Today, I was told of a study that has shown that Norway, followed by Australia, are the most socially democratic countries in the world. America came in twentieth place.
The explanation for this appears to be that Norway and Australia have a deep and long standing belief across their societies of equal opportunity and that everyone deserves a fair go. In Australia, this is no doubt due to the enduring myth of mateship and that we view ourselves, rightly or wrongly, as a classless society.
I was not surprised that America rated so far down the scale, as it is obvious that there is no core belief in that everyone deserves a fair go, as the concept of equity does not appear to be a significant part of any public debate and that there are no real institutional arrangements to promote equity and equality, as is a part of Australia’s social democracy.
A search for a definition of ‘equity’ online, accessible to every free society, brought forth a line of economic definitions. It was a difficult task to find a social or cultural definition of the word ‘equity’ and that seems a sad indictment in our modern societies.
Additionally, this was interesting in the light of the recent public debates I have seen taking place in America attacking unions. I have to confess that I am a union member, and have been more than thankful to them working on my behalf, in the past. Unions safeguard rights. Unions mean that workers are no longer locked inside factories, to burn alive when fires start. Unions mean that we get annual leave. Unions mean that we have safe working environments. Unions safeguard our rights when we suffer work injuries. And yes, unions ensure we receive a fair days pay for a fair days work.
Once again, I have to offer gratitude that I was born into Australian society. It is not a utopia by any means, but compared to many other societies, it is. I can understand why people risk their lives for weeks at sea on leaky boats, to reach Australian shores. I am thankful that my German ancestors did the very same thing in the nineteenth century. I do not know if I would have the same courage, though if war or famine threatened my family, no doubt my lack of choice and desire for survival would shape my decision, if I was given the opportunity, legal or not.
Freedom from discrimination, freedom from the holders of abusive power, equity, social justice, and equal opportunities for all, including those with physical, mental or social disabilities have been hard won, and when a society does not honour and value unity and a sense of compassion for victims of injustice and inequality, but hand them to the owners of the means of production it is a time to stop, and think. Think about what it means to walk in those shoes, the shoes of those denied equity and social justice. It is just a step to the right.
Update from Snowy : Australia pips Norway .
Well said, FD. I see where Oz has just pipped Norway on the latest highest living standard index. Can’t find the link now, but Oz and Norway have been neck and neck for quite a few years.
The campaign waged against unions by conservatives is never ending. One only has to look at Workchoices to see what they think is a fair system. It will be interesting to see if the latest anti union nonsense in Wisconsin has any effect on voting intention in the U.S.
My daughter was telling me that she has a student who has a relative involved in doing research on this area for the government. It started me thinking about a number of things, and how as time goes on, we don’t seem to learn a lot from our evolving knowledge base. I know that as time goes on, we forget the lessons of the past – this is why the teaching of history is so important in our schools. If it wasn’t so worrying, and saddening, it might be amusing to watch a country that views itself as the penultimate democracy turn and eat itself.
Abbott’s attempts to play the race card concern me. He’s reading from the Tea Party playbook, and while that may gain him short term political advantage, it will have long term negative impact on the cohesiveness of Australian society. Still, it’s all about “Christian” Tony and his oversized ego, isn’t it. Did I tell you that I don’t like him and his motley band of happy clappers, conspiracy theorists, and big end of town cheer squad?
I am way beyond “don’t like” I actively wish him ill.
Found a link. http://www.campusdaily.com.au/view_blog.php?id=285
Thank you – added the update.
Our society here in America seems to be on a tragic decline.
And I don’t understand why. For a nation of peoples who have spent years in therapy and with Oprah doing her thing, it amazes me that America seems to be going backwards in this area, not forward. Why do you think this is happening?
I’ve recently watched several documentatries about the Great “American” Depression. We came out of it with a number of social reforms and with regulations on banking and business. Unions formed and the lot of everyday people improved greatly, especially after WW II when manufacturing jobs were plentiful.
The political climate changed. Big business wanted a bigger piece of the pie. Politicians denounced welfare mothers and blamed them for the deterioration of society. It wasn’t long before social safety nets were perceived as government waste. Big business wanted an even bigger piece of the pie.
Somehow the best politicians money could buy were able to convince a high percentage of the masses to vote against their own interests in the name of what it good and right. The best politicians that money could buy then passed new laws to dismantel the old laws which prevented banks from mixing investing, insurance, and banking.
The financial system came perilously close to collapse. Believing the lies of the best politicians money could buy, a large percentage of the masses continued to vote against their own interests. Millions lost their jobs. Millions lost their homes.
The best politicians that money can buy insist that we can no longer afford social safety nets. Those who fall out of the social safety nets are viewed much in the same way as the grubby, undesireable hordes who made their way west during the dust bowl.
Big business will continue to pay for the best politicians money can buy. It will finance their campaigns and pay for the media to espouse its message to the masses. The media will continue to hammer the masses with messages broadcast from the mega-media conglomerates who control the “news” coverage. The masses will hear it first on breaking news. So informed, they’ll determine that the best politicians money can buy know what’s best for them.
Hehe, as a cynical outsider living in the other praised country I smile again broadly at those studies. They always look good on paper. That it doesn’t always work in reality and that there are actually also downsides to the glossy picture ……
True, no place is perfect, and all societies seem to be more than capable of unravelling at any time, but it doesn’t take much of a glance to know that we are very lucky to be living where we do live. Fate and hard work?
In “our” case I would say fate. If the oil wouldn’t have been handed over on a silver plate it wouldn’t look as good as it does. Maybe it would still be better then in times of pre-oil but still not that current standard.
But it also made them lazy. Very lazy.
When I arrived here almost 16 years ago they had a good life – but it was as insane when it comes to housing prices, food prices etc. They were still recovering from a crack in the late 80′s. Though within the next 6-8 years that was all forgotten – or so it seems.
Now their mindset has completely changed in a way that I know longer recognize. It actually scares me. Now they think they are the Titanic – unsinkable. We remembered how that worked out.
One thing that annoys me a lot is the school system: the idea of everyone being able to achieve the ‘higher school certificate’ is great. But in reality not everyone is built for it. Which now ends up in modifications of the school system according the weakest student. And they wonder that the end results of the students knowledge can’t compete on International level. Duh!
Then with all those students being able to study – they study. And the majority of Norwegians are now highly educated people who only want to work in highly paid jobs. There are barely any ground workers left. The ones doing those jobs are the foreigners.
If every foreigner would say one day “we are sick and tired of your arrogant attitude, we are better off back home (make that only all the Swedes, Danes and Finns that are working here) – half of Norway would collapse.
(A (Norwegian?) professor only prophesied it just a couple of days ago, of course people wrinkled their nose and probably labeled him as a fool)
So, when can you move over here and start running things. There are far too many stupid people making decisions for this country right now. We need a few more smart ones to put things back in to balance…
I’ll stop here. There are way too many things that irritate me about my own country to list just before bed. If I start now, I’ll never get to sleep. heh
I have frequently offered to rule the world, but as yet offers to do so are few and far between!
We have an opposition party, run by a loud mouthed idiot, Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party, who drives my blood pressure high. I live in a state where many, many people are racist and narrow minded. I try to reconcile it by acknowledging that until the 1970s we had a strict White Australia Policy, and didn’t even count our First Australians, the Aboriginals, as people, and so the older generations have a mind set shaped by those revolting institutions, but as a population we know better know, and there should be no such person as a Tony Abbott in our politics.
Many days I have to walk away from the media before I go insane.
I am not familiar with the Australian system and would appreciate concrete examples of ‘institutional arrangements to promote equity and equality’ there. In the United States there are two main contradictory ideas of the best way to promote equity in society. The ‘conservative’ view says the less the government interferes the more opportunity an individual has to realize their dreams. The ‘liberal’ view says institutions are inequitable due to their inherent interest in self-promotion and government must insert itself in order to override those forces. The result is a patchwork of decisions along the continuum of left to right. Each one is the result of the process of the social pressure which triumphs at a single time.
Well you’ve dived into a debate and a half. As an Australian I am glad and proud of what we have achieved as a nation – seen even in its earliest days as a social experiment. There is another side to the employee issue. I have a friend battling with a Work Fair Australia case – he is an ex-small business owner. While the case has its murky aspects, he claims that on 2 points under the legislation – theft and violence (even the threat of) in the workplace, he should have had the right for instant dismissal on an employee. Not so, and the case drags on.
Excellent read….and a great collection of comments.
Oh….and if you would like to rule the world, could you please do it conjointly with Snowy…..I’d be happier knowing that there was at least one avenue of check and balance in place.
Listen to GOF, FD. He always talks a lot of sense.
I think she’s in selective hearing mode at the moment Snowy.
Yes, I’ll have to agree with you, as someone who’s born and raised in the US. We’re a dreadfully unequal society. That being said, public opinion is very much on the union’s side in the Wisconsin battle. Otherwise, the attitude here is very much “I got mine, the hell with you.”