Police and Protesters Clash in Macau

Police clashed with protesters in a May Day demonstration in the Chinese territory of
Macau .

The protesters numbered at around 2000 demonstrated against state corruption and illegal
workers. Local workers are angry that cheap illegal workers, mainly from Mainland China, are entering the territory to take jobs in Macau’s lucrative casino industry and undermine the local work laws. Local workers are angry that the boom in the industry is benefiting few and leaving many behind.

"The government is rich, the casinos are rich, but nobody is looking out for the Macau
people," one marcher told the AFP news agency

Protesters held signs asking for employers to be severely punished and for state officials to be stood down.

Police lashed out with water cannons, fired live “warning” shots into the crowd and used pepper spray as on demonstrators as protesters changed the official route of the march.

The protests and increased militancy of unions has signaled that all is not well in Macau despite the seemingly happy governmental relationship with the Chinese administration, in comparison with other territories like Hong Kong.

Why be an Activist Today?

Today we live in a world that upsets many. From climate change to poverty to war we face massive problems that for the sake of the planet, and its habitants, must be fixed.

But these issues are all so large and we as individuals often have little power to change the world. We can vote but we do not make the decisions on the issues that affect society.

Becoming an activist is about knowing you are not alone in caring for the planet. It is about standing up with others and making a statement. It is about pushing those with power towards making the concessions to both improve the world and instill a greater belief in the greater majority of our power to change the world.

Unlike work or school, no one is forcing you to be an activist. No one tells you to spend time fighting for a better world. In fact, for those in charge they would no doubt prefer if you did not care for politics because then they can continue to control your life.

Society today is run in the interests of those with the money, the capitalists. They own the companies we work for. Many of them walk away with massive profits from the work we do. They often also fund political parties that continue to rule against our interests and own newspapers whose editorial line reinforces the status quo.

Some will lead us to believe we live in a classless society. Yet, we have people who live in gated, security monitored communities while others live in ghetto like conditions and have to work multiple jobs. When we question society to harshly the systems protectors clamp down against us.

Politics is often seen as something politicians do in Canberra. But what they do there is make decisions about your life. Their decisions can have a big impact on your life, so it is important you defend your rights because if you don’t, who will?

Issues like your rights at work, school fees, affordable housing and helping the third world out of poverty are important to many. But ultimately we do not make the decisions that could address the problems of the world.

Building a society in which the people who are affected by the issues are able to make the decisions is what Socialism is ultimately about. It is a truly democratic society that values the rights of the greater majority over the minority that rules our world at present. It gives the chance for every individual to an equal chance at life.

So if you think the world is in need of fixing you should become an activist and to do this getting in touch with Resistance is a great start. Resistance is an Australia wide organization of young people who give a shit about the planet in which they live. They plan and collaborate with others to stand up for our rights and demand a better, more humane world.

Whether its by organizing a rally, educating others or getting involved in alternative newspaper, Green Left Weekly, Resistance members are aiming to make the kind of difference that can change the course of the world. But with each extra member Resistance can achieve so much more making us just that much closer to all of our aims.

So if you’re ready to make a difference to the world. Contact Resistance Today!

Check out the Resistance website at http://www.resistance.org.au/

Why are we sending more troops to Afghanistan?

Remember Afghanistan. It was that country we supposedly had “under control”, before heading illegally into Iraq. Howard’s latest announcement that we are too double our deployment in the country must leave many wondering what went wrong.

It was shortly after the 9/11 incident that we had committed our troops to fight the Taliban government and the Al Qaeda elements it supposedly supported. We were supposed to have caught Osama Bin Laden.

Al Qaeda and its leader had been aligned to America during the Soviet intervention in Afghanistan in the 70’s. But this time, like too many times before, the old ally who hated the U.S. just as much as the Soviet’s, turned on its former ally who had made it so powerful.

The Coalitions idea of democracy has always been a sham. The election of the U.S. friendly President Karzai been the instigator of compromises made with the warlords, many of whom are ex-Taliban and drug lords, making the democracy dream, simply a mirage that doesn’t stretch far beyond the Presidential gates.

Women’s rights, has been squashed as decent invasion reasoning by women within the country. Afghan MP Malaya Joya was in Australia earlier this year saying that the repressiveness of the previous administration has not ended and has in a lot of cases got worse under the occupation.

The U.S. War on Drugs in the country has also shown itself as a sham. Poppy production has increased under U.S. occupation and now sits at over 50% of GDP and over 90% of the world opium trade. While many small poppy producers have been done out of their living and been strung up as culprits, big time war lords have been able to obtain amnesty from the law. The U.S. War on their country has eliminated a lot of the alternative industries, giving small time farmers no other real choice.

But what about the Taliban being so dangerous and can we really leave without them taking over again? The fact is that for every day we remain in Afghanistan, the resistance grows, Taliban and others.

Our forces in the country are destroying people’s lives while they continue to prop up and defend the sham democracy that is in place. The longer they stay the more deaths we are going to see, with the increased likelihood of Australian casualties. Leaving Afghanistan will take away the main recruiting tool for these groups and will, when fair, unassigned reparations for all the damage we have created is paid, it will finally let Afghans choose their own future.

The Unequal Fight We Face against Climate Change

Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth showed a clear depiction of the problem the world faces from climate change.

The film however skips over an important realization that we do not all act as equal combatants against the problem. Some people are clearly more at fault and therefore are more able to fix the problem.

An Oil Baron, for example, has a choice where to invest his vast wealth but continues to mine oil. A worker for the company is constrained by the need to work and is possibly facing the loss of their livelihood and no guarantee of policy change if they feel the need to leave the company.

Similarly, a person who has the money can convert their houses to run on sustainable energies. A poorer person however may not have the resources to be able to this no matter how environmentally conscious they are.

An example of this can be seen in Venezuela which is one of the leading oil exporters in the world today. The dependence on the oil industry that they face was built up over decades by corrupt rulers. These rulers would let foreign companies exploit the industries. Major bribe payments would be paid to the dealmaker, at the expense of the country.

With the election of Socialist Hugo Chavez, we have seen the taking back of oil industries with big companies told to pay their bills or get out. Money from the lucrative industry is for the first time being put into social programmes to improve people’s lives. Chavez realizes that the oil won’t last forever and is also putting some of the money into building alternative industries.

Countries like Venezuela are third world nations and we are told that they must lessen their dependence on oil at the same rate as first world nations. First world nations have the resources to not only convert their own countries over to sustainable industries. They also have the power to help poorer nations lessen their own dependence. After all, this dependence was often created by first world corporations in the first place.

Similarly first world nations should be helping, not shunning their poorer citizens. Government should be helping these people achieve sustainability by making it accessible. A simple example is fluorescent light bulbs which Venezuela and Cuba provided free to all citizens while Australia’s market economy demands we pay for them.

People are showing that they want to be involved in this fight against climate change. One of the most democratic showing of this sentiment is in environmental rallies. Most of the world’s population can wake up in the morning and decide whether an oil plant should be closed or whether a sustainable energy farm should be opened. But they can, in many cases, wake up and go to a rally to demand change.

First world consumers can often make small changes like changing light bulbs or installing energy efficient appliances if they can afford it. But to change the larger decisions that will affect the world the most we have is collective power. If we stand together, we can affect change by forcing industry and governments to make the decisions that we desire. If we create enough pressure we can force industry and government to make concessions. These concessions can create a greater belief in our collective power. This makes us more able to fight for the larger demands we have for society.

This is why it is important not only to think about your own impact but also think about the larger picture and think about ways we can create the real change we need before it’s too late.

War Resisters Helping Break War Concensus

It may be the story the government spin doctors aren’t telling you but the ever-growing movement of deserters from the U.S. armed forces are making an impact in government circles and on public opinion across North America.

Many war resisters have risked imprisonment to escape the war they see as morally and ethically corrupt. Some have fled to Canada following their Vietnam War forefathers when thousands made their northern neighbour their new home. During the Vietnam War, deserters became the spokes people against their government’s involvement in Vietnam and spurred the growth of a movement against the war.

Despite Canada having no troops in Iraq, the same as in Vietnam, the Canada’s authorities have so far refused refuge to any war resister, forcing them to remain illegally in the country or flee back into the United States.

Canadian PM Stephen Harper has set himself apart as a war leader and fierce U.S. ally since coming to power in early 2006. He fully supported the continued supply troops to prop up the U.S. backed rulers of Afghanistan. Stephen Harper has also aimed to cut ties with Canada’s “peacekeeper” tag and sees a closer relationship with the Bush Administration as vital for the countries security, even comparing John Howard’s relationship with Bush as something to aim for.

Groups like the War Resisters Support Campaign in Canada and the War Resisters League in the United States have sought to accommodate the war resisters by providing safe housing and protection. They have also, however, provided them with a platform from which their stories can be told to an ever growing audience. The very stories about the war the government don’t want you hearing.

War resisters involved in these organizations have been traveling around to make sure these stories are getting out across the country. With the rising consciousness, the crowds of people willing to listen to these stories having grown contributing to the growing movement against the war we are now seeing in North America.

In Canada, public opinion has been turning decisively against the Prime Minister and with a yet to be called election believed to be not too far away we could be quickly saying goodbye to the conservative government, a rare occurrence in a liberal dominated political history of Canadian governments.

When Guilt Loses its Meaning

With David Hicks admitting guilt to terrorism charges, right wing columnists have been quick to attack the many people who supported the campaign to bring home and free David Hicks.

Admitting guilt is usually a task usually assigned to those who have committed crimes. However, David’s court case, along with all those held at Guantanamo Bay, must leave many with a bad taste in their mouth.

The court setup at Guantanamo Bay had excludes itself from the Geneva Convention on human rights, it allows evidence obtained under torture as well as hearsay evidence. These laws would not stand up in any respectable nation. It was a court so dodgy it had to be set up on an offshore base, far from the law.

The charges were so uncertain it took five years to move the case to where we are today. They have been five years of justice denied. Evidence from Guantanamo Bay tells of the horrors of torture and the denial of basic human rights to the prisoners. Hicks went three years before even seeing a lawyer.

Ultimately, Hicks was in the wrong place at the wrong time probably doing something that many may not agree with. This doesn’t mean he committed any crime. If there was any evidence of him doing anything you would have thought that it could have been dug out after five years. Yet in the end, it was Hicks who possibly saw the plea as a way out who brought an end to the proceedings.

This is why we should not let Hicks stay a day longer in a prison whether it is one illegally placed on Cuban soil or one in our own backyard. A criminal conviction is supposed to be held by those who have committed a proven crime; we must never lose sight of this fact.