By Christian Marx
Australia (and indeed the rest of the world) is in crisis. This has entirely been brought about by free market capitalism. Government regulation has been savaged and both major parties are completely corrupted by rich and powerful business interests. A game of good cop/bad cop is played. The Liberal Party go to absolute extremes, while the Labor Party pretend to be a little more moderate on the surface. Ultimately though, they are owned and controlled by the same wealthy power brokers.
The Labor Party privatize state assets almost as much as the Liberal Party. They are also in lock step with the Adani coal mine. Other areas where the two major parties are indistinguishable, are on their attitudes to locking up asylum seekers, pro American Imperialism, and their refusal to create government industry in order to create full employment. Labor also refuse to increase the pension or unemployment benefits, despite the latter being 40% below the poverty line.
The disgusting truth is that both parties and indeed even the Greens, ultimately have to suck up to the rich and powerful in order to be given a fair run in this society. ALL our major media ranges from centre-right (The Age) to extreme-right (Herald Sun) (Channels 7, 9, 10) ABC is largely centrist, but the level of discourse is extremely narrow and the big issues are avoided, such as chronic underemployment and exposing U.S Imperialism. QandA is largely a circle jerk of self important politicians pontificating from their rarefied perspective.
Since the hardline attacks on the ABC from conservative quarters and the massive infiltration via extreme ideologues (IPA) the channel has suffered. The final insult was the appointment of Murdoch stooge, Michelle Guthrie.
Capitalism is a dead end and its only interest is to enhance the already bloated profits of the rich and powerful. Only once in Australia`s history was any type of radical reform implemented. This was during the Whitlam government of 1972-1975. Universal free education and free medicine was introduced, conscription was ended, our troops pulled out of Vietnam and American foreign policy was directly criticized, as was their spy base in Pine Gap.
This was too much for the wealthy owners of Australia. Rupert Murdoch and the CIA mounted a coup to get rid of Whitlam and used their poison media to smear him in the public domain.
Compromising with the capitalists has now lead to the perilous position of record levels of underemployment, the destruction of any meaningful union movement, massive casualization of work, particularly in the retail and service industries. Added to this, there has been a systematic culture of vilification and peddling of hate against the least fortunate in our society. The biggest leeches on society have always been the wealthy rent seekers, who dodge their tax, receive massive subsidies from the tax payer and then try to vilify those who have been destroyed by the globalist agenda of offshoring jobs and automation.
There is more poverty in Australia since the great depression, hundreds of homeless in the CBD and a massive underclass of working poor (3 million and rising). Capitalism is the root cause of all the problems in our society. It cannot be rehabilitated. This has been tried and has failed.
So what is the solution? Here are some ideas:
- STOP SPENDING. We know that the current duopolies, particularly Coles and Woolworths refuse to employ full time staff and regularly have their staff work unpaid overtime. Boycott these companies. Ring your local Coles/Woolworths and tell them why you are boycotting them. Tell them you are sick of them squeezing the most vulnerable in order to make more money for the CEO and the shareholders.
- Join a union and in the case of corporate owned unions such as the SDA, break away from them and join the alternative union.
- Boycott ALL mainstream media, and especially Murdoch. If you see it in local cafes, throw it in the bin and tell the owner you will boycott their establishment until they ditch Murdoch.
- Civil Disobedience: Picket mainstream media outlets, disrupt businesses who knowingly exploit their workers. Marches are no longer enough and are largely ignored. Boycotting and strike action hits them much harder.
- Try and go off the grid … or if you cannot do this, massively limit your gas/electricity usage. Don`t give these shonks any more money than you have to.
- Network and start a small community. Grow your own vegetables, swap tools and barter. Starve the economy. If 5 million people actively stopped spending, we could shut the system down and demand change.
- Don`t trust ANYONE in the current political system. There are a few good men, but ultimately the system is the problem. The current political system will only reward and promote those who protect private capital.
- Make a noise. Create artwork and posters to paste around your city or town. Use twitter, make you tube videos and create blogs. Avoid Facebook. They are part of the problem and will not give a platform to anti capitalist sentiment. They also will go out of their way to stymie any mass movements. They did this with the final March In March.
- Publicly continue to expose the states craven support for mass murder, under the guise of “fighting for freedom.” Our governments are the world’s biggest terrorists and will support any regime, no matter how brutal, so long as they suit U.S hegemonic, financial interests. See Saudi Arabia, Israel and their financing of ISIS militants via third parties.
- Continue to mobilize and form underground networks.
No change will come from the establishment. It is up to the citizens to overthrow the 1% and sweep aside this tyrannical, murderous system. Above all, do not be divided by race, class or religion. This is how the wealthy continue to keep us down. Don`t fall for their hateful rhetoric. Truth is the mightiest hammer. Seek it, utilize it, overthrow the system!
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Christian Marx is a political and social activist interested in making the world a fairer place. He has a Bachelor of Social Science and has a keen interest in sociology, politics and history. He was one of the organizers of the March in March rallies in Melbourne and is the founder of the progressive news and information page, “Don`t Look At This Page”.
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