BY ROHAN PEARCE
The socialist youth organisation Resistance has thrown its weight behind the newly launched Socialist Alliance. Resistance activists have begun signing up members to the alliance on campuses, at their schools and workplaces, and on the streets.
Resistance national coordinator Kerryn Williams described the Socialist Alliance as being particularly relevant for "the tens of thousands of people, especially young people, who mobilised for the S11 protests against the World Economic Forum in Melbourne last year, and the many thousands more who were inspired by the protest. The mass blockades of stock exchanges around the country on May 1 will build on S11 and the Socialist Alliance provides left activists with a political vehicle to strengthen the movement against corporate globalisation", Williams said.
"It can provide a real socialist alternative to the two rotten major parties and to the capitalist system. It's a chance for us to say don't just vote for a party you think is less terrible, join the movement and fight for real change", she told Green Left Weekly.
Melbourne Resistance branch organiser Jody Betzien agreed that the potential for the Socialist Alliance is great. "Already, there is a resonance for the Socialist Alliance amongst activists on campus. Often, state and federal elections seem a farce far removed from the campaigns and movements for change that many young people are involved in. Now we have a project that is directly linked to those movements", he said.
Williams believes the strength of the alliance is that it has brought together so many socialist organisations. "It is undoubtedly young people who are the most angry at the system, the most disillusioned with the major parties and the most cynical about 'politics' as it is presented in the establishment media. The very positive message that the Socialist Alliance conveys, of unity and collaboration amongst the active socialist forces, has a real appeal."
Sydney high school student and Resistance activist Lauren Carroll Harris told Green Left Weekly that Resistance will be joining high school students to the Socialist Alliance, regardless of whether or not they are old enough to vote.
"We usually bear the brunt of government attacks, like public education funding cuts and slave youth wages. At the same time, we're scapegoated for everything from crime to unemployment. Yet we aren't even allowed to vote!", Harris said.
"We can have an impact out on the streets and that's why we're going on strike to join the M1 blockades. We're also encouraging high school students to join the Socialist Alliance and get involved because it offers real answers to the attacks on young people. It's not just about voting. It's about building a movement that can ultimately change the system."
Resistance activists are planning regular campaign stalls to join young people to the Socialist Alliance, and have ambitious plans to mobilise students and other young people in their hundreds for the upcoming Socialist Alliance public launches. Resistance is also prepared to run candidates as part of the Socialist Alliance.