The
History And Future Of
Radical Politics In Australia
By Eric Arons and Tristan
Ewins
About 60 km from Sydney's
city centre, on a 14 acre bushland property on the gorge of the Georges
River, Eric Aarons resides in a two room cottage. This property, which
was once also home to a residential school for the Communist Party of
Australia (CPA), now belongs to a group called the 'Co-operative for
Aborigines': an organisation which runs the Tranby Aboriginal College
in Sydney, and aims, one day, to become an independent university. Today,
Eric continues to manage the property as a holiday camp for the new
owners. Preferring these peaceful environs to his once hectic lifestyle
as a Communist Party activist, and once joint National Secretary, Eric
spends much of his time consumed by research, writing and sculpture,
which are chief amongst his many passions. The grounds immediately outside
this humble cottage are notable for the sculptures which have been the
focus of Eric's powerful creative energies. Amongst these is a six tonne
granite sculpture of a Diprotodon, a prehistoric, long-extinct giant
Australian marsupial which once shook the world with its thunderous
footsteps. As I sit down to edit a three hour transcript of a discussion
between Eric and I into an interview suitable for publication, I cannot
but think that old Communist activists such as Eric - part of a movement
which once shook the world with its radical politics and uncompromising
zeal - are themselves part of a dying breed.
Although Eric concedes that
the Communist movement has all but breathed its last in Australia, it
is still with pride that he recalls the principles of a movement which
he effectively called home for most of his life. When asked about what
the Communist Party stood for, he replies earnestly,
" I would pick out perhaps
first of all our internationalism, that is our opposition to all forms
of racism, discrimination and colonialism. We were the first political
party in Australia to oppose the White Australia Policy and to take
up indigenous rights."
When the Communist Party
of Australia was formed in 1920, Eric was but a toddler, and his memories
of this period are particularly scarce. His recollections of the Depression
and pre-war years, however, remain fairly vivid despite the fact that
during this period he was still but a very young man. As he recalls,
"I think the Communist Party really came into its own during the
Great Depression." Eric provides numerous examples to confirm this
view. He recalls the Communist Party's vigorous defence of the unemployed
during the Depression years when unemployment had skyrocketed well above
twenty five percent, and the determined 'eviction battles' which Communist
activists fought to prevent such people and their families from being
thrown onto the street. He recalls the struggle of the Communist-led
waterside workers to prevent the export of pig iron to Japan in 1938:
the conflict which earned Robert Menzies the ignominious title 'Pig
Iron Bob'. It is also with particular pride that Eric recalls the commitment
his father, and others, made in joining the International Brigades in
Spain to fight against fascism.
Despite the tumultuous nature of these times, however, Eric does not
believe that, even in the Depression, there was any prospect of actual
revolution. "It was largely a defensive struggle", he insists.
To illustrate his position he points to the rise of quasi-fascist organisations
such as the 'New Guard' in Australia at this time, whose numbers far
outstripped those of the Communist Party even at the height of its influence.
And yet, even despite this, Eric remembers this period as one of rising
confidence and hope within the movement:
"The important thing
was that nobody else virtually was doing anything except the Communist
Party
The Labor Party was completely at a loss as to anything
to do which again strengthened the view that perhaps the future belonged
to us."
Of course, such hopes were
gradually eroded during the post war years. The prestige of the Communist
Party, which had risen to an all time high during the latter stages
of the Second World War, was shattered with the dawning of the Cold
War, and the onset of McCarthyist hysteria in Australia and overseas.
And yet, despite this hardship, including the successful defeat of Menzies's
'Communist Party Dissolution' proposal, Eric and his comrades in the
Communist movement soldiered on in the hope that the crisis would pass,
and that the tide of History would once again turn in their favour.
Indeed, the Communist Party
of Australia continued to play a leading role in many struggles during
the post-war period, and was to become renowned around the world for
its courageous stand against both Stalinism, and also the rampant US
war machine in Vietnam. Eric recalls addressing a factory gate meeting
as early as 1964, long before a significant anti war movement had arisen
in Australia, predicting the eventual victory for the Vietnamese communist
forces. He remembers, "one worker said that the Americans had never
been defeated before and wouldn't be now, but it turned out otherwise
as we know." Notably, the principles of self determination which
inspired the leading role Eric and his comrades played in the anti-war
movement, were to be applied with equal vigour in 1968 as Soviet tanks
rolled into Czechoslovakia. At the time, the CPA left no question that
its sympathies rested with the Czech socialist leader, Dubcek, in his
attempts to build "socialism with a human face". As Eric remembers,
"we left no doubt where we stood and struck out after that on a
course independent of both Soviet Union and China and their various
satellites."
The Communist Party's stand against Maoism and Stalinism led to splits
in 1964 and 1971 as splinter groups broke off to pursue their own lines.
Both the Maoist Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist), and
the Stalinist 'Socialist Party of Australia' (which has recently reclaimed
the name 'Communist Party of Australia'), continue to struggle on despite
declining membership bases, and the consensus elsewhere that, in Australia
at least, Communism is a spent force. And yet the original Communist
Party of Australia voluntarily dissolved in 1991. Eric is adamant that
the declining fortunes and relevance of Communism by the 1990s called
for hard-headed realism, rather than what he views as a rather futile
sentimentalism. As early as 1976, when Eric became joint National Secretary
of the CPA, Eric remembers "having some premonitions about what
was to come." He recalls that " the former common outlook
based on Marxism, that had given the Party its unity and its drive was
disintegrating." By the time of the Soviet Union's collapse, Eric
is also adamant that the hopes of reforming 'really-existing' Communist
regimes had already been lost. "It was too late. If it had happened
ten or twenty years earlier it might have been possible but at that
time, twenty years earlier there was no place for so-called 'liberal
communism'." "The fact of the matter", Eric argues, "is
that things had gone [too] far." Here Eric points to the process
of "internal disintegration, and the alienation of the population."
"The Party/State bureaucracy had become too entrenched and powerful."
And yet the collapse itself certainly did nothing to solve any of these
problems and, if anything, simply worsened the plight of the ex-Soviet
republics. "It was a bleak thing that emerged and the bleakest
part of it was that there was and still is to a large extent a political
and moral vacuum there which will take many years, I think, to overcome."
With the Communist Party of Australia's voluntary liquidation in 1991,
there was a brief attempt at regroupment around a new party, the "New
Left Party", but with the failure of this project, a veritable
vacuum was created to the left of the Australian political spectrum.
The CPA's assets, distributed for safe keeping amongst a variety of
companies, were thereafter directed into a body called the 'SEARCH foundation',
whose name represents an acronym for 'Social Education and Research
Concerning Humanity'. To this day, the SEARCH foundation continues to
support independent left criticism, subsidising publications, radio
stations such as Melbourne's Radio 3CR (Community Radio), and providing
scholarships for independent research. There is little prospect, however,
of the SEARCH foundation striking out to form a party of the Australian
left.
As Eric argues, "we think it's useful [to] work not as a Party
but as an organisation that does networking both nationally and internationally."
Eric is scathing of arguments to the effect that, with the collapse
of Communism, we have arrived at an 'end of history' scenario. Referring
to Francis Fukuyama's 'end of history' thesis, which proposed the dawning
of a global liberal democratic hegemony, he contends, "Well
it was a very foolish thing to say.. [What] he said was that the collapse
or the victory of the West in the Cold War meant that liberal democracy
would prevail throughout the world. Well of course what we have is not
liberal democracy, but neo-liberalism which [is] a very different kettle
of fish." As Eric recognizes, Fukuyama's arguments have failed
to stand in light of the reality of economically neoliberal (as opposed
to liberal democratic) regimes taking an authoritarian road, politically.
And even in countries with strong liberal traditions, Eric points out,
there can be little guarantee of peaceful, constitutional change when
vested interests are threatened. He takes the example of the 1972 coup
by Pinochet against the leftist Allende government in Chile to illustrate
his point. "Helms notes of the meeting show that Nixon wasted little
breath in making his wishes known. Allende "was not to assume office"
quote, "$10 million available, more if necessary", "full
time job, best men we have", "make the economy scream"".
The logic of Eric's argument is plain. It has happened before. It could
happen again. We simply cannot take anything for granted.
Recognising the fading popularity of Fukuyama's position, Eric notes
that "the new guru if you like, of historical prediction is Samuel
Huntington with his book 'The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking
of World Order'" Rather cynically he adds, "You note the full
title - and that world order is sought to be being made by the United
States as I think now more people can see." Referring to the tragedy
which unfolded with the disintegration of Yugoslavia as a consequence
of rampant nationalism, Eric is adamant that there are "dangers..
which are.. inherent in Huntington's new prescriptions about a clash
of civilizations." "Of course it can happen but it's a very
dangerous path in these times when we have a lot of international issues
including say, the environmental ones that can only be tackled by humanity
as a whole. It's very dangerous indeed."
When asked what prospects there are for a renewal of radical politics
in Australia, Eric is caught between despondency and hope. "Marx
himself said that the traditions of all past generations weigh like
a nightmare on the minds of the living." For many people, then,
Communism is irretrievably stained by the crimes of Stalinism, its worthwhile
legacy buried beneath the nightmares of purge trials, omnipresent repressive
state apparatuses, the denial of national and minority rights. And yet,
Eric seems to accept that the Left cannot wholly 'reinvent' itself,
or detach itself from past traditions. "In certain respects",
he concedes, " it is true that there is nothing new under the sun.
[Most] of the
moral/philosophical problems have been there all
the time." While radicals might want to draw from the Marxist tradition
to find ideas and inspiration today, however, Eric is adamant that Marxism
is far from having 'all the answers'. In particular, he is scathing
of the old orthodoxy of anti-humanist Marxists that History "was
independent of the will and consciousness of people." The most
glaring absence in Marxism, Eric asserts, is the lack of any clearly
articulated ethical grounding, even although he remains convinced that
Marx himself was driven by powerful moral impulse. And yet Eric is convinced
that it is not only Marxism that fails in this regard:
"There is a great reluctance
in Australia, at any rate, I don't know about elsewhere, to even talk
about values
. Most.. people
act, as it were, instrumentally.
[They] think about the policies but not about the values on which those
policies are based. "
Despite having long since
abandoned the idea of Marxism as some kind of theoretical panacea for
the world's ills, Eric retains a strong commitment to "the values
of socialism." Asked to elaborate, he provides a brief list: "Reduce
poverty, promote egalitarianism, press for reconciliation, develop democracy,
respect the dignity of every person, develop community, preserve the
environment, curb money domination of everything."
Eric is sympathetic of a variety attempts to influence the direction
of Australian politics: from the Greens, Democrats, and from the Left
of the Labor Party. Eric believes that Bob Brown has "come out
very well in his role". However, he feels that Natasha Stott-Despoja
is a "captive" of her party's nature, torn as it is between
those who seek a mediating small 'l' liberal role between the Australian
Labor Party and the Coalition, and those who envisage the Democrats,
effectively, as a party of the Left. On the ALP Left he fears that ideological
content and cohesion is minimal at best, a degree a "coherence"
coming only from the "system of factional rewards". Nevertheless,
Eric cannot deny the strategic importance of the ALP, noting that it
is still important for the Left to endeavour to "influence"
the ALP, and provide an alternative to the "hegemonic neoliberal
discourse". Unlike others, however, Eric believes that the "main
impetus" for change will come from "outside": from independent
movements which will place increasing pressure upon the major parties.
Eric sees the so-called 'anti-globalisation' movement as one of the
strongest current challenges to the "global neoliberal hegemony",
although he rejects the assumption that the movement wants a reversion
to autarky. Rather, he sees the movement as part of an alternative "global
response to a global problems", as became evident at the recent
'World Social Forum' conference in Brazil.
Asked if he has anything
further to say before we conclude our discussion, Eric pauses for a
moment in thought. Finally he replies: "study and learn, think
for yourselves, act and then do it all again and then again." As
Communism fades, probably irretrievably, from the Australian political
landscape, then, perhaps this is what we all ought be doing: drawing
inspiration from the past, but also heeding the lessons of history.
Despite what many on the Left once thought, Marxism never had all the
answers, but as a tradition and a heterogeneous body of critical thought,
it is still something from which a new generation of radicals can draw
strength.
(Tristan Ewins is an Australian
Labor Party member and freelance writer.He moderates the broadleft egroup.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/broadleft/)