Re: Ascetic socialism (re Irene Oppenheim piece)

[Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting Phil. I remember during my expulsion hearing in 1981 from the
ISO that one of our accusers got up and with a voice shaking and trembling
with hatred he denounced us as the kind of people who 'read Marxist
poetry'.  A few weeks before our trial he had come across myself and a
friend getting pissed in the middle of the day and reading Yevtushenko. Ah
such degeneracy!

The Frankfurt school were dead against asceticism as a solution.  Wasn't it
William Morris that said that we have to teach the working class to desire
more, to desire better but above all to desire in a different way?  My own
opinion is that under the Howard govt here in Australia there has been what
I would call a collapse of desire.  For me it is a real problem that so
many Australians still believe they are well off.


A friend of mine is running for the Greens in a by-election for the State
Parliament.  He is your classic working class left Labor type deeply pissed
off with the corruption and venality of the Labor Party.  Now he is trying
to pull the Greens to the Left.  He was canvassing in a caravan park.  He
gave a leaflet to a raggedly dressed woman who was also surrounded by five
tiny children.  She refused the leaflet and said that she was Labor true
blue.  She also added that the Labor Party always looked after her.  My
friend urged her to read the leaflet and phone him if there was anything in
it she did not think was true.  She replied that she didn't not have a phone.

Meanwhile the former Labor member has retired with $800,000 super to
$250,000 a year job in the USA.

It is at least partly the absence of desire that makes the working class
sit back and tolerate that shit.

Having said all that I think we need to be sensible about consumption. The
Golden Mean as Aristotle used to say is what we should aim for.  Mind you
on $85 a week you are a long way from it old mate.

BTW what have you against ballet?  You are just too straight Phil, some of
the men are so very cute!


take care

Gary