En Passant

Jeff Sparrow in Overland: It’s shameful to use bogus allegations of anti-Semitism to shut your opponents down.

We on the left must defend Socialist Alternative, its right to free speech and to organise.

If you support Palestine, and if you support free speech, I call on you to support Socialist Alternative at Monash University and across Australia in defence of Palestine, in opposition to Pyne’s higher education armaggedon and to join the fight against political repression.

On the surface this deal with various Labor factions appears unprincipled and further confirmation that for Socialist Alternative in Australia top down politics has overtaken bottom up approaches to building struggles.

Subscribe to Red Flag newspaper today. Help maintain a strong voice for the Palestinian resistance and counter to corporate media lies.

“Extremism” is a common trope of the establishment commentariat when decrying anyone whose views fall outside the narrow neoliberal political range of the major parties writes James Plested in Red Flag. The kind of people who write diatribes against the “extremism” of Socialist Alternative are the same people who, for example, see any real attempt at addressing climate change as tantamount to a communist conspiracy, and who positively gushed over the government’s decision to spend more than $12 billion on fighter jets, at the cost of health, education and welfare.

My hope is that there are sections within Socialist Alternative who understand there are real and serious problems and are trying to push against the tide of ‘revolutionary’ conformism to make their voices heard and influence the debate, if not win it and the battle against mindless militancy, adventurism and substitutionism.

Australian politicians and media commentators – Liberal and Labor, conservative and liberal alike – love telling us about their democracy and how great it is writes Ben Hillier in Red Flag. The thing is, they seem to be turning people off it.

In the circumstances of reformism’s despair and degeneration, abuse becomes a substitute for politics. To win laughter back we on the left need to help organise the fight, fight, fight against the neoliberalism of both parties which renders so many on the soft left, in their passivity, humourless and without hope.

Perhaps my problem of non-publication in The Australian is that I articulate my case too well. One solution might be to have a real socialist like me write a weekly column for the Australian. I offer Cater’s endorsement in support of my application. I know The Australian, like me, is committed to diversity of opinion. I look forward to your offer of substantial remuneration for a regular column.