En Passant

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“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.

This is what the praise for me from Cater in The Australian is about. See, there are sensible socialists who can argue for the overthrow of capitalism (but of course whom we don’t print at all) but those inarticulate socialist yahoos in Socialist Alternative actually exercising free speech and practising real democracy, and putting pressure on the government, are beyond the pale. Well, actually, they aren’t beyond the pale. They are one of the few groups building any sort of real resistance to Abbott’s Budget attacks. It is a lesson unions should learn.

Workers are angry and looking for a lead. Socialist Alternative at the moment is much too small to give the call for action, but our unions are not. The all union members meeting on Tuesday of the Victorian Trades Hall Council has the potential to refocus the anger in the hands of rank and file union members and to mobilise workers as workers against the attacks on them and the poor. That is where the power to beat the Budget lies.

Stop work to stop the bosses’ Budget.

Me in the ANU student newspaper Woroni online today.

‘It is not every day you get labelled a violent anti-Semite. But that is effectively what Woroni called me and other socialists when it published a piece called Anti-Semitism at the ANU on 11 March this year.’

Click here for my article.

What a magnificent student protest on ABC’s Q&A on Monday night. Tony Jones and the other members of the one percent were not amused. Get used to it Tony. This is what democracy looks like.