The world is rising up. When we look around the globe we see people in motion. Revolutions in the Middle East and North Africa against brutal dictators, the movements against austerity measures in Europe and Britain, democratic and indigenous revolutions in Latin America, and the Occupy Wall Street protests spreading across the United States. Resistance is in solidarity with all these movements for change.
What these movements have in common is a struggle for a more democratic society and a fight to end corporate control over people's lives. This is a struggle we share in Australia. We’re here for the same reason as everyone else. We’ve had enough — and we think an alternative is possible.
The system isn't broken, this is how it works
The Occupy movement around the world has come together in response to the failure of our democracies and our economies. Resistance sees this as a systemic failure, and that system is capitalism.
Capitalism is the system in which the wealth of society is owned privately, not collectively, and almost everything is produced for profit. Capitalism is inherently undemocratic — it values you based on your bank account, not on your humanity. It relies on political parties that don’t challenge its rule, but undermine democracy to increase the power of corporations.
The current financial crisis is not a result of capitalism gone wrong, this is how capitalism operates.
Put people before profit
"All people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies" - Occupy Wall St.
Resistance believes we can (and must) create a world where people are more important then profit. Education should be free — to train up new generations of doctors, teachers, nurses and engineers that value human life and environment over profit — instead of running our universities like degree factories.
A safe and sustainable environment with clean air and water, and an economy based on renewable energy and green jobs is essential.
We can’t continue to drill for coal seam gas at the expense of water and agriculture. Nor can we afford to risk creating our own Fukushima or Chernobyl in pursuit of nuclear power. But big corporate interests relentlessly push both these options.
We can and must fight the racism, sexism and homophobia that is a part of capitalist society and is whipped up by politicians to divide us. The Occupy movement shows us that people can come together and work for a greater good.
An alternative system
Resistance believes that to achieve a better world, we need to create new systems that actually represent us. We need to create democratic structures that are participatory, where people can have genuine input into the decisions that affect us.
We believe that people power and democracy should not just be limited to lifeless parliaments, but built up from our communities and encompass all of society — including our economy, our media and our culture.
We’re a socialist organisation and this is what we mean by socialism. This is what we’re fighting for. Some people might have a different word for it, but if you are fighting for a more democratic, sustainable and equitable world, then you are a comrade of ours.
At the end of the day, we need to work together to beat the power of the 1%. Together we can challenge the media that refuse to give us good coverage. Together we can create a voice that reaches our whole society with a new vision for the world. Together we can hold a space and open a dialogue to achieve these things. Together we will OCCUPY.
[Resistance released this statement on October 14.]