Resistance: 'Why we are socialists'
By Allen Myers
Resistance, the socialist youth organisation, has become well known in recent weeks for its role in organising actions against racism by secondary students and other young people. Students from high schools across the country have been contacting Resistance to find out how they can be involved in the August 28 walkout called by Resistance. However, especially from young people who had not previously been in contact with Resistance, there are often reservations or concerns.
These reservations usually take the form: "I'm with you against the racism of One Nation and the government, but I don't agree (or haven't made up my mind) about socialism."
Such doubts are understandable. For many people, "socialism" means the kind of dictatorial rule that finally collapsed in the Soviet Union. Or they have been told that socialism is an impossible utopia — "It's a nice idea, but it would never work".
Why, then, are practical, non-dictatorial people like the anti-racism campaigners of Resistance also socialists? Is there a connection between anti-racism and socialism?
"Yes, there's definitely a connection", says Jordie Collins, a Resistance member who's a secondary student in Canberra. "It's capitalism that creates and maintains racism. So if you want to get rid of racism completely — and not just push it back a little or hold it in check — you have to get rid of capitalism."
Marina Carman is a student at the University of Sydney, where she's the vice-president of the SRC. She grew up in South Africa, and agrees that capitalism profits from racism.
"Under apartheid, if you had a black skin, it was automatic that you got paid only a fraction of the wage of people with white skin", Marina points out.
"Racism in countries like Australia isn't that blatant, in the sense that fortunate individuals are allowed to be exceptions, but it's still the case that, as a group, Aborigines and more recent migrants have a lower average income. Discrimination against them saves money for employers."
After the July 24 walkouts against racism, Marina debated One Nation's David Oldfield on the Nine network's A Current Affair. Oldfield tried to scare viewers by feigning horror at Resistance's support of the Cuban Revolution.
"It's not surprising that Oldfield hates Cuba", Marina says. "Cuba leads the world in combating racism and overcoming the effects of past discrimination. That shows what socialism can accomplish even in an underdeveloped country."
Socialism, Resistance members hasten to add, is more than just overcoming racism, as important as that is.
"This society is run by money", argues Andy Gianniotis, a university student and Resistance organiser in Brisbane. "The pursuit of profits leads to racism, and it leads to all sorts of other evils: sexism, environmental destruction, terrible poverty in the Third World, and growing poverty in the developed countries as well, war, crime, alienation — you name it.
"There is no need for any of these evils — they don't come from 'human nature'. They are the result of letting money determine just about everything that happens in society. Socialism means that society, all together, should decide democratically what happens."
Does this mean that Resistance wants to do away with money? "Of course, we know you can't just 'abolish' money", Marina replies.
"The first step is to do away with exploitation. When the whole society owns the factories and mines and farms and offices, it becomes possible to abolish exploitation, which is what the profits of capitalists are based on. Social ownership also makes it possible for the whole society to decide, democratically, what is produced and how it's produced.
"That doesn't 'abolish' money, but it ends the ability of money — that is, the rich minority — to control production.
"In the next stage, money can gradually be done away with in daily life. For example, if public transport is made free, people don't have to worry about having money to pay for it, and the whole society benefits through the reduced impact on the environment."
Jo Williams is one of Resistance's Melbourne organisers, works part time as a music teacher and is active in the campaign for women's right to choose abortion. Last year, as a student, she was involved in the free education campaign.
A socially planned economy, Jo says, "means that the individual's anxiety for his or her survival is removed. This will make human solidarity, rather than greed, the basis of daily life. It will be normal, like an instinct, to collaborate with other human beings, not to try to get the better of them.
"This solidarity will be the basis for a real flowering of human personality and abilities that we can only begin to imagine, because it will involve the full development of every individual, not just a lucky few."
A nice idea that would never work? "When our remote ancestors decided to come down out of the trees, that's what their neighbours told them", Andy laughs.
"Every great advance in human society originally seems too difficult: 'How could you abolish slavery? Society would collapse!'
"We know it is difficult. There will be defeats as well as advances, like the eventual overthrow of the Russian Revolution by 70 years of capitalist hostility and war. But there will be new revolutions — including in Russia — because capitalism can't lead us out of the mess it's led us into."
"Socialism is not just a good idea", Jo adds. "It's a social movement that can win because it speaks to the interests of the vast majority of humanity, who are exploited and oppressed by capitalism: workers, farmers, women, minorities, young people.
"Indeed, in the longer term, socialism is even in the interest of the capitalists, because it will allow them to become real social human beings, which they can't be while they are exploiting their fellow humans — but I don't expect them to recognise that in time to be of any help!"
Unlike the capitalist politicians who complained that secondary students are "too young" to get involved in anti-racist and other political campaigns, the socialists in Resistance welcome and encourage political involvement by young people.
Young people have more reason than most to get involved, Jordie says: "We're going to inherit the world that Howard and Beazley and Hanson and their big business mates are running today — and they're stuffing it up.
"They aren't going to have to live with the results of their decisions; we are. We're socialists because we want a future that is worth living, and capitalism has shown it can't give us that."