Friends of the Earth
I thank Jim Green for his article on Friends of the Earth (FoE). His analysis is reasonable of FoE Australia and FoE International, and I applaud him for touching on some of the problems with some (not by any means all) of the broader environment movement. He does, however, neglect to understand the depth and diversity of people that make up FoE's huge international network with over a million individual members in 63 countries in North and South nations. FoE Australia alone is made up of 12 independent FoE groups.
Green made two assertions in his article and in the process challenges FoE to prove its revolutionary credentials. He implies FoE International is reformist because it does not prescribe to socialism and he suggests that the progressive current within FoE needs to disengage from the conservative current.
We at FoE do not all necessarily agree with each other, we come from traditions ranging from feminism to Marxism, anarchism to post modernism, deep ecology to environmental justice.
We draw from this diversity and come up with regional activism that aims to have an impact on this corporate led world, at a local level. We work together for common goals that are based on human and environmental justice.
In fact you could say that S11 is actually a great analogy of this type of organising. People coming from diverse backgrounds and alternate "left" traditions yet working together against corporate-led globalisation and for a more just and sustainable society. S11 worked well without a single way forward, we are confident that Friends of the Earth will also be successful in the continuing fight for revolutionary change.
I just hope all progressive activists can work together and fight the real enemies.
Peter Barker
FoE activist
Melbourne
People, not pigs
While agreeing that socialist derision toward the NSW Police's Mardi Gras float is not going to take us much closer to the revolution, I'd definitely disagree with Jen Crothers' call to support the "piggies". Firstly, Crothers seemed surprised that "[t]he derision aimed at the NSW Police float was ... as fierce as that aimed at the Liberals", implying agreement with derision at the Liberals (a clearly homophobic political party), but not with derision at the police.
A little later Crothers suggests "[t]he individual cops that choose to become Gay and Lesbian Liaison Officers and/or march in Mardi Gras are brave people". But surely then, the individual Liberal party members too, are just as brave, and should also be congratulated?
Crothers' major flaw is in her misanalysis of where progressive change comes from. Her attribution of small concessions within the police force (Gay & Lesbian Liaison Officers) to "individual cops" and "brave people", is totally misleading.
GLLO are a (weak) response to years of political struggle by gay and lesbian liberation supporters. Did these concessions come about because a few "brave officers" put up their hands and said "hey, we need to stop being homophobic headkickers and have GLLO". Not likely. It was ordinary people on the ground, fighting for equal rights for gays and lesbians, that have forced change within the police institution, or as Crothers puts it "kicked against the pricks". And the provision of GLLO is fairly minimal at that — as Crothers concedes, the institutional homophobia of the state continues, in law and in enforcement.
Crothers is right, "let's give credit where credit is due", and in the case of gay and lesbian rights, credit is due to people power on the ground, not the ruler's institutions. Good on you to all those who have fought for progressive social change and will continue to — not to the pigs.
Paul Benedek
Parramatta
[Abridged]
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In a previous issue of Green Left, Jody Betzein reported on Trade Minister Mark Vale's "Exporting for the Future" education program that included going onto 20 high schools to promote free trade. It now appears that the Department of Trade is not the only government department pushing their agenda on schools. "Australia 2030: Investigating The Facts Of Immigration" is an "educational program" run by Phillip Ruddock, Minister for Immigration, to discuss "immigration issues with the students". This program is being run for school students across Australia but only at select schools where according to Ruddock "students will be better able as informed citizens to become actively involved on important issues affecting Australia's immigration future".
This program is not only selective in students but selective in opinions given. It puts forward the government's agenda with a video outlining the "problems of immigration" using a hypothetical country town where a large group of people move in. Other than Ruddock, the only other speaker on immigration is someone from his department.
James Crafti
Melbourne
[Abridged]
European Union
I am a Green from the Mediterranean island of Malta. I am also a keen supporter of Malta's bid to enter the European Union. For us this means much higher environmental and social standards. Not entering the European Union means remaining a dumping ground for cheap labour investment. Entering the European Union would be an injection of modernity in a post-traditional country where basic civil rights like divorce are absent.
I found your article about the left and the Euroepan Union (GLW #441) quite misleading. It ignores the fact that most Green parties, although critical of the present union, are far from isolationist or anti-EU. The Swiss Green Party was a proponent of the recent referendum in favour of membership. The article also ignored the pro European (and pro-euro) positions of such prominent politicians of the left like Ken Livingstone.
The European Union is a camp of struggle in which consumer groups, environmental groups, trade unions and civil society can play a significant role. Green parties are part of the German, Italian, German and Belgian governments. We should fight to change the European Union into a green and social Europe and not fight a reactionary battle in the name of the nation state as the extreme right does.
Globalisation should be countered by an even greater globalisation, i.e., the globalisation of social rights, civil and human rights and free movement of labour. Hopefuly one day there would be a world union rather than a European Union! Lets critisice the frontiers set up between the European Union and the third world but lets not return to the days whem there were frontiers between European countries!
James Debono
Malta
Tahrs
For close to 70 years, beautiful gentle tahrs (mountain goats) have lived on our Table Mountain here in Cape Town. They are, however, considered to be aliens by the conservation authorities, and have been periodically "culled" to keep their numbers down.
Last year, the Cape Peninsula Parks Board decided that these creatures were causing terrible damage to the fynbos (the flora on Table Mountain which is found only here) and started slaughtering them en masse. At this stage, not more than 100 tahrs were on the slopes of the mountain.
A group of us Capetonians came together to challenge the board's so-called evidence of massive erosion caused by the tahrs. We petitioned the general public, wrote letters to local papers and made our cause known as much as possible. The response was overwhelming and 90% of the public made it known that they were against the killing.
Still, the board refused to budge from its decision, even though our group (now called Friends of the Tahr) had come up with viable, inexpensive alternatives to just killing the animals. they also refused to show us the "evidence" of erosion on the mountain and would not disclose their paperwork to this effect either.
After having approached a lawyer as our constitutional rights were being infringed upon, we finally went to the Office of the Public Protector, who investigates possible abuses by state-run institutions here.
We are still fighting to award dignity and respect to these creatures and have written to newspapers and animal groups all over the world to ask for assistance - all we ask is that readers who feel strongly about this, please write a letter of protest to the Board or to newspapers in Cape Town. International pressure is needed to put a stop to this carnage.
Ellen Fedele
Cape Town
South Africa
[Abridged]