Love and Revolution

While I was walking home from the station, I had some thoughts.

Socialists and others who can see the need to make the world a better place often take up the flag of struggles against the problems with the world today. This is a necessity in the post-end of history period we're in, where we still haven't completely won people to the argument that, despite what Thatcher said, There Is An Alternative. And it's also useful - anger is a good motivator. When people are angry, are under attack, they fight back, and through these defensive struggles they can start to see the truth about this rotten system. It's easy as an organiser to convince people to get involved in a campaign on the basis of the outrageous insufferable things that this sytem does.

But ultimately, I think we need to spend more time than we do convincing people that
another world and another kind of system is not only possible; not only necessary; not only what we need to deal with the climate disaster we are teetering on the brink of; not only something that will get rid of all of the problems with the world today - but something beautiful, something alive with potential, and the only kind of world where love and solidarity between all human beings can truly flourish.

We need to go on the offensive.

I mentioned in my last post that I think consolidating and launching the manifesto Towards a Socialist Australia is an important step forward for the left. Ultimately the importance of this is not in uniting around our critique of the system, but about developing our vision for a better Australia - one not riven by the divisions it is today, one not synonymous with abuse of refugees, indigenous people, muslims and the global south, but one in which the real Australian spirit of "a fair go" and "mateship" are given more than just lip service; in which the beauty of the land isn't lost to us in our daily movements.

That's the Australia I one day hope to live in.


"When it came to the crunch, when the lust and greed threatened everything we love//
divided they had us but fuck that man, push came to shove//
and we beat the fucking cowards back, and under a shining sun//
showed we could silence their influence, but try as they might they couldn't silence love//
cant silence love, let history shown how hard that war was won//
so we may never know how close we'd really come, how close we'd really come//






Illy - Numbers Game (the quote is from Bladerunner)


With Love and Revolution.