Marcus Ström:

>It seems to me that if you are going to do any serious political
>work outside the ALP that has an electoral focus, it needs to be
>around the Greens.

Well Marcus the validity of what you say her
depends on what you mean by "serious political
work outside the ALP that has an electoral focus"
- an independent socialist organisation that
carries out a range of activities, including
running in bourgeois elections when that seems
tactically wise, or an independent socialist
electoral front. The latter perspective,
championed by a small minority in Socialist
Alliance comprised mostly of ISO members, does
look shaky when it's again confirmed that most
voters looking for an alternative to neoliberal
politics are currently locked into the Greens. If
elections are all you're doing it will be a
disheartening to repeatedly get few votes.
However with respect it's a bit parliamentary
cretinous for socialists to look solely at voting
totals to judge the worth of an election
campaign. For a socialist organisation with a
mainly mass action, extra-parliamentary focus
bourgeois elections may be useful to build
campaigns and alliances with other activists
(including Greens and ALPers) and gaining a
hearing for socialist ideas (including among many
who'll continue to vote Green or ALP). E.g
participating in the NSW elections of March 2003
helped SA win an important role in the mass
anti-war upsurge of that time, as I'm sure you
agree the English SA in which you were involved
utterly failed to do because of it's almost
exclusively electoral focus.

SA has had modest but real success in recruiting
activists from and winning respect within the
militant wing of the unions and other arenas like
anti-war and gay and lesbian rights campaigns.
Sure there's problems and disappointments and
it's small potatoes compared to the party the
working class and oppressed needs but maybe it's
a step towards that, and it's certainly a step
forward from what existed before. Comrades from
Marrickville can say whether their campaign was
useful in this broader perspective.

Socialists can and do support and welcome the
election of Greens and strong votes for Greens as
a break from pro-capitalist politics, while
pointing out in a reasonable way that the Greens
platform can never be implemented without class
politics and a definite break from capitalism.
However as you well know Marcus the possibilities
for socialists to be involved in the Greens in
any organised way beyond general support from the
outside is extremely limited. Despite being loyal
builders of the new Greens parties as broad
anti-capitalist electoral and campaigning
alliances in the early 90s, the DSP was purged.
The Greens constitution explicitly proscribes
membership for members of other "parties", the
definition of which I'm sure for the Greens
leadership would include SA, even if it decided
to leave the electoral field altogether. This may
change with the struggle but that's how it is
now. This doesn't mean SA shouldn't repeat
tactics like helping out the Greens in the
Werriwa by-election earlier this year (though it
seemed to me in the light of the Macquarie Fields
uprising and the weak response of the Greens to
that SA missed an opportunity there).

Now Marcus maybe you can tell us what the fuck is
the point for socialists doing "serious political
work inside the ALP". Move worthy motions at East
Macdonaldtown branch like Bob Gould? Yawn.
--
***********************************

Nick Fredman
Student Rights Advocate
Southern Cross University (Lismore)
Student Representative Council

Shop 9 Plaza, SCU Lismore

Available Mon-Thur 9am-5pm
Ph: 02 6626 9346, freecall 1800 223 044
Email: srcsra@...
web: http://www.lismoresrc.org.au/

*********************************