A-Infos (en) Australia, MACG: The Anvil Vol 11 No 2 - VOTING WON'T FIX THIS MESS (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

On 21 May, voters in Australia will choose which government will oversee 
exploitation and oppression of the working class by the capitalists for the next 
three years.  We won't be able to vote for a free society, one where people live 
lives of equality and co-operation, where racism, sexism, homophobia and all the 
other toxic phenomena of capitalism don't exist and where we live in harmony with 
our environment.  Even if the High Court hadn't ruled in 1948 that socialism was 
precluded by Section 92 of the Constitution, Parliament isn't a viable means of 
creating that society. ---- The current crisis ---- This doesn't mean nothing 
important is going on, though.  Most importantly, the world is rapidly running 
out of time to prevent runaway climate change, which could destroy industrial 
civilisation and kill at least 80% of the planet's human population.  In 
addition, the rich are getting phenomenally richer while living standards for the 
working class go backwards; increasing conflict between the US and China is 
bringing war closer; State racism continues to torture refugees and lead to 
horrific Aboriginal deaths in custody; and the political Right are stoking 
culture wars, providing the perfect environment for the rise of Fascism.  The 
capitalist system is sick and shows no signs of curing itself.  So what does the 
election offer for addressing this?

The major parties

The incumbent government, a coalition of the Liberal and National Parties, is the 
representative of the capitalist classes.  It is the enemy of the working class 
and its organisations.  The coalition has spent 20 of the past 26 years in power 
so, as far as any government can be held responsible for the mess we're in, 
they're it. It should also be noted that, because of their close links to Big 
Business, the Coalition parties defend the interests of existing corporations. 
This is the source of their resistance to acting on climate change.  Both parties 
need to be wiped from the face of the Earth.

The Labor Party is the political representative of the union bureaucracy.  It 
exists to negotiate a compromise between labour and capital and the terms on 
which it can do that depend on the balance of power in the wider society. A 
by-product of this is that Labor is usually more capable than the Liberals of 
acting in the interests of the system as a whole when existing corporations are 
acting destructively.  With the unions shackled by anti-worker laws and 
eviscerated by 40 years of economic "reforms", the best Labor can offer is a few 
crumbs from the tables of the rich.  In this election, Labor is using the "small 
target" strategy.  It emphasises complete agreement with the Liberals on most 
issues and tries to keep political debate confined to a handful of topics on 
which the leaders think they have the advantage.  Labor is promising very little 
reform and will, if elected, deliver less.

Minor capitalist parties

The most significant of the minor capitalist parties is The Greens.  Though their 
policies are better than Labor's in most areas, they suffer from a fundamental 
problem: they have the illusion that a just and sustainable capitalism can exist. 
 But a sustainable society will require sweeping away so much of the existing 
capitalist class that very little would remain, so we could expect their 
virtually unanimous opposition.  And, even in a fantasy world where a just 
capitalism could be created, its ordinary operations would immediately start 
generating injustice and inequality anew.

There is a range of single issue parties, each of them founded on the assumption 
that, apart from their own pet issue, everything else in this society is at least 
tolerable.  This time round, there is a wave of "climate independents".  They are 
basically Liberals who realise how insane the current Liberal Party is being by 
defending fossil fuel corporations and risking the future of humanity.  To the 
extent that they're serious about actually tackling climate change, they'll run 
into the same road block as The Greens.

Finally, there are the Right wing nut jobs who have been proliferating in recent 
years.  They are the toxic by-product of the manifest inability of the major 
parties, over decades, to deliver a decent life for people in Australia.  Since 
they won't blame the capitalist system, they find refuge in reactionary 
prejudices, crackpot schemes and, increasingly, in conspiracy theories that will 
lead them to anti-Semitism and Fascism if they go down that road far enough.  The 
good news is that, for now, they hate each other almost as much as they hate 
their enemies on the "woke Left".

Credit: https:/www.blackrosefed.org

Socialists

The largest effort being made by groups which call themselves Socialists is the 
campaign run by the Victorian Socialists.  They are running in eleven lower house 
electorates in Victoria and for the Senate.  A smaller campaign is being run by 
the Socialist Alliance in five electorates across Australia and for the Senate in 
three States.  We haven't been able to find any other Socialists who are running 
for seats in the lower house.

So what about these Socialists, then?  They're against the capitalist system 
that's causing all our troubles, so that's a start.  They oppose exploitation and 
oppression, stand up for all the good causes and realise that stopping climate 
change requires getting rid of capitalism.  So they get more points in their 
favour.  Unfortunately, there's no Parliamentary road to Socialism. Nor is there 
a parliamentary road right now to significant reforms, as these have only ever 
been conceded when forced by a militant working class movement outside of 
parliament.  The experience of 150 years across the world proves that Socialists 
don't conquer Parliament, but instead Parliament conquers Socialists.  The closer 
they get to power, the more pressure they are under to ditch Socialism.  And 
ditch it they do.  We can only get rid of capitalism through the working class 
organising in the workplace and making a revolution.  Not only is that the only 
way to beat the capitalists, but it's also the only way for the working class to 
rid itself of all the reactionary prejudices which the capitalists use to divide us.

Our stance

Many Socialists who consider themselves revolutionaries agree with us on the 
above but still see a point to running in elections.  The Melbourne Anarchist 
Communist Group is prepared to concede that it is possible to enter a capitalist 
Parliament on a principled basis.  You need to advocate Socialism and oppose 
capitalism; support working class struggles; oppose all oppression and 
exploitation; and refuse confidence to all capitalist governments.  Crucially, 
because Socialists running for Parliament implicitly create the illusion that it 
can be achieved through Parliament, principled Socialists need to explain that 
this is not the case and we still need a revolution.

The MACG's problem with this is that it's not worth the effort. It also engages 
workers as ‘voters' deferring to candidates, rather than as individuals capable 
of exercising power where they are exploited and dominated. The time and 
resources required to get elected would be far better put into building working 
class struggles at the grassroots.  Recruit people to your union and organise 
against the boss.  Fight against police violence.  Organise tenants against their 
landlords. Struggle against sexism, heterosexism and transphobia. Organise 
solidarity for Indigenous struggles.  And so forth.  The immense effort these 
Socialists are putting into this election campaign would get much better results 
if put into grassroots struggle.

We don't support running in elections or campaigning for them, but some 
Socialists are wasting their resources doing just that. Because none of them are 
in any danger of being elected this time around, the MACG considers that it's 
possible to give them a principled vote (though it would be different if any 
might win - they would have to pass the test above).  Such a vote is symbolic: 
you're putting up your hand for Socialism and against capitalism.  It's a small 
gesture which you can make without compromising yourself.  But we still think it 
was a mistake for honest Socialists to run.

BUILD MOVEMENTS

https://melbacg.wordpress.com/2022/05/05/voting-wont-fix-this-mess/
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