Dismissive letter on depression not helpful
Mark Harris’ well-balanced and thoroughly materialist short analysis of depression “Capitalism is just depressing” (GLW #888) did not warrant Dr David Faber’s dismissive comment (GLW #892): “If you want to be Marxist, demonstrate a little historical materialism please.”
Drawing on statistical studies from a variety of contexts over a lengthy period, Harris demonstrated a relationship between human suffering and depression.
His most eloquent was the description of war-torn Gaza: “It could be argued that it’s those without feelings of depression, anxiety or paranoia who have mental issues.”
The New York Review of Books is currently hosting a serious debate about the effectiveness of psychoactive drugs in treating mental illness.
It was initiated by a major, two-part book review by Marcia Angell, former editor-in-chief of the New England Journal of Medicine.
She was pretty blunt: “The companies that sell psychoactive drugs — through various forms of marketing, both legal and illegal, and what many people would describe as bribery — have come to determine what constitutes a mental illness and how the disorders should be diagnosed and treated.”
David Faber should read the debate lest he slip into a purely mechanical materialism.
Barry Healy,
Perth.
Qantas needs workplace democracy
So as to make ends meet, so management claims, Qantas hopes to tap into the inexpensive labour resources in Asia. Do our Asian neighbours actually welcome this?
Who benefits? Qantas shareholders presumably, not the existing Qantas staff.
There is in fact talk of a reduction in staff in Qantas International and even across the board. Meaningful progress could be made if Qantas staff became part owners of the businesses they work in.
Governance rights to match should be extended in the form of enterprise councils and board representation. Other airlines have flourished following a staff takeover.
The combination of equity and governance participation, through enterprise councils and representation at board level, will create productivity, flexibility and loyalty.
The research in this area is convincing. Regrettably, Australia is far behind most other developed countries in this respect.
The adversarial industrial relations culture lingers on. We are not making progress here.
The Australian executive class, still wedded firmly to managerial prerogative, is frightened of employee ownership and workplace democracy.
Yes, Australian jobs could be saved here but not just that. A staff takeover of Qantas, could provide a revolution that would be a trendsetter for years to come.
Klaas Woldring,
Pearl Beach, NSW. Abridged.