In his critique of the Coalition Government, Iain Macwhirter fails to mention that it is in the grip of a certain doctrine, namely neo-liberalism (or market fundamentalism) (The Austerity Apocalypse, Comment, December 9).
This wants private enterprise to expand and state provision to virtually disappear. The resultant inequalities and the rule by small but powerful elites are welcomed. Indeed, the sneers and smirks on the faces of Government ministers indicates that they enjoy their millionaire luxuries while huge numbers are hungry and homeless.
But who will oppose neo-liberalism and make clear that its implementation does not tackle debt, does not mend the economy and does not reduce unemployment? And who will voice a more humane, effective and democratic philosophy as an alternative? So far the Labour Party has failed to do so.
Socialists, members of co-operatives, parts of the press, voluntary bodies whose leaders are not afraid to upset the Government, and Christians who take the teachings of Jesus seriously are among those who must rise to the challenge.
Bob Holman
Glasgow
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article