How
 did the big banks get away with so much for so long? Why are so many 
aged-care residents malnourished? And when did arms manufacturers start 
sponsoring the Australian War Memorial? In this passionate 
essay, Richard Denniss explores what neoliberalism has done to 
Australian society. For decades, we have been led to believe that the 
private sector does everything better, that governments can’t afford to 
provide the high-quality services they once did, but that security and 
prosperity for all are just around the corner. In fact, Australians are 
now less equal, millions of workers have no sick leave or paid holidays,
 and housing is unaffordable for many. Deregulation, privatisation and 
trickle-down economics have, we are told, delivered us twenty-seven 
years of growth ... but to what end? In Dead Right, 
Denniss looks at ways to renew our democracy and discusses everything 
from the fragmenting Coalition to an idea of the national interest that 
goes beyond economics. ‘Neoliberalism, the catch-all term for all
 things small government, has been the ideal cloak behind which to 
conceal enormous shifts in Australia’s wealth and culture ... Over the 
past thirty years, the language, ideas and policies of neoliberalism 
have transformed our economy and, more importantly, our culture’ 
—Richard Denniss, Dead Right

Quarterly Essay 70 Dead Right PDF

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