen was that in the 1950s and 1960s the American corporate system began to spread around the world, catching on (albeit with some variation in places like Japan and Germany) and becoming dominant by the 1980s. At this time, with the advent of genuinely capable microelectronic systems, what were global-scale financial systems took over. With corporate control of finance and trade flows, even the biggest governments fell into line and pursued policies that maximised their profits. It was all coming unstuck by the turn of the century, but some fancy accounting and the rise of China kept things ticking over. Certain critical structural matters, like guaranteeing a reliable energy supply, were never properly addressed.

These days, with probably the most incompetent American leadership ever, a transnational corporate sector that does what it likes, a financial system constantly teetering on collapse, popular culture that recycles the same mindless pap, it is hard to imagine a civilisation able to solve any real problems. Imagine for instance a world leader announcing a huge project to go into space, as Kennedy did in 1961, let alone issuing a call to go on fighting a long world war, as Churchill did. We cannot even do the relatively simple things required to stop ourselves from frying the planet.

The changes we require with some urgency today are in some ways the same as they were after World War Two. We need governments to step up as the true representatives of the people to assert dominance over the private sector and to put in place a number of emergency programs to head off global disaster. If they did this, the private sector would read the writing on the wall and get on board, as it did in wartime.

Advertisement

Certainly governments should consult more than they tended to do in the 1940s and 1950s. It took the Ban the Bomb movement to get people into the streets in the 1950s, and they kept going back to express their views on a variety of topics. Governments were put on notice that their power was not absolute, and they instigated a number of social reforms to placate the public. They could re-establish their credentials by rebuilding trust in initiatives related to the essential issues of education and health, both of which are in slow collapse in the West, and globally by supporting genuinely fair open trade and economic development programs.

Perhaps most importantly we need a global organisation where sustained debate can occur and national leaders be made to answer to each other. This was supposed to be what the UN, and before that the League of Nations, was for. We could revitalise the UN, or create some new body (the voting system in the UN is unfair to large population countries like India, China and Indonesia). We also need a mass media that actually finds and reports real news, essential if we are revitalise democracy.

None of this is on the cards right now, but perhaps as things continue to fall apart…

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. Page 2
  4. All


Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

26 posts so far.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Dr Peter McMahon has worked in a number of jobs including in politics at local, state and federal level. He has also taught Australian studies, politics and political economy at university level, and until recently he taught sustainable development at Murdoch University. He has been published in various newspapers, journals and magazines in Australia and has written a short history of economic development and sustainability in Western Australia. His book Global Control: Information Technology and Globalisation was published in the UK in 2002. He is now an independent researcher and writer on issues related to global change.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Peter McMahon

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Photo of Peter McMahon
Article Tools
Comment 26 comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy