‘Tell My Wife I Love Her’ is an expression of the Australian class system from the perspective of the ‘working class’ male, often identified by the traditional ‘flannie’ shirt.
Marx defined the working class or proletariat as the multitude of individuals who sell their labor power for wages. These class members physically build bridges, craft furniture, fix cars, grow food, raise children but do not themselves own the land, factories or means of production. He also defined this class as being responsible for creating the actual wealth of a society. It is more likely for these individuals, rather than those from the higher classes, to represent statistically as sufferers of alcoholism, work-related deaths, depression & suicide.
Classism is a prejudice and/or discrimination on the basis of class and defines a belief system expressed through a hierarchical model, ranking human beings according to their socioeconomic status, family lineage and other class related divisions. Classism therefore includes individual attitudes, behaviours, systems, policies and practices that create generalisations and stereotypes that can often misrepresent individuals.
Australia’s present class system demonstrates clearly that class divisions still exist to mostly benefit the upper classes at the expense of the lower. A recent report by the Australian Worker’s Union found that Australia’s CEOs now earn 63 times that of an average worker, taking home $65,000 a week – more than the entire wage of an average worker – currently $484 a week.
A system that leads to such drastic income and wealth inequality is extremely dangerous for we know it is the distribution of wealth itself that contributes first and foremost to the overall health of communities. This is a system that is mostly approved of and maintained by individuals who have chosen to seek power through ‘regard’ and ‘status', two of the major driving forces behind economic activity.
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Thank you to the men and women of Stanley, the surrounding areas of the North West and King Island for their generosity in opening their homes, giving up their bar stools and sharing their incredible stories. Thank you to those who donated their shirts for this project, to ‘Geoff the Pilot’ and his single engine Cessna and a special thank you to my mate ‘Charlie’, for the caravan conversations.
Monique Germon 2009