Readers are invited to submit letters to The Guardian.
Letters may be e-mailed to guardian@cpa.org.au.
Letters of 300-400 words are preferred.

Letters to the Editor:

From daydream to reality

In response to Chris Rath's letter "Government the enemy of the people" 
(Guardian 12-6-02) I agree wholeheartedly with that statement! But 
how do we turn the dream of people's government into a reality?

The Communist Party, and other fraternal parties such as the Greens can win 
government, form a people's government, and sweep away the army of 
capitalist parasites. But how to achieve such a goal? Sure it's not going 
to be easy. In fact, many Communists have been fighting for many years in 
Australia, and haven't won government.

But their hard work and determination was not in vain. The Communist Party 
has built foundations for us to build the people's movement. They have 
built up relations with other political parties, non-profit organisations 
and the like.

They have built up facilities, like the Party's buildings, office 
equipment, SPA books, etc. There is now a strong enough foundation for us 
to begin building the people's movement. The Party already has enough 
members to start this struggle, what we need now is enthusiasm of the Party 
members and supporters.

If only every Party member did one little thing a week, like coming to a 
demonstration, writing letters to the Guardian or major newspapers, 
sold new Guardians, or "letter-boxed" out of date Guardians, 
attended a local protest on behalf of the Party, sold some of our 
badges.

If everyone did this, we would be much closer to victory. With crisis in 
the healthcare system, education, daycare, employment, to name but just a 
few, the capitalist system is turning the workers into gunpowder, now we 
must provide the spark!

Andrew Lund
Sydney, NSW

They do say that military intelligence is contradiction in terms. Two 
recent examples reminded me of that.

Evidently, the US troops in Afghanistan had been issued with commemorative 
coins.

Judging by what they put on them though might make them really very 
special. The coin features a map which shows Afghanistan (a land locked 
country) bordering the Indian Ocean.

It also labels Tadjikistan as Uzbekistan. There is a lake where Uzbekistan 
is supposed to be.

Gives me the shivers to realise that these are the same people who have the 
capacity to blow the planet up.

The American military are not the only intellectual giants. Following 
closely are the British.

The British Navy is urgently reviewing its bases around Britain.

The Navy has just realised that its new generation of aircraft carriers, 
twice as large as the previous ones cannot dock in any port in Britain. 
They are just too big.

The aircraft carriers' cost was A$6.76 billion. I suppose the joke is on 
the British taxpayers but somehow I can't hear them laughing.

Miriam Saunders
Sydney

Electing governors would supposedly provide some kind of experiment for 
presumably conservative Australians. I suggest that the Australian people 
are not "conservative" at all and don't need such an experiment.

A nation that is fond of gambling and has experimented in the past with a 
variety of electoral systems is not inherently conservative.

Furthermore, Australia has a large number of inventions to its credit — 
although often exported because financial elites are too conservative to 
run with them! Politically, they are not silly either.

For several years prior to the 1999 Referendum opinion polls indicated a 
clear preference for a Directly Elected President — without prompting from 
any cashed up, organised pressure group. No problem here with fear of the 
unknown! The distrust of the politicians/elite model was so great the 
proposed model was thrown out.

The really conservative, obstructionist, often politically incompetent 
elements of this society are the elites themselves, the Coalition in 
particular.

If the Australian Republican Movement wants to distinguish itself as a 
reformist group, how about they confront these elites with the urgent need 
of drastic constitutional change, abolishing the states and changing the 
electoral system to end the two-party tyranny and mediocrity? The scope for 
reform is endless.

Klaas Woldring
Pearl Beach, NSW

PM's performance

The PM's outstanding performance in Washington deserves to be recorded 
in immortal verse. Here it is:

"John Howard you met George Shrub, eh?

And the Pope, too, I understand?"

"Yes, but I like the Pope much better,

I only had to kiss his hand."

Denis Kevans
Wentworth Falls, NSW

Back to index page