Ukraine war: Negotiations only way forward
The Russia-Ukraine war has been raging for over six months. Tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians have died, many more have been wounded and traumatised. Millions have become refugees. The material damage is immense — towns and villages, infrastructure, transport and so on have been smashed up.
Rojava & Turkey’s war on the Kurds
[Education to Melbourne branch of Socialist Alliance, August 2, 2022.]
Stop Turkey’s war on Rojava
Open Borders or a First World Fortress?
[From Asylum! A Socialist View of the Refugee Crisis (2022).]
The spectacular August 2021 collapse of the Western puppet government in Afghanistan in the face of the Taliban offensive generated a new wave of people seeking asylum.
Prime Minister Scott Morison made it clear that only Afghans who came through “official channels” would be resettled in Australia. If you come by boat forget it — apparently, making the slightest concession to “boat people” would open the floodgates to the dreaded people smugglers. And none of the 4200 Afghans already here on temporary visas would be permanently settled. Then Defence Minister Peter Dutton weighed in, claiming that some Afghan asylum-seekers could be terrorists or pose a threat to Australia.
Introduction to Asylum!
[Introduction to the pamphlet Asylum! A Socialist View of the Refugee Crisis (2022).]
Our world is in chaos. Within countries and between countries, tens of millions of people in the Third World are on the move — they are fleeing war, oppression, gang violence, grinding poverty and escalating climate change. They are desperately looking for a way out.
And now the Russian invasion of Ukraine has produced a fresh crop of refugees. Being forced to leave your home and seek safety in another country will always be traumatic but for various reasons the Ukrainian refugees are generally being treated differently to those from the Third World.
As climate change bites deeper and deeper, the refugee crisis is only going to get radically worse. Whole regions of the world are on the cusp of becoming uninhabitable. This will result in very large-scale population displacement.
Hard rubbish collection: Endpoint of consumerism
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It's the biannual municipal hard rubbish collection!
I don’t know what it’s like in wealthy Toorak, but here it’s always a source of great local interest and amazement. This time there seems to be a lot more stuff and, along with the usual crap, some of it looks to be very good quality.
‘National security’ or protect people here and now?
As the lives of residents along Australia’s east coast were smashed by unprecedented floods, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was talking up “national security”. The Coalition government has committed to spending hundreds of billions of dollars on beefing up our armed forces.
“Our world is becoming increasingly uncertain, so it’s important we take steps now to protect our people and our national interest over the coming decades”, Morrison said in a March 10 speech. The website of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet claims that “National security is all about keeping Australians safe and secure.”
Actually, it’s not. It's about the interests of the tiny capitalist class who rule the country. When the code phrases of "national security" and "national interest" are trotted out we are all meant to stand to attention and salute the flag. They are meant to trump all other concerns that people may have. Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party leaders certainly understand it that way. Albanese's pathetic response to the Coalition's war drive is to claim that Labor will actually deliver the weapons systems that Morrison has merely promised.
Ukraine: Who is perverting history?
Russia has finally invaded Ukraine. Socialists around the world have condemned the invasion and called for a Russian withdrawal and negotiations. They have also condemned the relentless eastwards expansion of NATO which Russian leaders rightly regard as an existential crisis for their country.
The solution would seem to be a neutral Ukraine in the manner of Austria or Finland, the withdrawal of US offensive missiles from Eastern Europe, and the federalisation of the Ukraine giving democratic autonomy to the Russian-speaking Luhansk and Donetsk regions in the east.
The Russian invasion is a boon for the Western governments and their corporate media enablers. In their usual manner there will be all sorts of posturing and little light will be shed on what are the real issues in the conflict.
Pandemic shines harsh light on privatisation & outsourcing
Photo: Nurses at Melbourne Showgrounds vaccination hub, 2021.
Right from the start, Australia’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been shaped by the basic realities of contemporary capitalism (“neoliberalism”).
Essential goods supply crisis
It quickly became apparent that the various global supply chains we depended on for medical supplies and equipment were no longer reliable. Early on, getting hold of face masks (PPE) and ventilators was a big problem. We produced very little here in Australia and overseas suppliers were too busy fulfilling other orders or they had been hit by the virus themselves.
The West's campaign against China
But we have an explanation for it. All the endless propaganda and punitive measures against China are part of a campaign by Western imperialism, principally the United States, to isolate and contain China and reassert Washington’s hitherto uncontested hegemony — economically, militarily and politically.
Despite its enormous power, the US is in relative decline. Just compare its position now to that at the end of World War II. Then it was the unchallenged world superpower — the only one. Now China is a an emerging superpower. It is challenging the US, both economically and militarily. And the US is beset by truly massive, glaring social problems, obvious to everyone.
A Radical Life: A Memoir by Jim McIlroy
[Remarks at online launch of A Radical Life: A Memoir by Jim McIlroy, July 18, 2021.]
It’s a pleasure to be helping launch Jim’s very readable and important book.
Perhaps Jim will say something about the development of his memoir project. I know he started putting it together some years ago. But once we committed to producing an actual book, things quickly escalated. Jim had about a third in reasonable shape but he came under great pressure to finish the rest — to boil it down from all the emails, flyers, reports and articles that he had assembled. A lot of the editing and polishing of the text took place after it was laid out with Coral and myself weighing in with comments and suggestions. That might not be how the big publishing houses do it but we had no choice!
Putting Australia's anti-China campaign in perspective
[A shorter version of this article appeared in Green Left, February 25, 2021.]
In a recent Green Left article Dave Bell raised some important issues about China. What is China’s place in the world economic and political system, what is its influence in Australia and how should socialists should relate to it?
The position of the recent Socialist Alliance resolution and my Links article is that Western imperialism led by the United States is waging a cold war campaign against China. This involves both harsh trade sanctions and a big military build-up. The reason for this campaign is that China’s rapid economic, technological and military development has reached a point where it seriously threatens Washington’s interests.
Behind the anti-China hysteria
[Talk given to Melbourne Socialist Alliance branch, February 2, 2021]
China’s influence in Australia, real or alleged, is a major issue in politics today.
Numerous Chinese investments in Australia have been blocked. The Chinese company Huawei has been banned from participating in the 5G rollout.
In June NSW Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane had his ALP membership suspended after an Australian Federal Police raid on his office over allegations that he was being cultivated by Chinese government agents. He was never charged and his ALP membership was reinstated in November. Former staffer John Zhang remains under investigation.
Social inequality & social classes
[This slideshow served as an introduction or discussion aid to a class on the topic. A PDF of the slideshow can be seen here.]
The Marxist theory of the state
The capitalist mode of production
[This slideshow served as an introduction or discussion aid to a class on the topic. A PDF of the slideshow can be seen here.]
Turkish attacks on PKK meet fierce resistance
In mid-June Turkey launched yet another large-scale air and ground operation in northern Iraq aimed at crippling the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Turkish planes bombed the Makhmur refugee camp, home to 12,000 Kurds from Turkey. The camp near Erbil, the capital of Iraq's Kurdistan Regional Government, is a stronghold of support for the PKK. Also bombed was Shengal (Sinjar), home of the much-persecuted Yazedi Kurds. Following the devastating Islamic State attack on Shengal in August 2014, the PKK played a key role in helping to establish the Yazedi self-defence forces.
Capitalism & the pandemic
[Talk given to Melbourne Socialist Alliance branch, 21.04.20]
Pandemic brings big & sudden changes
The scale and scope of government measures to deal with the COVID-19 crisis have surprised many people. Long-held neoliberal dogmas have been pushed aside. Government action is clearly decisive: The bourgeois fetish of the budget surplus has been junked and huge deficits run up; after being frozen for 20 years, the dole rate has been doubled; economic sectors and firms are everywhere putting their hands out for government support; firms are being encouraged and even directed to produce vital medical supplies.
