‘Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ 6,000-word essay, recently published in left-wing publication The Monthly, shows conservatives were correct in predicting the Albanese Labor government would be a meddling, bigger-spending, anti-capitalist nightmare.
However, while there is an understandable temptation to label Chalmers’ love letter to big government as “socialism”, that’s not quite right.
It embodies something that could prove far worse.
Chalmers’ promise to “redesign markets for investment in social purposes, based on common metrics of performance” sounds innocuous.
As does his purported optimism that “2023 will be the year we build a better capitalism” that is “uniquely Australian”.
However, this supposedly better capitalism, or “values-based capitalism”, as he puts it, is not uniquely Australian.
It’s been virulently propagated internationally for decades by the likes of Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF), under the banner of “stakeholder capitalism”, and is a core component of the WEF’s Great Reset initiative.
The Great Reset is a proposed alliance between big government and big business to “reset” the global economy post-pandemic, by pushing companies to adopt “Environmental, Social, and Governance” (ESG) policies as a condition of operation.
ESG policies are characterised by identity politics and radical climate action, and are determined in part by faceless, unelected corporate elites.
It’s not socialism; it’s neo-feudalism.
ESG policies are the “values” of Chalmers’ “values-based capitalism”.
We know this because his essay bears a striking resemblance to the type of stakeholder capitalism outlined in Klaus Schwab’s 2022 co-written book, The Great Narrative, a sort of sequel to his 2020 book The Great Reset.
This, for anyone who holds right-of-centre values, should be cause for alarm.
Chalmers describes a core component of values-based capitalism as enabling investors “to work out the climate-risk rating of a firm just as a lender can work out a credit-risk rating”.
“In 2023, we will create a new sustainable finance architecture, including a new taxonomy to label the climate impact of different investments. That will help investors align their choices with climate targets, help businesses who want to support the transition get finance more easily…This strategy begins with climate finance,” he continues.
Similarly, in The Great Narrative, Schwab says stakeholder capitalism “welcomes the idea of legislative action to define with precision the benchmarks for ESG reporting and performance”.
“In the same way that companies have an obligation to report their financial results…in the not-too-distant future they will have a similar obligation to report on ESG metrics… governments will make the last call for setting the legal obligations, targets and incentives around ESG standards.”
Ultimately, the purpose of both values-based and stakeholder capitalism is to justify politicians working with corporations to create big government policies, and insidiously exert the kind of control over markets and individuals that, in isolation, is unpalatable to your average voter.
This is the antithesis of democracy.
Jim Chalmers can claim all he wants that his values-based capitalism is the right thing for Australians, but he seems to forget that values are often subjective.
While he may believe that markets geared towards controlling citizen’s behaviour is a moral good, others (like me) believe this is – at best – overly stubborn.
This is from an email I received this morning. The illustration fits with the cancel culture society we are now living in!
‘Picnic season is behind us here in Michigan. The leaves are off the trees, and the snow has already started to fly.
But just for a moment, think back to the joys of a summer cookout—hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill and a table set with various side dishes, like potato chips, pasta salad, and maybe some fresh watermelon.
To top the grilled meats, you’ll always have ketchup and mustard.
Now imagine that one of the guests is a college student—one who only likes mustard.
This fictional student is adamantly opposed to ketchup! And not for reasonable reasons such as health or allergy concerns…no, he labels anyone who likes ketchup as a “mustard hater” who’s oppressing others by using ketchup. But this is just the beginning…like the BBQ grill, his cause catches fire.
He finds others to join his opposition to ketchup. Not long after, you can no longer find ketchup on certain store shelves, in college cafeterias, or at some company picnics. And he’s even secured apologies from ketchup manufacturers for their history of transgressions against mustard.
Anyone who still likes ketchup or tries to defend their right to choose how to top their burger or fries is excluded and silenced. You might say that…
…Ketchup is canceled!
Is this example far-fetched? Maybe it’s a little silly, but it illustrates how this sort of thing works in our “cancel culture” society.’ From an Email.
‘According to sources, Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice in partnership with the Hamilton County Democratic Party advertised an event called Cookout the Vote which raised concerns that the organizations may be violating a 2020 Tennessee code that prohibits bribing voters.
The event was scheduled for the evening of Thursday, July 28th, at Brainerd Recreational Center in Chattanooga, TN. The original post that was later deleted (but archived here) contained an image with the following text:
Early Vote and Get Dinner On Us!
Join the Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice and the Hamilton County Democratic Party to COOKOUT THE VOTE!
Bring your “I voted” sticker (or just tell us you voted – we’ll believe you!) and get a free hot dog and chips!
Citizens of Hamilton County who saw the post on social media wondered if it was legal to feed voters as a reward for voting and have reported it to the FBI. Lauren Topping, attorney for the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, was also contacted and confirmed that it was a criminal matter and that it needed to be reported to the local District Attorney.
Our sources confirm that an email was also sent to Secretary of State Tre Hargett’s office and he responded with the statues and advised concerned citizens to contact the FBI and the DA.
Chattanooga Moms for Social Justice, depending on their non-profit designation status, may engage in political campaigns (provided that such activities are not the organization’s primary activity) or be banned from it completely. However, regardless of their non-profit status, they are still banned from bribing voters. Violating this prohibition may result in revocation of their tax-exempt status.
The Tennessee Conservative is awaiting confirmation of their non-profit designation status and will update as the information becomes available.
The group has several social media posts supporting Jill Black for school board in district 11 who is running as a Democrat.
A look at their Facebook page clearly shows their bias.
‘America First Legal (AFL) on Wednesday released shocking documents obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealing concrete evidence of collusion between the CDC and social media companies to censor free speech and promote Biden administration propaganda.
whatyareckon 