The lady above has been giving quite a few speeches lately, mostly extolling the virtues of hard work and getting up early. You know, valorising the working class -- never mind that the sole objective of that downtrodden sector of society is not to remain in that class.
I have a question. Since the whole debate over welfare is all about labelling some of us indigent and lazy is no more than a replay of the argument between John Ruskin and John Stuart Mill over utilitarianism, which one of these is Gillard?
It should be remembered that Ruskin stood on the side of shared values, and recoiled from Mill's rather dry and atomistic conception of what we would nowadays term 'human flourishing.' It would appear that the present debate could do with a hearty undiluted dose of Ruskin.
Of course, I'm just waiting for the brickbats to come flying at those of us who think for a living.
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