John Singleton, Advertising News, June 21, 1974, p. 4.

It is good to have you back mate, your mates say. Get back into the old advertising and leave the politics to the politicians.

And when people say it you realise how close we are to providing the very apathy which will mean the ultimate end of the free world which has been built by the capitalism which our own business of marketing so clearly represents. And yet unbelievably equally resents.

Our society is becoming less free with each and every day and the people who make their living and gain their incentive from that freedom are caring less with each and every day.

People laugh when you say that socialism and communism are blood brothers.

The fact that each and every Labor candidate has to sign a piece of paper dedicating himself to the socialisation of little things like marketing is not even treated as important.

Either because the people in our business don’t understand socialism or don’t understand marketing, or both.

Either way it is pretty frightening.

Or maybe because they, like most people, don’t believe that a nice man like Mr. Whitlam would let something awful like that happen here.

Again, either because they do not understand the objectives of Mr. Whitlam’s party, or because they don’t understand his is only one voice of his party with one vote and therefore he has no more say in his party’s policy than any other member of Caucus.

And if you know who those members are and you still think there is nothing to worry about, I only wish I was that dumb, too.

And when Jim Cairns is elected Deputy Leader and people say, “Mate at least you have to admire the guy’s integrity. He stood against Vietnam, you know, when even Whitlam said complete withdrawal was out of the question. He stood up for his beliefs and paid for it with jail sentences and real physical threats and attempts on his life.”

And in a way I understand the feeling. At least the man has never made any bones about his feeling towards socialism and communism.

As far back as 1963 he said:

We are situated in the political spectrum next to the communists and they will stand for many of the things for which we also stand. We cannot therefore oppose those things. Because of our position in the political spectrum we will find ourselves in the same places as communists on some occasions, doing the same things for the same end.

In 1968 when he was asked to look forward into the future he prophesied the nationalisation of the Australian banks in 1974 (now) after a financial crisis.

So far he is at least right about the financial crisis.

He also saw his party being renamed (now) as the Australian Socialist Party. Co-incidentally 1974 (now) is the year he has become the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia with a bit more than a crystal ball to help him see into the future.

But what people fail to understand is that the use of popular issues (yesterday Vietnam, today ecology) has always been a communication ploy of those who seek to rule by destruction of existing authority, government and law.

Cairns (1970): “I sincerely hope that authority has had its day.”

Cairns (May 1970 — pre Moratorium): He intended to “bring industry and commerce, traffic, schools and universities to a standstill.”

“If we are not given the freedom of the streets we shall take it.”

The popular issue cloaks the real motives and the martyr comes to gain acclaim even as the existing authority is undermined, suspected and ultimately destroyed.

Even Dr. Cairns has from time to time mentioned that things aren’t quite perfect in Russia or China. But he always quickly pointed out that they are even worse in the United States.

But these days if you don’t believe that Russia or Germany or China or even a place called Estonia could possibly happen here, how about Great Britain?

There, as long ago as last week, it was proposed that (and by) the Labor Socialist Government should nationalise their top 100 companies.

Not behind the Iron Curtain (that could never happen here?) but in good, old, three-day-a-week-strangled-by-the-union-leaders mother England.

Fortunately the retention of Senate control here will mean that the only likely nationalisation we will suffer in the next three years will be medicine.

And unless you’re a doctor, or a patient, that shouldn’t worry you too much.

There is always next election and even the Russians still go to the polls.

Russians go to the polls
MOSCOW: More than 150 million Soviet citizens voted at the weekend to elect an unopposed 1517 candidates to the Supreme Soviet (parliament) for four-year terms.

Once elected, the new body will meet only twice a year, for a few days, to confirm government decrees and ratify the Budget. It has never cast a vote against a government program.

The Australian
June 17, 1974.

So if you really think about it and you really believe we should leave politics with the politicians and get on with marketing, remember one small thing: on the socialist Labor platform they seek to nationalise marketing.

And when you consider even most people in marketing don’t know what marketing is all about, God help us when the business geniuses who run the Post Office, the buses and the railways with such unerring efficiency and profitability take over.

When it gets to be $1000 a week to be paid to be a beach bum instead of $100 a week I might even consider letting them go without a word of complaint myself.

It would be a pleasant month.