An Examination of the Persistence of Socialist Institutions within Australian 20th Century Capitalism: With a Case Study of NSW Education until 1955

Abstract

As a system to satisfy society's needs, capitalism has some utility, the more so if all classes and individuals have some capital. As the ABS contends, "the economic wellbeing of individuals is largely determined by their command over economic resources." In spite of any trickle down of wealth from the dominant capitalist structures and institutions, certain basic impediments to the satisfaction of needs exist for those within society without command over economic resources. That capital and/or wealth are asymmetrically distributed in Australia is demonstrated by the ABS's statistical exposition, such that in 2009-10 the wealthiest 20% owned 66% of the total household wealth, while the poorest 20% owned 1% of total household wealth. The middle cohort, 60% of all households, possessed the residual of around 33%. Moreover, the wealthiest cohort experienced a 15% increase in wealth since 2005-6, while the lowest cohort increased their wealth by only 4% in the same period. It is the lacuna in the satisfaction of social needs that arises from the unequal distribution of income and wealth and the persistence of certain socialistic counter measures that sets the context for this thesis. It is argued that the inequality of satisfaction of needs in an unequal society such as Australia (and many other similar advanced countries) can be and has been remedied by institutionalised 'socialist process systems', to the extent that they have become part of the structure of Australian society.