Palm Island
It is of little surprise to me that there were riots on Palm Island over the weekend. Say what you will about the tactics of this sort of protest the fact of the matter is that these people are desperate and dying, not just in gaol either.
What does one do when they see their people dieing on a daily basis? Michael is walking all the way to Canberra out of desperation and the people of Palm Island are rioting. Not enough can be done about the issues facing our indigenous population and the Federal Government is doing less and less every day including taking any control over their own destiny away at ever opportunity.
Melbourne Social Forum
I went to what I believe was the inaugural Melbourne Social Forum yesterday. An interesting day and of course the most memorable moment is the only moment I don’t want to discuss on my blog as the person it involves does not deserve the privilege of being mentioned here (Bitter? Not really. He was just a fucking wanker).
Aside from that it was quite an invigorating day. A reasonable turn out, one most people seemed pretty impressed with, and some great discussions.
It certainly reinforced my thoughts that there is simple no Global Justice Movement in Australia but it also showed me that there are people out there who are interested and wanting to get involved in these global issues. Moreover there were quite a few of the “reds” there, which is fine but it just emphasises to me that the next evolution in revolutionary thought is yet to be fully embraced (apologies to those who don’t like me saying ‘revolution’).
The discussion of environmental issues was also quite interesting. “Life after Capitalism” (largely dominated by Socialists and Unionists) certainly stipulated that it would be a sustainable life, but largely a socialist one. It reinforces my thoughts that the Global Justice Movement, and in fact most social movements simply have the environment as a foot note.
One other thing. There is never ‘only one way’ to change the world. A lot of people seem to think otherwise based on their particular life experience.
More on Latham’s Insider/Outsider Idea
Howard keeps winning elections because of his appeal to the Outsider. The right-wing insiders are already on board and the left-wing insiders will never be on board. Does this make the Outsiders right-wing? Not necessarily. However they are obviously influenced by a right-wing media. Does that mean that in fact they are catered for? Or does it mean they are just easily influenced. It strikes me that the right have very cleverly manipulated this situation including the attack on the insiders. There is more here but my thoughts aren’t quite formulated enough yet.