SACP
It should come as little surprise that Mazibuko Jara, writing on behalf of the Young Communist League in South Africa (Write On, GLW #683), is "concerned" by the articles appearing in GLW on the politics of the South African Communist Party and its alliance with the ruling ANC. Unlike the vast majority of (the few) "left" publications in South Africa — most of which are associated in one way or another with the SACP and Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) — GLW's coverage provides critically informed and "independent" left assessments and analyses of the SACP/ANC/COSATU alliance.
It is precisely GLW's kind of journalistic and opinion-piece coverage of South African left politics (which is not only about the SACP and the alliance) that is, for the most part, missing in South Africa — something that contributes to the general lack of meaningful debate between the intra- and extra-alliance left in South Africa.
It is not the duty of GLW to speak for the SACP. If Jara and the SACP want to communicate their perspectives on the role of the SACP, its policies and campaigns etc. to the readers of GLW, then they should do so. In the absence of such offerings, pointing accusing fingers and throwing around derogatory labels at GLW is indicative of an intolerant mind-set and self-referential approach to critical engagement (which has, unfortunately, long been a favourite pastime of the leadership of the SACP — something which this author can personally testify to).
While the SACP and the YCL are clearly component parts of the South African left, the content and character of their politics and practical struggles have been, and will continue to be, subject to critical investigation, analysis and debate. The fact that the pages of GLW are open to such coverage and engagements should be embraced, not denigrated, by all serious leftists/ socialists.
Dale T. McKinley
Johannesburg, South Africa
Mainstream media
I think one has to admire the internal discipline of the mainstream media. About a week ago I heard on ABC Radio National about two men threatening to jump from a building unless they could talk to someone from the immigration department. This was out at the notorious Baxter immigration detention centre. One man was Turkish, the other was Albanian, according to the report. Since then... the easy-to-miss report that they had ended the protests.
Oljan Tusku from Albania has been locked up for nearly three years and is married to an Australian woman in Whyalla. Muat Eksi, 30 years old, from Turkey, cannot return safely to his country because of a blood feud. The Adelaide Advertiser did not say how long he has been locked up.
On September 15, Hugh Mackay called Howard a "political colossus" in the Sydney Morning Herald. If he is, it is because such papers do no real campaigning for human rights. They do not "take up a case" and run with it.
I remember John Pilger — thank goodness GLW prints his brave work — saying that journalists here should infiltrate and then report on the detention system.
But I am not waiting for the mainstream media to change — from report sports injuries, celebrity weddings, and probably invented cannibalism in West Papua (managing to miss the real story of Australia-supported abuse of its population by the Indonesian military as the resources are stolen) to tell the truth about things that matter. I think we need to support the brave journalism of brave papers, among them, Green Left Weekly.
Stephen Langford
Paddington, NSW [Abridged]
Protests
Your article "2007: a year of protest" (GLW #684), raises some good points about the scope and scale of meetings to be held in Australia next year, and the cost of those meetings.
However, I challenge the notion that protesting will make any positive contribution to the agenda that world leaders will bring to Australia.
As a young person who has chosen to get involved in politics, it has been my experience that protest achieves nothing. I have marched for Reconciliation and against the war in Iraq, VSU and Work Choices. While it felt good for a day, not once has government policy been affected by me taking to the streets.
I would argue that the challenge of 2007 is to dominate public debate with a well thought-out, constructive and progressive political agenda, rather than wave placards from behind security fences. The aim for 2007 should not be to get worked up in protest, but rather to work towards replacing John Howard and his agenda through debate and the ballot box.
Tom Hollywood
Wentworth Falls, NSW
Global warming
Both the ALP and the Coalition appear to be blind on important environment issues to do with climate change. They ignore the negative aspect that coal pollutes, but it is a dirty product.
The global effect of coal pollution is being ignored for the sake of jobs and profit. The general public are better informed than ever about the dangers of global warming. Al Gores film The Inconvenient Truth is a wake up call.
All over the world scientists have tried to clean coal without success. It can't be done so why waste money on repeating the same research? Also the question of future water supplies is being ignored by those who support coal. What will it cost in future to clean coal if water supplies are limited?
Policies should be to increase investments in alternative energy and encourage industry and people to conserve energy and water. Subsidising installations of water tanks in all homes and industries, roof insulation, low energy public transport and lighting including street lighting would be a positive start to invest in. Australia has never given grants to ordinary people, it is time it did.
Instead, all levels of government hide their heads in the sand and continue to waste water and energy as if there are unlimited resources.
Mary Jenkins
Spearwood, WA [Abridged]