Youth and Imperialism

It is clear that the young people of Australia have much to be mad about. The continual decimation of public education and TAFE, the fact that 'public' transport resides in private hands, private hands that charge ridiculous fees and the never ending steep incline of university fees to name a few.

But what can be done? Disillusionment with the two establishment bourgeois parties is through the roof. Young people know that these parties are nothing but puppets of interests that couldn't be further from their own. Unfortunately, however, these parties have succeeded in establishing a monopoly over the word and concept of 'politics'. The majority of young people have no interest in politics, as they see the talking shop of parliament as the be all and end all of politics. That there is no way out of their predicament, that it simply needs to be put up with. The small minority who do decide to tackle the issue either join the Greens, where they tend to find themselves railroaded in the same direction as the Libs and Labor, or alternatively join a Trotskyist party, where ineffectual sloganeering and rampant 'left blocism' lead to a quick burnout.

A bright start has been made in Melbourne by a campaign calling itself 'FightBack!', it is nominally led by the Trotskyist 'Socialist Party of Australia', which is attracting young people by offering simple explanations on aforementioned issues. For now, the SP isn't putting it's branding on 'FightBack' material and it will be interesting to see where that goes.

But such a campaign can only go so far, without the understanding and application of the mass line and mass work. The lack of linkage of issues to US imperialism is also a real barrier to understanding and providing solutions to these problems. Solutions to problems such as these that pit young students and workers in direct contradiction with imperialism and capitalism can only be found when a genuine people's front guided by young Marxist-Leninists applying the mass line and diligently engaging in mass work gets up running. Only then, when the realisation that the primary contradiction that affects the lives of young people is that between them and imperialism is reached, can solutions be found.

Organization

It would, to me, seem rather obvious that for a working class movement, claiming to represent the highest aspirations of the proletariat, as all self-proclaimed proletarian vanguard parties obviously would, would at the very least make their best efforts to have substantial links within the working class and organize in a manner that allows them to work most efficiently, effectively and naturally. But as with most things about the so-called 'revolutionary left' in Australia, and indeed most of the Western world, logic and facts simply do not apply. The theory of the Mass Line, and it's core principles of being connected with the masses, organizing amongst the masses and simultaneously teaching and learning from the masses are ignored. In addition to this, in order to preserve security of party members, maintain the organic nature of organization and enable the party to function effectively, small groups of cadre must maintain close links with each other and the working class, with a looser connection to other such 'branches. This form of organization is best as it ensures the focus of revolutionaries on their mass links, is a far more natural form of social relation than 30 or so people in a room and enables more robust and full formation of ideas. This model of organization stands in stark contrast to the organizational principles of our 'super-revolutionaries', which, from experience, is the definition of 'left-blocism'. That is, small groups of isolated cadre bereft of links with the proletariat simply congregating in groups as large as they can muster, with the 'leaders' preaching about how miserable the world is, while the others listen, nod in agreement and think about how they will attain their next paper sale. Discussion within the party essentially does not exist and ideas are thus not thrashed out and developed, leading to poorly formed strategies which are never in fact even carried out due to the lack of organization within the working class. The strict following of the principles of the Mass Line is thus vital for any revolutionary socialist programme to make any impact at the all with the masses.

Lessons to be learned.

Whilst having the knowledge that parliament, whether state or federal, represent little more than a facade of democracy, put up for show by the imperialists, the fact that the working people of New South Wales are certainly going to turn to the ultra-capitalist Liberal Party after dumping the disastrous Labor government is an indication of the hold that parliamentarism and bourgeois ideology has over the Australian people. This is a justification of the fact that the current level of struggle requires communists to build links deep within the working class, sowing the seeds for a revolutionary proletariat. To paraphrase Mao, "The guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea". We mustn't seek to be the sea. We, as activists need to be deeply immersed in working class struggle, not seeking to take ownership of these struggles or be know alls, but observe the situation at hand, learn from the working class, their material reality, and how this should shape our strategy. We should aim to point out slowly, and educate the working class about the fact that almost all struggles they face are linked to the imperialist domination of Australia, and that true National Independence is the only way to eradicate these issues.