BRISBANE — “While we're fighting the IR laws, socialists need to never lose sight of the goal of replacing the capitalist system entirely”, well-known left-wing historian Humphrey McQueen told a public forum held at the Brisbane Activist Centre on August 2.

“Socialism needs a moral appeal as well as an economic analysis. It’s not enough just to rebuild the unions. They need to be more democratic, with more rank-and-file participation”, he said.

McQueen is the author of A New Britannia, The Essence of Capitalism, and a member of the editorial board of Seeing Red, a magazine sponsored by the Socialist Alliance.

He stressed the important role of Seeing Red, not only as a voice for the Socialist Alliance, but as a “political project”. The magazine, he said, “needs to be part of the regular work of each Socialist Alliance branch and each member”.

McQueen discussed a series of topics dealt with in the current edition of Seeing Red, including the struggle against the ruling class assault on basic union rights, represented by the Howard government's planned new industrial laws.

Jim McIlroy

From Green Left Weekly, August 10, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

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