A note on strategy

Without a strategy, you become part of someone else’s strategy. I think this is a pretty apt description of what has happened to the broader Left for the past 30 years. The neo-liberal Right has had a very clear strategy – restructuring the State so that it serves entrenched corporate interests. Whereas some sections of the broader Left have maintained their ideological purity but been pushed to the margins, and other sections have been reduced to campaigning furiously for the guys that at least claim to be implementing neo-liberal policy either at a slower pace or with a human face.

Don’t worry, it will get worse than you think…

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Well, I always like to start with the bad news first. Things are going to get worse than you think. I mean bad, really, really bad. The good news? All I’ve got to give you is some guff about crisis and opportunity pretty much being soul-mates.

How dire am I talking about? Think the full force of the global Great Recession (call the systemic crisis what you will) finally unleashed on Australia combined with an Abbott-led government with an historic parliamentary majority. Now, put yourself in Peter Reith’s shoes, with Peter Reith’s ideology. Your mental Peter Reith should be <censored>, while the real you shudders with the thought of imminently being absolutely <censored> by Big Capital/the State.