Peter Boyle
“The 19th century industrialists saw their fortunes smashed by the Great Depression, two world wars and progressive income tax.
“But, as illustrated last week by Macquarie Bank’s annual executive salary pageant, the super rich are back.
“The $21.2 million paid in the year to March 31 to the bank’s chief, Allan Moss, represents almost 2% of the bank’s annual net profit and a pay rise of 164% over just three years.” — John Garnaut, Sydney Morning Herald, May 23, 2006.
Allan Moss excuses his good fortune as one of the “real social consequences of globalisation”. Just a fact of life in 21st century capitalism.
The young fast-food workers who will be doing weekend and night shifts for $5.50 an hour on individual contracts that take away their rights will also be suffering just another “real social consequence of globalisation”.
How many fancy restaurant dinners and other luxuries can a person consume? What is Moss going to do with all that money he couldn’t possibly spend? The answer is simple: use it to make more money. While for most of us, money is simply a means to pay for our daily necessities, for the Allan Moss types, it’s what allows them to extract a profit from the labour of the rest of us. And hence the rich do get richer.
“We’re not going to put up with this”, said a feisty high-school student who went on strike on June 1 against Howard’s new anti-worker laws. Green Left Weekly agrees 100%. We want to make sure that resistance and rebellion will also be one of the “real social consequences of globalisation” and you can help by contributing to our fighting fund this week.
Just give us a call on 1800 634 206 (toll-free within Australia), write to PO Box 394, Broadway 2007, or donate online at <http://www.greenleft.org.au/fogl.htm>.
Last week we raised $3470. This brings us to 31% of the year’s total target of $250,000. We are a bit behind target, so please help us catch up.
From Green Left Weekly, June 7, 2006.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.
