What's left: the death of social democracy, by Clive Hamilton

I didn’t enjoy Affluenza all that much; it seemed pretty obvious. But this is a very considered essay that is well worth the look in.

In it, Clive Hamilton tries to find a new politics beyond the tired old conservative/Howard mantra. He also points to what’s wrong with traditional left wing politics, and where the Labor Party is going wrong with its endeavors to get itself elected.

In short, Labor should stop trying to be a sort of soft pro-market party with a few tokenistic social democracy concerns.

The new politics that Hamilton espouses needs to point towards welfare for the poor, and stop spruiking for a full steam ahead economy. People on $50,000 a year are not ‘battlers’.

Politics, he also says, has been purged of its idealism. Potential political contenders will join whatever party suits best their career.