For a long time I have observed a plain historical truth. Colonial sub-altern economies and societies tend to reflect the structures and values of their hegemon. It happens through both coercion and willing submission for personal gain. This is clear throughout the history of colonialism. Indeed we need look no further than our own. First we were British. Then we were American. And now we’re becoming Chinese.
It was easier to adopt the trapping of the overlords with which we shared a cultural history. But that is only a difference in degree and time not kind. Today our economy is the most prominent example of the leading edge of the historical inertia that is still at work shaping us in our better’s image. It is already Chinese in all but name.
To understand the near completeness of the transformation, remember that the Australian economy operates on symbiotic halves. Our miners sell dirt to foreigners and our banks leverage that income in global markets to lend into huge domestic mortgages. When trouble strikes, the Federal Budget sits between them, taking in the commodity tax revenues, and guaranteeing the offshore borrowing of the banks.
