Egalitarianism In Australia

Through economic growth the government aims to increased Australia’s standard of living and create the opportunity for increased investment in infrastructure and public services such as education and health. Through aiming to achieve external stability Australia aims to meet its long-term financial obligations to foreign countries so that future goals like higher growth and lower inflation are not hindered. Improving external stability is beneficial to the economy as it leads to reduce vulnerability to opposing developments in the global financial markets. The government objective of full employment involves the aim that the economy is at the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment. The economy benefits from achieving full employment and reducing unemployment as the economy’s capacity to produce is maximised, thus maximising Australia’s living standards. The government aims to create a fairer distribution of income and wealth. The government does not aim to remove all of the inequalities between individuals, as they recognise that free

Social inequality is a problematic phenomenon that occurs all around the world and affects both the developed and developing nations. It is defined as “the unequal distribution of social, political and economic resources within a social collective” (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 205). Inequality is closely connected with social stratification, a system of social hierarchy that positions individuals and groups into categories according to social variables such as class or ethnicity (van Krieken et al. 2013, p. 485). This stratification has a significant impact on the opportunity that an individual may have to move up the hierarchy of inequality (Gill 2017a).

Australia is a market economy which distributes income to factors of production- land, labour, capital and enterprise. Income as defined by L. Kirkwood et al as the inflow of money to one sector of an economy from another. The distribution of income in the economy is in the form of wages, salaries, rent, interests and profit, all which are distributed by the factors of production (L. Kirkwood et al: 2006). Unlike income, wealth is the stock of goods and assets owned by individuals and the nation as a whole at a given period of time L. Kirkwood et al: 2006). As well as possessions individuals can also obtain wealth through education or obtaining a particular skill. It is with wages and salaries that determine the income and the next most important category government pensions and cash benefits L. Kirkwood et al: 2006).

Social Legislation at the turn of the twentieth century made Australia a more reformed and progressive nation as a whole. Social Legislation was the result of Federation and made Australia more developed compared to other countries as their identity was stronger and Australia had a high standard of living at the time. Social legislation had three main acts which were Harvester Judgement (1907), Invalid and Old Age Pensions (1908) and Maternity Allowance (1912), these schemes mainly benefited white Australians.

Analyse the economic and social costs and benefits of inequality in distribution of income in Australia.

Living in a society that does not help its people to live comfortably and provide facilities for them to achieve their demands, is harmful. One of these harmful affections is “social inequality” in each diverse society. Social inequality occurs when resources in each society are distributed unevenly, typically through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined categories of persons. The United States contains one of the most common social inequalities for its population and that is “social stratification and mobility” and the government should strictly investigate this social inequality for people who are living in the United States.

The Australian domestic politics from 1945 - 1950’s was severely impacted due to the threat of communism. This statement is found to be true by assessing key communist acts after World War II. During 1945 – 1950’s there were many events and decisions made that impacted Australian domestic politics, which were due to the threat of communism. Three events that played a key role in impacting Australia domestic politics were the 1951 Referendum, the Petrov Affair and the splitting of the Labor Party.

No other government could change a country so much in such a short time. And not Australian government has made such an impact to the country. Australia became another country after Whitlam, a young nation that had left home to find its own identity. Australia was no longer a country full of working people, rapid economic growth or low inflation. Women did no longer have to stay at home; mothers no longer have to get married.

America prides itself on being one of the most successful democratically governed counties. The idea of the American dream is that all citizens have equal civil liberties and a responsive government. However the effectiveness of democracy is being threatened by increasing inequality in the United States. “The dominant view holds that economic development and modernization are the key to the continued growth of democracy” (Snider and Faris 2001; United Nations, 2011). In the last decade especially the American Society has had significant moments of increasing equality. In 1960 the Civil Rights Movement changed how different races were viewed. Also in the 1960s the Women’s Right Movement push for equal rights between genders. Both of these

Australia’s distribution of income and wealth has worsened as market forces operate more freely in the economy. The recent transition from a manufacturing economy into a services economy has wider implications towards the distribution of income. The widening of income and wealth inequality is a result of labor market decentralization, capital gains tax and superannuation tax, globalization and the resources boom leading to a rapid economic growth. Inequality results in several economic costs and benefits as well as longer lasting social consequences. Income inequality is the degree to which income is unevenly distributed among people in an economy while wealth inequality is the unequal distribution of assets within a population.

So yeah, pretty much the same thing. Australia’s egalitarian views started when it was just a penal colony, when the convicts were deprived of their human rights and opportunities because they were criminals. The deprivations, led the convicts to start believing in the equality of humanity. The fact that they knew they were inferior to their superiors, resulted in egalitarianism to become one of the most valued values in Australia.

Australia possesses social inequality due to the uneven distribution of its resources. The social inequality within Australia will be measured through earnings, where the dispersion of labour market incomes will define social classes. This will be further explored through Karl Marx’s social theory of class, sociologists measure of inequality, and the consequences of inequality. Earnings inequality within Australia can be identified through Karl Marx’s social theory of class. Marx distinguished class by its mode of production, such as the division of labour and earnings.

Australia is ranked 12th largest economy in the world and is increasingly tied to fast-growing economies in Asia. It has transformed to an open, export oriented market economy with a GDP of approximately 1.5606 trillion USD since the economic reforms program introduced by the government in 1983 (Economy Watch, 2014). These reforms include reducing tariffs and nontariff barriers, floating the Australian dollar, deregulating the financial service sector, increasing efficiency between the federal and state branches of government, and reforming the tax system (Economy Watch, 2014). Today, Australia has a very healthy economy, stable government, sound infrastructure and manufacturing, and superb communication network.

The second key national interest of Australia is the economy. Australia’s capital, jobs, standards of living, technological innovations and social advances rely substantially on exports and commodity values within Southeast Asia and the Pacific (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 2016a). The stability of South East Asia and the Oceania

Political egalitarians believe that large organizations can exercise their power and control to lessen the political inequality in society. They argue that a prominent issue in society is the uneven distribution of political