BY BILL BRIGGS
While we are able to look at the past with the gift of hindsight and can acknowledge the mistakes made in the name of the struggle for socialism in this country and the world, it would be wrong to simply write off the generations of men and women who fought for a better world.
Thousands of courageous, committed people took up the struggle against quite daunting odds. They swam against the tide and faced ridicule, black lists, poverty and the rest for the cause that we espouse today.
Sure, they were often mistaken, misled or ill-informed. But the movement exists today because of the sacrifices of those who went before us.
It is now 30 years since I was first won to the ideas of Marxism. I could be won to this cause only because the movement had survived for generations before me.
The 30 years of my involvement has been spent in and around a range of left organisations. For a number of years I was a member of the Socialist Party of Australia, including time as a functionary.
I must accept the truth that for much of this time sectarianism reigned. While mention was made of the struggle against capitalism, too much time was spent in attacking the ideas of the "other" left. We were not alone in this. All the left was engaged in vitriolic attacks against the rest.
There was no trouble in defending such a position. The ideological battle must first be won within the movement itself. Unity of the class, then unity of the left and such utterances. The truth was that all of us on the left were in the happy position of playing at being revolutionaries.
This does not mean that we were not sincere. We certainly were. It's just that we were burdened by a lot of baggage. It also doesn't mean that good work wasn't done. The struggle continued — just not as effectively as it might have.
These were years when things were essentially still healthy for capitalism. We talked of the general crisis of capitalism, but compared to the situation that exists today it was still not bad. It was possible to enjoy the luxury of in-fighting, of sectarianism and the other ills that held us back.
Today there is a qualitative difference. Capitalism is destroying all vestiges of decent relations between peoples. No one is being spared. Lives are being shattered here and everywhere on the planet.
As capitalism destroys lives as never before, so too must the struggle against it take a sharper turn. The left will face more important tests and opportunities in the years and decades ahead. We need to be in a stronger position to be able to meet those tests.
It is time that the left gave up childish things. It is time to accept the seriousness of what lays ahead. The responsibility is huge.
The evil of capitalism must be stopped. It is no longer enough to react to issues. We need to offer a lead to those who will accept leadership. It is time to be serious.
This is where the Socialist Alliance offers such hope. In today's climate, it is the best possibility for the creation of a movement that can threaten the existence of a system that is rotten to the core.
It is impossible to say whether the alliance will hold together. Of course if it doesn't, the opportunities will come again. But the costs imposed on millions of people by a rampaging capitalism in the meantime will be huge.
It is for this reason that I welcome the establishment of the Socialist Alliance and salute those who continue the struggle for socialism. I salute those predominantly young activists who will make up the energetic core of the alliance. And I hope they live to see the fruits of their labours.
[Bill Briggs is a member of the Socialist Alliance in Hobart.]