En Passant

First it was Mojgan, then it was Melbourne. This is the real face of Australian Border Force.

The demonstration against Australian Border Force shows the way forward to beat back this deepening authoritarianism – protest, protest, protest. Do as those in Melbourne did. Occupy the centre of town. It is a lesson the refugee movement more generally and other movements like the equal marriage campaign could learn. On the streets to beat the new authoritarianism, defend the oppressed and win or win back our rights. The next time Border Force tries it on let’s bring out thousands against them.

Going to university should be a liberating experience. It should train us to critique rigorously all orthodoxies and dogmas. It should be about unlocking intellectual and practical abilities, giving us the tools to help transform society for the better writes Jordan Humphreys in Socialist Alternative.

However, universities, like all other major institutions, are shaped by the needs of the capitalist system – an authoritarian order run in the interests of the rich and powerful, who put profit above everything else. Going to university is an alienating experience because educational institutions take on the authoritarian, profit-driven dynamic of the system as a whole.

The new authoritarianism is winning its war against our freedoms, slowly, steadily but ever so relentlessly.