Fabianism is one of things that should NOT be "celebrated". Fortunately, most people these days have never heard of it. Whitlam was a Fabian. That should be enough to put anyone off.

WTF?

ttbn's critique of this article comes down to "Whitlam bad" as if that is enough to convince others that Fabianism has had its day.

The author states "The Fabians do have solutions. Fabians believe that we are all in this together. On the 27th of March we invite you to participate in a webinar dealing with the question of a Universal Basic Income."

Universal Basic Income is an interesting topic and if it is the Fabians that are pushing the discussion forward then good for them.

It makes a pleasant change from the droning on about how terrible Australia's future will be because we live in a different world than we did 40 years ago.

What we need to see, is an Australian chapter of the John Birch Society.

They stand against everything us moralistic Right Wingers stand against Viz:

…Abortion, birth control, divorce, drugs, homosexuality, crime, violence, secular humanism, teenage pregnancy, teen suicide, environmentalism, feminism and pornography…

Bring it on!

The author cannot be serious or at least cannot be taken seriously. He wrote "Co-operatives, community currencies, the transition town movement, scrounging, co-housing and much more" are successful alternatives to capitalism but clearly is just plain wrong. All of these alternatives are fringe economic practices, in total, representing a fraction of one percent of the global economy. Further, all of them rely on capitalism to provide a strong economic basis on which these fringe practices can be played with.
The author needs to get serious and provide just one example of a genuine and successful alternative to capitalism.

Tis appears to be a duplicate of an article published last year, which was the actual 140th anniversary of the Fabians

http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=22887

I cannot agree with Bernie Masters' assertion that Co-operatives are not successful alternatives.

They are, by necessity, capitalistic but also incorporate "...the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others."

Wherever possible I buy from co-operatives as I agree with what they stand for and I think they they play a small but important role in the economy.

Over the years, I have also known a number of people who have chosen to live alternative lifestyles. Of those that lived this way for a number of years (50+ in some cases) all (or someone's partner) have come from extremely wealthy families. They were essentially paid by their families to live this way. Good for them I guess.

Now that the parents are passing away these life-stylists are inheriting enormous amounts of money and assets. Returning to the harbour-view mansion is now very appealing.

Anecdotally, there seems to be a degree of discontent at the moment particularly with younger adults about their role in our capitalistic society.

It will be interesting to see if this discontent will develop into a different type of capitalism.

WTF - Cooperatives may be successful but they are on the fringe of our economic world. They are certainly not a replacement for or alternative to an economy based on capitalism. And I have friends who have chosen to live alternative lifestyles and most of them can do so only because they've made a lot of money exploiting the capitalist system.

What is this nonsense about the Fabians' "140 years of progress"? John Tons peddles a weak ideology unfit for our strong, disiplined Reich! His "social democracy" and "peaceful transitions" are cowardly, dilluting our struggle. Democracy? A tool for corrupt elites serving internationalist parasites!

Tons whines about "neoliberalism," but we the Volk see strength in identity, not global markets! Cooperatives and "transition towns"? Childish drivel. The Volk need a unification, crushing enemies of our people, internationalists and peddlers of decay!

This "Don Dunstan Research Network" and its "webinars" are pathetic! The Volk crave strength, not chatter. Universal Basic Income? A bribe to weaken our resolve! The Fabians' refusal to dispair is laughable, their relics cannot stand against our future! They praise Ireland's "assemblies", we see chaos without a Fuhrer's iron hand! We need no "research." The Volk demand unity, disipline, and sacred traditions!

Let the Fabians cling to their dreams!

Well spotted Rhian. You can be the editor in my place. I've mulled-over what to do with this article, and I've decided to leave it up as a reminder of my fallibility, and an acknowledgement that there have been some good quality comments on this iteration of the article, and I wouldn't want to lose them.

The article that should have been posted has now gone up today. You might like to comment on that one as well - the suggestion of a sort of "IgNobel" to compliment the Nobel prize for peace. Available only to people who have significantly increased the net sum of human misery.

Hi Graham

My apologies, I did not intend my comment as a “gotcha”. One of the (very) few things on which most posters here would agree is appreciation for your efforts in editing this site and publishing a such a wide diversity of views. I’m not after your job!