Re: Australian Left & autobio bits

[g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxx]

Louis thanks for your prompt reply to my q.s on Browder.  I am breeding
something on the popular front in Australia post ww2 and I'll squeeze it in.

Now as to who I am... well briefly I am of Ireland and arrived here in
75.  Started off in the Trostskyist Left in an organisation called the
Communist League.  We were ordered to fuse with Percy brothers' mob but they
did a number on us.  I was denounced in secret internal documents as an "
ultra left lunatic" and so refused to fuse.  For the Percy lot I have
retained a fairly
lively sectarian attidude ever since, which age has not wearied nor the years 
condemned.  I then found
myself in the International Socialist camp, where once more I was purged
tho this time as a "right wing opportunist.   I entered  the Labor Party
like a good Trot and suffer from all the usual symptoms of deep entryitis-
demoralisation, despair etc tempered by a belief in the remorseless
workings of the dialectic and consoled by dreams of the
workers' paradise to come and fantasies of gulaging the bourgeoisie.

Currently I am trying to get some united front work going with the
anarchists here.  Not easy...I live in constant terror of being outed as
a member of the Labor Party.  We are trying to do something about the
appeasement of the evil bastards who run Indonesia and who slaughtered
hundreds of thousands in East Timor while Australia pretended not to notice.

The only group doing anything is the local Catholic Worker group- truly
the heart of a heartless world...  Prayer and liturgy make me ill but we
have to join forces.

Now on the Australian Left. Well I live in Brisbane and Australia is
really Sydney and Melbourne.  We are strictly sideshow stuff.  Not that
we haven't had our big struggles.  Currently the Left here is very
weak.  surprise surprise.  The Communist Party imploded and the aging
remenants have formed the Left connection.  It seems to work under the
banner
of "Come back John Maynard Keynes.  All is forgiven".  Like good popular
frontists they are totally orientated to the Right and ignore leftists
like me. The plan here is apparently to fuse with the Green Party and the
Democrats (liberals) to form a party like the Alliance Party in New
Zealand.

The Percy Trotskyist organisation (DSP) is going through its
version of the
popular front too.  Their paper the Green Left Weekly is very good.  But
the organisation as a whole is genuinely desperate and dateless and
driven to cruising the fringes of the movements, especially the Greens,
to try and pick up a few members.

However the Greenies know a thing or two about entryism and so far have
knocked back all Percy's offers to come up and see him some time.

The International Socialists have just had yet another spilt.  the
British SWP apparently had a hand in it. It's all too much like something
out of Orwell.

The Socialist Left in the Labor party was very much dependent on the
Communist Party to supply ideas and infra strcuture.  Now with the
collapse of Australian communism they are left without ideas or
direction.  They stay inside the party because they get a few crumbs and
maybe the Labor Right are correct about them.  Maybe they do need
to get pushed arouund.  Anyway there they are totally unable to influence
the direction of the govenment wand without the ability to construct a
critique.  Impotence without theory.  What a combination.

Finally on the Greens.  They are ex Anarchists moving to the right.  Not
a pretty sight to see a dreamer of the absolute trying to get into bed
with  Conservatives. We are having a big fight with them at
the moment because recelntly at the State election they almost brought
down the labor Party governement and put back in government the Tory
filth.

Hope that is of some interest Louis.  By the way if I have time I want to
take you up on ethics and Trotskyism re : the invasion of Finland.  Still
it was good to be reminded about Lenin's finest hours when he was totally
isoated and totally correct.

Regards

Gary


     --- from list marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---

     ------------------