Next month it's likely many of us will receive a one-off cash payment of up to $950 from the Rudd government.
The payments are part of the ALP's proposed $42 billion "economic stimulus" package and the hope is that we will all go and splurge at Harvey Norman or some other retail giant, to "stimulate" the economy.
According to federal treasurer Wayne Swan, saving the economy is now up to us. By threatening to block the package, Liberal leader — and multi-millionaire — Malcolm Turnbull looks almost as tight as Harry Triguboff, the billionaire who complains he shouldn't have to pay land tax on his "spare" mansion in the exclusive Sydney suburb of Vaucluse!
But as Rudd and company desperately try to fix a broken system, how about using the extra payment to help stimulate real social change — not the profits of Westfield's Frank Lowy and others — by donating 10% or more of your bonus to the Green Left Weekly fighting fund?
This will strengthen our ability to build and support social movements fighting to put people and the planet before profits.
By "giving away" cash (which comes from our taxes anyway), the government hopes it can help capitalism "recover and endure", in the words of Sydney Morning Herald journalist Peter Hartcher.
But given the free-market meltdown, the extreme ecological crisis and the widespread social injustice capitalism is responsible for, it's high time we invest seriously in building an alternative to this mess.
While the stimulus package will be a welcome relief for many in the short term, it doesn't address problems at the heart of capitalism's crisis. Treasury officials have declared Rudd's first stimulus package — delivered last year — of $10.4 billion, a "success" primarily because retail sales increased in December 2008 compared to 2007.
But what about the impact the economic crisis is having on people?
These stop-gap packages are doing next to nothing to combat long-term problems such as declining real wages, unemployment, our deteriorating health and education systems, homelessness and the environmental emergency.
If the poor are made to pay for the crisis then capitalism can indeed "recover and endure", but at what cost to society and the environment?
After all, even Hartcher admitted in his February 4 column that "crisis is inherent to financial capitalism". We simply can't afford any more crises! By donating some (or all!) of your cash bonus, you will be helping the fight for an alternative that is possible and necessary.
GLW is fighting for that alternative now; help us in the campaign to combat the power and wealth of the corporate elite everyday, not just for one-off payments. Help stimulate social change — not corporate profits.
Direct deposits to the GLW fighting fund can be made to: Greenleft, Commonwealth Bank, BSB 062-006, Account No. 901992. Alternatively, send a cheque or money order to PO Box 515, Broadway NSW 2007, phone it through on the toll-free line at 1800 634 206 (within Australia), or donate online at