There is little analysis of the electoral system plays in Australian politics, nor much exploration of alternatives, argues Anne McMenamin. Most of us have no direct voice in government, even though we are told we do — every three or four years.
democracy
With more than 88% of the votes counted, 63% of Sydney's Inner West residents voted “Yes” to demerge and re-establish the former councils of Ashfield, Marrickville and Leichhardt, reports Andrew Chuter.
Defamation laws favour those who have the funds to threaten and launch suits. Jonathan Strauss reports on a defamation suit against anti-corruption campaigners Lyn O’Connor and Rob Pyne.
Led by Rodrigo Acuña and Adriana Navarro, Chilean-Australian community members are campaigning for the federal government to give an “unreserved apology” for Australia's covert support to the US-backed coup against Dr Salvador Allende in 1973.
For eight months in 2018-19, Sudan was gripped by an unprecedented mass movement to overthrow the 30-year dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir. Green Left spoke to Khalid Hassan about the achievements of the Sudanese people and the difficult challenges ahead.
Members of the Thai community and supporters organised a solidarity action as another huge democracy protest gathered in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, reports Peter Boyle.
Adem Somyurek's deplorable conduct exposed a deeply cynical attitude to democracy. Moreland Council's socialist councillor Sue Bolton explains to Darren Saffin why his local government reforms must be reversed.
Left-wing parties in Chile are pushing a plebiscite for a Constituent Assembly to address the main social issues affecting young people, workers and communities.
Activist Cristian Cuevas from the New Democracy Party, which forms part of the Broad Front (FA) alliance, said they are seeking a strong showing in the November 19 presidential and parliamentary elections to push forward on their proposal.
Blowing The Roof Off The Twenty-First Century: Media, Politics, and the Struggle for Post-Capitalist Democracy
Robert W McChesney
Monthly Review Press
272 pages
Published November 2014
www.blowingtheroofoff.com
The work of renowned media critic Robert McChesney “has been of extraordinary importance”, says the “world's top public intellectual”, Noam Chomsky. Green Left Weekly's Mat Ward spoke to McChesney about his new book, Blowing The Roof Off The Twenty-First Century.
* * *
The word “socialist” first appeared in print in Italy in 1803. In the early 19th century there appeared to be two alternative roads to socialism: violent revolution or establishing cooperative communities separate from the state and capitalist social relations.
Towards the latter part of the century, a third possibility opened up: the working class could take control of the state through the ballot-box and reconstruct it on a socialist basis.
Digital Disconnect:
How Capitalism Is Turning the Internet Against Democracy
Robert W McChesney
Spring 2013
www.thenewpress.com
When award-winning author Robert McChesney wrote a much-needed political and economic analysis of the internet, the reaction from his peers was not quite what he expected.
Verbal Reality Volume 2
Provocalz
Coming October 2013
www.provocalz.bigcartel.com
Rapper Provocalz has dedicated a song to Australia's Liberal and Labor parties on his new album - but it won't be music to their ears.
On his track "Liberals or Labor", the Indigenous emcee suggests the two big parties are so contemptuous of voters that some, like him, might consider swapping their ballots for bullets:
Liberals or Labor, they both leave us to rot
So it's criminal behaviour, politicians get shot
Pop pop pop pop!
It's that real hip-hop, hip-hop
Billionaires and Ballot Bandits
Greg Palast
Out September 18
www.gregpalast.com
If you really want to understand the forthcoming US presidential election, read this book.
Former corporate fraud investigator Greg Palast previously showed how the 2000 US election was rigged through "purging" black voters off the electoral rolls. He showed how the 2004 election was rigged the same way. In 2008, the same thing happened again, yet Barack Obama still managed enough votes to get in.
Ecuador's granting of asylum to WikiLeaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange has thrown a spotlight on the country's media policy.
In 2008, Ecuadorians voted overwhelmingly for a new constitution. Among other things, it sought to democratise the media and ban bankers from having business interests in the media industry.
See also:
Ecuador: Correa pushes free speech, challenges ‘media dictatorship’
Footage from the 'Malaysian Spring': the inspiring 250,000-strong Bersih ('clean') rallies for free and fair elections in Malaysia PLUS from Australian support rallies in Melbourne (1200 people), Sydney (500) and Perth (400).
Also includes footage of the brutal police repression which saw 500 people arrested along with widespread use of water cannon and tear gas.
Justice for the Malaysian people - take the power back!
Join the massive #Time2Choose rally in Sydney’s CBD on March 24 to say no more coal and gas mining in NSW and help shape the upcoming 2019 NSW and federal elections. Thousands of voices will be taking to the streets to call for a clean, renewable energy future.
