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"...No need to go to all that trouble, Mr. Watt, just because I asked you to mend the kettle."
The anonymous letter in the Salient of Thursday 3 August, shows ignorance on the part of the writer as to the aims of the Anarchist Movement.
The Anarchist Movement was formed with two objectives in mind: (i) to promote Anarchism, and at first to educate the working public as to the aims and ideals of Anarchism, and (ii) to provide a meeting place for the Left Wing factions, groups and any people interested in the Left in general. We had this aim, because there is a notable abscence of any place where people with differing ideas can meet and discuss them and act upon them, without having to unnecessarily be an Anarchist, Communist or pacifist: etc. Although most of the members have Anarchist beliefs, we welcome anyone, else who comes along to our meetings who is interested in any left-wing ideas.
The anonymous letter-writer asks why he has seen no action. The Movement has only really been in existence, since Monday 31st July, when we had our first meeting. Since then we have taken over a house in Kelburn Parade for a night to further emphasize that the state is only interested in propagating itself, and is not really concerned with the people it rules. We have also had a practice run for the disruption of the November General Elections, when we will be active in stimulating people to consider if there is any real reason why there should be a State at all.
The anonymous-writer seems to be only interested in the "propagation of the deed" aspect of Anarchism. This mode of conduct is is necessary to achieve, as a result of this ideal, concrete results contributing to the down-fall of the State. Assassinating Jack Marshall will only result in Muldoon becoming Prime Minister. In order to be any real force, we must have the support of those who believe in the necessity of the overthrowing of the State, and those who wish to work for a proletariate revolution. If you wish for larger results than disruption of elections, come along and lend your support. It is only with the support of the workers and others who realise the oppression of the State that we can ever hope for a revolution.
A sceptre is haunting Victoria University — the sceptre of Simenauer. It wanders ghost like through the corridors of power in a self created limbo of the Left preaching socialism in one university, and hearing only harrow ing echoes of "Out Now" "Vote Labour."
The history of all hitherto existing societies is the history of class struggles, Rob. So now all we have to do is find the class to which you belong and the faction which represents your class. Being an actor, with nothing to sell but the labour of your own hands and tonsils, being forced to work in another man's theatre for wages we can safely categorise you as a proletarian, i.e. a member of the working class. Now, who on campus is fighting for the liberation of the working class?
No Chris, Mr, Muldoon did not write my letter did he write yours? —certainly your 'dribble' was reminscent of the Muldoonian egocentrism so commonly displayed on sub-urbian T.V. screens.
I will reiterate my point which you so conveniently overlooked (... a tailing of politicians when they realise they have been found out. . .) namely you have one hell of a cheek printing outlandish stories about people before you have checked your information, and even more cheek pretending humility when someone has the guts to stand up to you. Even the scungy Dom. and E.P. have the manners to print the truth, even if seen through rose-tinted spectacles.
As for your generalisations about "young married sheilas" (I probably have a year or so on you) — very snide, very chauvinist. Women's lib. Take note. When we really are liberated Christopher Robin will be first on the chopping block.
The opponents of the party to which I belong practise the personal smear. For quite a while they have gone around calling me a CIA agent.
Having some pity for this childishness, I mentioned to some one or other of them that if they did their homework they would find that I was once a member of the League of Empire Loyalists, until expelled for being too politically outspoken for them.
I am pleased to say that certain liberals and others who take leading positions in various left-wing movements are now making this fact widely known among students and others.
Let me say to them, why? I conjecture it is part of a concerted campaign to discredit the most advanced and active elements on the left as fascists, such as calling the sitters down in the July 14th Mobilisation fascist hooligans and the Kent Flats squatters lumpenproletarians.
I welcome these idiotic attacks, because they will quickly reveal to all that these so-called liberals and others who take leading positions in various left-wing movements are in fact nothing but a pack of hidden scabs and traitors, who are at work in their underhand way at the same task as the political henchmen of the ruling class, defusing student militancy.
The League of Empire Loyalists was a right wing organisation, but one which gained the support of some working class people because in a distorted way it had working class attitudes. The UDA in Ulster is a similar sort of organisation. Membership of such organisations by working class people is politically short-sighted, but not inconsistent with admirable working class attitudes My working class attitudes were the same when I was in the League of Empire Loyalists as now.
The League used nonviolent and even violent disruption against political henchmen and others. The League was ultra-patriotic. The league stood for the defence of the independence of the nations of the British Commonwealth, and others also, against American and Soviet imperialism. The League opposed the United Nations, at that time an instrument of the super-powers. I was expelled from the League of Empire Loyalists for giving real punch to these attitudes in public statements. I have gone on to see that only in the Marxist-Leninist Parties of Albania, China, N.Z. and elsewhere are these working class attitudes truly upheld.
My opponents clearly show by their attacks that they uphold none of these attitudes, that they are themselves tools of the ruling class, that they are traitors, not patriots, that they serve U.S. and U.S.S.R. imperialism, that they support the instruments of the super-powers. They show this by using my past association with just these sound working class attitudes to attack these attitudes among my present associations.
Why do those doing advanced accounting have to repeat basic administration. Surely it should be realised that when these two subjects are taught, they are taught in relation to each other and in effect valuable time is being wasted that could be used teaching new concepts.
We can partly understand Vladimir Salient a few weeks ago. Due to some oversight of the Salient
Even so, other of Vladimir's criticisms
I am eternally grateful to Tony King for his advice on how to write articles satisfactory to himself. No doubt if a school of journalism is ever established at this university Mr King will be dragged out of his anonymity and placed in charge.
After deep study of Mr King's letters I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that he completely failed to understand the intention of the article he originally attacked. The by-election was so uninspiring and boring that I found it impossible to analyse it seriously. Therefore I decided to try and write a humourous interpretation of it. Of course, Mr King, that article was full of gross stereotypes it was meant to be. I am reluctant to have to explain this to Mr King but his letters display complete ignorance of my purpose in writing that article. Mr King tells me I should take up the politics of laughter and leave my bitterness behind. To show what a great comedian he was himself he had described me in a previous letter as a vituperative guttersnipe one could almost say that was back-biting or even bitter.
In return for all Mr King's advice I suggest only one thing if he wants to help me improve my writing he can appear in person in the Salient office and rubbish me for hours on end.
Finally I would like to correct Mr King on a point of fact. He suggests that I have yet to crawl out of the cocoon of pubescent righteousness "that most of us turned in with our PYM badges." Wrong, Mr King, I never belonged to the PYM, in fact I've belonged to the Labour Party for five years (I've voted Labour all me life mate); so you're guilty of that terrible stereotyping you accuse me of.
The national student body almost committed suicide at its latest meeting as t recriminated over the defeat of expansion plans many had pinned high opes on. From the first day when the proposals for a National Union of students were rubbished to the last day when NZUSA found itself unable to gree on a President for .
Everything went wrong for NZUSA throughout the Council. Many important financial matters had to be deferred (including approval of the
By Sunday, still two days before the Presidential election, likely candidates were beginning to canvass for support amongst the delegates. David Cuthbert had made it clear after the failure of the NUS proposals that he was unwilling to stand for a third time as President of NZUSA, and so left the field wide open. Jim Crichton from Canterbury declared himself as a candidate fairly early in the piece, so the remaining question was who would stand against him. Crichton didn't appeal to many of the delegates, particularly the more radical wing who regarded him as too conservative. Crichton is certainly something less than a charismatic leader, and was prominent in the fight against the adoption of the slogan 'Victory to the NLF' recently at Canterbury. Otherwise he was known as a possibly capable administrator.
The other early canditate was Peter Fletcher from Waikato. While there is no doubt as to his radicalism, Fletcher has for long been unable to convince many people that he is a capable organiser, though many wise-heads in the north have known him to carry through some pretty difficult deals. Fletcher handed round an amusing life history as his curriculum vitae, but the reaction was preetty much 'if it makes me laugh it must be joke'.
After a fair bit of lobbying around the place Gary Emms, the present Education Vice-President of NZUSA and ex-Massey President, announced that he would stand. Emms is well-known and popular, but the Soul Islanders especially tended to regard him as lacking administrative ability. Emms while he was visiting China last year stood for the
Elections were held on Tuesday morning, the last day of the Council. Emms and Fletcher made short statements and answered questions from the chief delegates. Then Crichton arrived and announced in melodramatic tones that he was withdrawing from the election because of 'complete disillusionment with NZUSA'. He never really explained why he was disillusioned, or why the feeling had come upon him so suddenly. He gave the impression that it was mainly because he felt so many people were trying to knife him in the back. This reporter could only find a couple who weren't as a matter of fact, and they were aiming their knifes at me at the time. One was Crichton and the other one of his mates. Still, that's been going on in NZUSA for years now, and judging from Lin Piao's experience its fashionable all over the world.
Shocked by all this, the delegates proceeded to vote and most of them courageously opted for abstention. Victoria for the information of its students cast all its votes for Emms Emms received the most votes in the secret ballot, but failed to gain a majority which he needed for victory. Faced with such a vote of no-confidence Emms withdrew from any further ballots, and was followed in this by Fletcher.
At this point the feeling around the table was very tense, and most felt that it was hardly worth continuing with the formal business. All the delegates left the table and sat around in a large circle talking about NZUSA. It was a best session of the Council, with some blunt but interesting statements being made from a broad range of delegates. Nearly all registered some measure of dissatisfaction with the way NZUSA was headed, though at this stage most criticism was of a productive nature.
After a break for lunch however the mood had begun to get more backbiting and nasty, John Howell, President of Otago, whom I will depart from my normal impartiality to describe as a pious little prick, left the Council in a huff. Things straggled on until the late afternoon when delegates decided to return to the table to conduct what formal business was absolutely vital for the next few months. At this point David Cuthbert was leading the proceedings again and delegates followed willingly. It was clear that his firm hand left many of the delegates lost when it was withdrawn. Much of the trauma NZUSA is facing seems to stem from the impending loss of Cuthbert.
There's not much formal business to report. A special meeting of NZUSA will be held in Wellington in September to finalise the budget and to ratify policy (what can't be done by post. Otherwise two impending junkets were the major items on the agenda. One will go to Japan during finals this year on the pay of the Japanese Government. The trip is for two students and will be followed by a cruise down the eastern Pacific. It is not political in aim, but NZUSA hopes that whoever it selects to send will use the chance to forge some contacts with Japanese student associations. Many delegates expressed disapproval of the trip which they felt was an example of 'junketing' which was not available to most students. The other, and vastly more important trip which is coming up is a student delegation to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Sometime in November two New Zealand' students will join two from Australia and one from the University of the South Pacific on a tour there. Criteria for the tour and definite information will be widely circulated later, but it is clear that a high degree of political committment is regarded as essental by NZUSA leaders. The trip could be the most important event that has occurred for many years. NZUSA has agreed to back the tour financially.
So that was Winter Council Christchurch Press) his own press release. No other candidates have appeared up to this point. NZUSA desperately needs a new President who is sufficient of a leader to take them through their present troubles and be a dominant figure if the rugby tour arrives in
The irony of it all is that this same organisation which lacks cohesion to the extent of
The atmosphere of Chile
In a poll of
Rather than bore you with our introverted local analysis of the significance of the election, Salient has used the three week gap between the results and publication to receive comments from our correspondents around the world.
There was some initial confusion in Europe after the election. The headquarters of the Socialist International in London immediately claimed Wilson ( a member of the Labour Party) as theirs and listed him as the 150th social Democrat to be elected to office in the world this year. That claim was immediately disputed in Brussels by the United Secretariat of the Fourth (Trotskyist) International, which claimed Wilson as theirs after a Wellington radio station broadcast that Wilson was a Revolutionary Communist with Trotskyist tendencies. However a mamoth telephone conversation between Ernest Mandel of the 4th International and Socialist Action League Secretary Keith Locke in Wellington quickly led Mandel to denounce Wilson as a petit-bourgeois academic liberal "radical". The United Secretariat then hailed the election as a great victory for world Trotskyism and defeat for ultra-left tendencies, apparently refering to the fact that the S.A.L. backed candidate for NZUSA Liason Officer got nearly 25% of the votes even though he lost.
At Transport House in London, headquarters of the British Labour Party, a press officer revealed the stunning news to reporters that Wilson's election was part of a long planned L.P. conspiracy to entrench the Wilson family in elective offices throughout the western world. Apparently Transport House had sent a certain Albert Rhodes alias John Shaw, alias Ivor —censored— to New Zealand to perpetrate this conspiracy, which he did with outstanding success. Probably Rhodes will receive the Clem Attlee Memorial tie pin for his work.
But in Chicago the election was received in a much colder fashion. The Militant reported on its front page that "Heroic Socialists Down Under attacked by vicious mob". The story by George F. described how the national headquarters of the "only Socialist party west of Hawaii" had been under "constant attack" from a "mob of hooligans". "As I write this August 3", he wrote, "my fellow comrades are beating off hordes of invaders led by some yellow-bell ..." A memorial service for George and his comrades has already been held here, attended by "great new layers and segments" of workers plus three stray dogs which eloquently piddled over the grave.
In Zurich the gnomes received the news of the VUW elections with their customary sullenness and held a street collection to raise money to send a sympathy telegram to Byron Cullen. It is rumoured that Billy Graham and the Pope joined in this message.
The dollar was reported to be shaky on Wall Street when the election results were announced to anxious stockbrokers. Their uncertainty immediately affected the pound which is at present floating, somewhat waterlogged, near the Azores. Only a speedy Royal Navy expedition rescued the pound from sinking once the news had come through. However in Moscow the ruble looked quite healthy, while our Peking correspondant reported that the Yuan was in extremely good shape.
In Pretoria the cabinet went into secret session im-mediately although it is apparently waiting for "Brooder King" to produce a full analysis of the election. At Stellen Bosch Dannie Craven burst into tears and ran round his thirty five rugby grounds sobbing "We'll play with the Argentine if those c---- won't have me."
Back here in Wellington all the factions are still squabbling over Wilson's carcass. Called a "revolutionary communist with Trotskyist tendencies" the morning after his election, Wilson temporarily raised the hopes of Wellington's five non-S.A.L. Trots - and then dashed them again when he denied the description. Pundits listening to Wilson's radio interview noticed that Owen Gager's face fell quite noticeably. However all eleven Maoists in town (not to mention the modern revisionist Socialist Unity Party) should not take too much pleasure out of this fact. Wilson did say he'd read Trotsky on the radio, and as every bigoted Stalinist knows, reading a page of Trotsky is as bad a stepping into a mire. Also his close associates say that he enjoys reading the Red Mole, the British lefty Trot newspaper.
All in all the most apt comment that can be made about Wilson's election is that his greatest problem next year will be fighting off all his mates who want to tell him what to do and see that he does it - a different problem, eh Mr Wilson?
(These comments were pieced together by the editors from Pravda, Wellington and Moscow correspondents; Trud, Red Star, Harpers, Morning Star, Le Monde, Chicago Daily Tribune, Socialist Affairs, and our correspondents in Mexico City, Peking, Leningrad, New York, Birmingham and Ottowa.
This Week "the Faction Line" Opens the Labour Party's .......
Thats the dynamic slogan the Labour Party will be campaigning
International Socialist Review) will seduce his lackeys from the straight
It's Time!
They Gave her Life-But she Got Away!
Apart from the odd Speech of Big Norm's and the Auckland Labour rag, The Statesman (the only good issue of which was withdrawn and burnt for quoting a National party candidate and criticising Big Norm and his sidekick Hughie Watt), party members receive the Labour Party Journal quarterly. A rather useless publication because no-one ever reads it and its glossy page are no good for toilet paper. However many people have been missing out on the subtle humour of the Journal as our research department found in a recent investigation. Take the
On page 13there is a bold announcement, "A Hamilton Woman has been Made a Life Member of the New Zealand Labour Party".
The following article reports rank and file work of the lady who received the 'unique honour' of life membership - "she had no peer in catering at Labour Party function", the article records. Apparently the lady's memory was still good. She "well remembers the depression" and 'still treasures the Christmas greetings from former leaders of the Party". The story goes on to record the lady's activities and memories but just at the end the subtle humour comes in. "She passed away recently and arrangements are being made to bestow the honour posthumously to her bereaved family." So much for life membership!
Lost-One Set of Good used Principles in Avon River. Finder Please Apply at Mayoral Chambers.....
While we're on the subject of Labour Party crap outs, there's Neville Pickering, progressive liberal Labour Mayor of Christchurch. Last Saturday Pickering called on the government to cancel next year's Springbok Tour because it could stuff up the
Next Week — "Expelled from the Labour Party for telling the truth, says student muckraker from walled residence at Karori Cemetry in dramatic post-humous statement". Exclusive to "Faction Line"!
Hair is everything they say it is, Critic said that its a rip-off (or did Thort) and it is. But there is more.
To the great Middle class which is willing to fork out $5 or so it probably be new, fresh, vital....(add your own cliches). Regardless of the rip off Hair does present an alternative vision of reality — a super great brainwash where you are scalped by two of the largest stroboscopes in the Southern Hemisphere, and your reactions are pre-programmed on the electronic switch boards and light controls. But this show will do more for the Anti-war movement, Hart and OHMS than any amount of disruptive protest, SAL mass mobilising or petitioning of Parliament. Rip-off it may be, but its not for us; its about us.
For the well-paid cast its just 'work' (what you want to do) rather than a 'job' (what you have to do to live). They are onto the Merry Prankster trick travelling around enjoying themselves and geeting paid for it. That much was clear, for when the rehearsal was over the producer had to throw 'now' in many people's faces to get them back to 'seriousness'.
Sure its all plastic American Youth Kulcha, Peace, love the V sign and the draft, but New Zealand being five years late, and elderly matrons wanting some place to entertain their kids in the August holidays, it could serve a valid social function. It won't cause an overnight revolution, but among all the Hooha, strokes and electric sirens, there is a level of ideas and attitudes which go someway to forming the consciousness which Marcuse (and Reich if you're in the Values Party) regards as a prerequisite.
Its worth seeing if haven't already, but it must be viewed as a relic of the middle six ties, before Hendrix and Joplin did their finale.
As for the oldies who drool like Pavlov's dogs at the sight of a naked breast, there's all of a minute's worth, on a dimmed stage with a police siren wailing. Five years ago it may have been shocking. When I saw it it was merely superfluous.
Yes, its worth seeing but not for five bucks. Maybe tor 50cents.
Mr Black is worse than he admits, certainly ignorant. It would help if he got off his arse and did something for this university instead of, in a typical student fashion, lying on his back in a sea of apathy and complaining his ring out when something is not to his liking.
Instead of writing stuffed letters which show him up as a lazy prick (being a first year fresher is not an excuse) how about him doing something.
Apart from it being very difficult for students to control their fellows effectively, as has been proved in the past, on no occasion has the non-student house manager ever had to exercise control and in fact keeps very much out of the way on such occacions.
With respect to Stein evenings. Perhaps Mr Black could have done something about it, perhaps he's too lazy !!!! Stein eveinings have in fad been organised for next year.
If you think that this is supposed to be a poem, then you're wrong.
I got that from Leonard Cohen,
But this dribble I'm writing isn't his.
I wanted to say how pissed off I get with editorials that are radical/pseudo reactionary for the sake of it only,
But as soon as you call it an editorial one switches off. You try to be an "originally tough realist", but, however,
You just crap out.
You spout shit on Jack and Norm and the relative merits thereof
Of violent/non-violent/effective demos, and the "fascist" farcical S.G.M. disrupters,
But you really wouldn't know if your arse was on fire.
Don't write editorials.
Write a Gripe Column.
I also get bugged by smart Alec, you know who. He garbles for bloody hours, with a lot of "By God," and so on
(edifying himself with his "comrade" Shadbolt), without really saying anything except irrelevant trivia!
We need less of Shaw,
Less of Cullen,
Less of those so sincere commies,
More articles written like the one on Elvis.
(But on anyone but Elvis)
And Mohn Joe-Bray
we can do without.
Pass your terms, kiddies
But do Something
apart from gazing inanely at the walkers by in the library,
Collecting your little Salient each week to read the emotional pro and cons of abortion etc. etc;
Don't just march on Parliament
And then listen docilely in the mud to fat Norm:
Blow up Parliament and then go and rape Norm.
Peter Wilson's article on PBEC was so pathetically irrelevent and one sided,
It even reminded me, just of a little, of smart Alec.
Sure, we need some of these "bloody radicals" on campus,
But can't we do better than these two? I have on 3 more pieces of dribble:
Sure, I enjoy reading the Tony King column each week, and I do hope he keeps up the good work, But who gives a fuck for the fact that he doesn't use the library?
Last Monday - August 21 - was the fourth anniversary of the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia. During the past few weeks 46 Czechs have been tried and all sentenced to prison. All were supporters of the Dubcek regime that was crushed by the Red Army four years ago.
In view of the fact that many of those imprisoned were academics - professors and students - may I enquire if the Victoria University Students' Association has registered any form of protest against these blatently political trials, that the Sydney Morning Herald for August 11 described as a "squalid travesty of justice"?
Thanks Suckers!
John Sones, a candidate for Sports Officer wants
to thanks the 87 people who voted for him for Constructively wasting their votes. John campaigned on a platform of supporting next year's Bok tour but in fact he is a Hart supporter and welcomes Don Carson's n election. Our condolences to those tour supporters who misplaced their votes, especially our old mate Danie of Stellenbosch. Better luck next time, suckers.
Your address to the Management convention during the varsity holidays showed once again, if further proof were needed, that though radical politics may go on holiday, reactionary politics certainly do not. The theme of your address was not, of course, novel. The assertion that ". . . the only way the economy is going to digest the present frozen wage-price relationship is by a massive expansion of growth over the next year or so," has by now attained the status of a ritual incantation among economic "experts". What was new however, was the way in which you singled out for attack those groups who seem to you to most threaten the attainment of the capitalist millenium - - trade unions, "hippies", "opters-out", and unrealistic, idealistic students. The "message" (whatever that is supposed to imply; penal clauses in industrial relations legislation perhaps) will have to be put across to trade union you suggest, to make them understand that they are being naive if they believe they should not have to choose between higher real wages and a shorter working week. In tact, from the standpoint of a worker as opposed to that of a bourgeois economist such as yourself, the demand for a shorter working week and no restrictions on wages is quite basic. To reject it is to conced that 'the economy" will run less and less in his interests, which in turn exposes the idiocy and illogicality of expecting him to make voluntarily the reverse commitment.
What it adds up to is one of the inescapable contradictions of capitalism; that every individual or sector behaving rationally in capitalist terms, i.e., attempting to maximise gain, gel more for less, tills out a Total picture of irrationality, and chaos. However, since rationalising the irrational is your occupation, a way must be found to obscure the problem and its source. The path is, of course, to equate a partial interest, that of the capitalist class, with the interests of society as a whole by invoking concepts such as the "national good" or "the economy" when what you are really talking about are the businessmen only No doubt you will say that the two are synonymous, but this, as Philip Toynbee has pointed out ..is no more than a tautology which states that it a community allows itself to depend for its health and sickness on the size of the profits made by its capital then this is, indeed, the case". And if more proof were needed that your economic "truth" is one that is very much for sale, it is surely to be found in your statement that. "It is easier and more dignified to correct problems of low living standards by raising the general average rather than by redistributing a static level of income". Easier for whom-for a government with such a strong ideological commitment to private enterprise as the present National one? And more dignified for whom? Certainly not for a family with a forty dollar a week income, four children to keep and no sign of the State house promised to them twelve months or more ago. But then these are not the people you are interested in. And that is not just a ll personal slight. For as Ernest Mandel, (Rarely quoted in your lectures I am told) has said "...unless you are out to deceive people, you cannot sermonize for a more rapid economic expansion, which under capitalism implies an increase in private investments; and simultaneously demand a redistribution of the national income in favour of the wage earner." Similarly even if total production were to rise as massively as you wish, and even in the average
On top of all this there are then people ("idealists" to you no doubt) who would say that your blanket call for a massive expansion of growth suggests you have never heard of ecology and the environment. Not that I would recommend the 'no growth" slogan. The question, as Barry Weisberg says, is "..what kinds of growth must be encouraged and what kinds of growth should be prohibited, not whether growth itself should be condemned wholesale. Flowers grow, children grow, personalities grow. So can capital production, and consumption." With capital profitability as your overriding criterion in deciding what kinds of commodity; production to encourage, it is quite clear that you lack the ability and responsibility to make the kind of decisions Weisberg sees as being necessary. The point is that try as you may, you cannot reconcile private gain with public good. To say accusingly as you do, that "Students, some of whom are extremely vocal in their opposition to growth and big business, are exactly docile in their demands for mo resources, especially for housing and accommodation", is to concede that they have recognized this contradiction and acted on it, while you cannot even see it. Moving quickly to the end, one can pass over your pontificating statement that "We should always note that most of the hippies and opters-out of this world are to be found in high income societies where alone do conditions permit this luxury", since the conjunction between "high income italist societies and alienation shows that it is the former which causes the latter. That fact in turn makes nonsense of your prior assertion that the most important quality of life is the freedom to do what one wanted with one's own time and money. To say that a beggar in Calcutta would welcome the opportunity to opt in to the system you revere is to argue from both expediency and sadism. It is after all, your kind of economics which goes to make for beggars in Calcutta. Finally, again speaking of students, you say that, "..one finds that those loudest in their declamation against growth are already in a reasonably high income group and can afford the luxury of then idealism". So anyone who oppose your concept of growth is automatically an idealist. One could suggest that this assertion show a mentality that cannot conceive of a role for people in society other than that of performing seal for the status quo One might also ask whether you consider your type of criticism is attributable to or can be traced back to the social interests you represent. Similarly, I would guess that having a base at university from which to run around doing the establishment's rationalising for it probably yields you a large income. Saying that brings us to the real crunch ; for you are after all, supposed to be a teacher, her, one who encourages the development of critical faculties. Your speech shows, again if further proof were needed, that the two functions do not and cannot mix.
Dr. Barakat Ahmad, Rapporteur of the United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid, will visit New Zealand next month as a guest of the Halt All Racist Tours movment, and will be speaking in Wellington on the 8th of September.
Dr. Barakat Ahmad, Rapporteur of the United Nations Special Committee on Apartheid, will visit New Zealand next month as a guest of the Halt All Racist tours movement, and will be speaking in Wellington on the 8th of September.
The latest public opinion poll on next years Springbok Rugby Tour makes it clear that the great majority of New Zealanders want the tour to come here, and it is very easy for the government and sporting bodies to dismiss those opposed to the tour as a tiny minority.
In fact, however, organisations like Hart are simply expressing the over-whemingly dominant world opinion that white racist South Africa should be isolated. The visit of Barakat Ahmad should help to make this clear to New Zealanders. It will also whow up the National Party Government as the hypocrites they are, mouthing their opposition to apartheid while they are flagrantly disregarding U.N. decisions against contact with South Africa. No doubt the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be highly embarrassed by Dr. Ahmad's visit as a high-ranking U.N. representative invited by a non-conformist non-governmental organisation.
Barakat Ahmad is particularly well qualified to represent the U.N. in New Zealand as he was accredited to the Indian High Commission in Wellington some years ago. As Hart's chairman, Trevor Richards said recently, "In Barakat Ahmad we have the unique blend of an international diplomat and a man who knows New Zealand well". In public statements Dr. Ahmad has shown that he understands the sacrifice New Zealanders must make to cut off the opportunity of sport with South Africa. However he points out that while it was painful for Indian to cut off its very substantial trade with South Africa, the Indian people accepted the sacrifice with no hesitation.
Dr. Ahmad's visit is being fully financed by Hart and will cost $3000. As his visit is extremely important politically as well as educationally Hart is asking for money to help pay for it. You can send a straight donation to the 'Hart Speakers Fund' at the movement's national office, 101 Rugby Street, Christchurch. Entrance to Dr. Ahmad's public meetings will cost only 50c and finally Hart is organising fund-raising dinners in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. The dinner in Wellington will be held at the James Cook Hotel on Saturday September 9th and tickets cost $10 each. Thus sum will probably be too much for most students, but not a great inconvenience for lecturers and professors who after all get valuable publications like Salient for nothing. If you want to come to the Wellington fund-raising dinner, contact Peter Wilson, the local Hart area officer (c/- Students Association, P.O. Box 196).
Congratulations to Salient!
The publication of the article "Neo-Colonialism in Malaysia" is the best work Salient has done for students and people of Malaya and North Kalimantan. The article expresses correctly the view of the people and the overseas students from these areas who have no opportunity to air their opinions at home due to the suppression of freedom of expression.
The seemingly MSA leaflet "A Reply to the forces Against Nationalism and self-determination" accuses the article as an "imperialist-communist plot" which is apparently a popular CIA connotation. The leaflet even attacks further the Vietnamese and Malayan people by labelling the War in Vietnam and the Malayan National Liberation Movement as "the communist tactics of murder, arson, torture and blood-spilling". One can clearly see who these bastards are now! These few academic bandits are nothing more than the lackeys of the enemy of the Malayan and North Kalimantan peoples.
Only CIA publications use the term "imperialist forces of China". It is interesting to note that these academic brigands get their inspiration from CIA sources. The article "Neo-Colonialism in Malaysia" has clearly shown that the formation of "Malaysia" was an arrangement of the Anglo-US imperialism.
The celebration of the so called "Malaysian National Day" is incapable of covering up the fact that "Malaysia" is a product of Anglo-US imperialism. Malaya (including Singapore) is a unified country which cannot be separated by the Anglo-US imperialists and their lackeys at home. The Anglo-US imperialists together with the two puppet cliques of Razak and Lee Kuan Yew engineered the plot of "Malaysia" and "the Republic of Singapore". This is the plot of divide-and-rule to split the revolutionary unity of the people and to consolidate the colonialist rule of Anglo-US imperialists in Malaya.
Diplomatically, the Razak and Lee Kuan Yew cliques advocated for "neutrality" and "non-alignment". However, they join with the Anglo-US imperialism and the reactionary forces of other countries in carrying out reactionary activities in Sea. They even defend the US imperialists against the Indo-Chinese people..
Politically, the Razak and Lee Kuan Yew cliques adopt the neo-colonialist policy of Anglo-US imperialism; maintain their rule of fascist military dictatorship; suppress ruthlessly the liberation struggle of the people; arrest and shoot the masses; and imprison the anti-imperialist patriots in the jails without trial.
Economically, reactionary measures have been taken to assure the interests of foreign monopoly capital and comprador-bureaucrat bourgeoisie by offering incentives and cheap labour. Various reactionary legislations have been imposed against the workers to strike and to demand for wage increases.
In the field of education, they implement the colonialist policy which preaches slavishness and lackey mentality. The schools aim at turning out lackeys and they did succeed to a certain extent as it is shown by the words and deeds of the bunch of so-called students who put out the leaflet.
In defence, the two puppet governments form an alliance with British imperialism Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia etc. This proves that the Razak and Lee Kuan Yew cliques are the loyal lackeys of Anglo-US imperialists.
I note that a letter signed by the so-called 'Peace Loving Malaysians' appeared in the August-September issue of 'dum dums' MSSA Critique threatening all overseas students to obey their advice, "otherwise we are forced to report to the Malaysian government to do something about you when you return home."
The University authorities and the VUWSA need to study seriously and urgently such bloody political threats by a few bastard spies roaming around the campus. Urgent action should be taken to expel these 'Peace Loving Malaysians' from the Varsity as their appearance will certainly humiliate the life of overseas students. The University authorities and the VUWSA have the duty to safeguard the safety and welfare of overseas students who have for a long time lived in fear of political persecutions.
These rascal 'Peace Loving Malaysians' have now openly exposed themselves as paid - or unpaid spies who have established a small kingdom of gangsters within the campus and become the ruling and oppressing class among the overseas students. It is a well known fact that a few students pay frequent visits to the high commission to receive instructions and have close contacts with the office. They act as spies for the high commission. Any spies disguised as students at Victoria University should be expelled immediately !
A plot is now taken by the Malaysian fascist government-financed MSA through out New Zealand to annihilate MSSA under the pretext of merging the two organisations as one. The plan is not only brought out in Wellington but also has been instructed to their representatives in other centres. By the way, the innocent and dum dums MSSA leaders are ready to betray their principles and sell out the whole organisation.
The slavish MSA guys are now coming out to talk a lot about the disadvantages of having two organisations on campus. One must recall that it is merely because the forced formation of MSA by a minority of students who are instructed by the Malaysian fascist government that splits further the overseas students. As a former president of MSA, M. Lim should be responsible for such crimes.
The first step to unify the students is to dissolve MSA first, to calm down the tension among the overseas students and to prove they are giving up entirely their sectarian habits. Only after six months of the disolving of MSA and with the assurance of no making trouble from MSA leaders, the students will then consider to discuss the problem of student organisation.
Everyone knows that both MSA and MSSA are dying because they lack support from the majority of the overseas students. They do not really intend to help the overseas students as they usually complain they have only a few members. The MSA president, the lackey Zaidi K. Zainie personally admitted recently "poor attendance to MSA functions" and "poor response to Bahasa Malaysia classes."
Any genuine student organisation should refuse money or bribes offered by the Malaysian fascist government as it will create suspicion and mistrust among the overseas students. MSA is nothing but a fascist government-controlled organisation, a strumpet of the puppet regime of Malaysia. Thus MSA must be closed down. How can students trust an organisation backed by the infamous Malaysian fascist, racist and reactionary regime?
It is interesting to note that the MSA News-letter encourages students to "write letters to the three Secretaries (of the High Commission) on any matters of interest..." "Students are also welcome to discuss with them personally or by telephone." Also, the office of the good-for-nothing Students' Director of Malaysian racist government" is very near." It is also worthwhile quoting from the MSSA Critique that "If you want a job when you return home, then it is high time you make available your appearance at the Bahasa Malaysia classes." Students are partly tempted and partly threatened to join the classes which are part of their schemes to control the students. This indicates explicitly that the Malaysian fascist government maintains a full-time office in Wellington devoted to keeping an eye on students and exercising control over the overseas students.
If you do not want to be controlled or dictated by the Malaysian fascist government, it is advisable to keep away from MSA and MSSA as both are not trustworthy and both will not do any good for your future. At present, a few self-proclaimed leaders of MSA and MSSA are negotiating the possibility of merger and joining hand in hand to monopolize the overseas students affairs Eveyone should be aware of the plot and offer no support to either one of them. After all, the planned new organisation will become another machinery of the Malaysian fascist and racist government. This is merely filling the new bottle with old wine.
As soon as the Razak clique were installed as puppet headmen by their British masters, they lost no time in seeking to enrich themselves and to foster the growth and development of the Malay bureaucrat capitalist class of which they are the representatives. In the last decade this clique have intensified these activities and implemented their reactionary policy of fattening the new Malay bureaucrat capitalist at the expense of the working people of Malaya, especially the Malay peasants.
Many "government-financed" and "government-sponsored" organisations have been set up. Chief among these are the Mara (Council Trust For Indigenous People), Fama (Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority), FLDA (Federal Land Development Authority ), FIDA (Federal Industrial Development Authority), Pernas (National Corporation Berhad), SEDCs (State Economic Development Corporations), UDA (Urban Development Authority), National Padi and Rice Authority, Bank Bumiputera, Bank Kerjasama (The Apex Bank), Lembaga Urusan Dan Tabong Haji (Pilgrims Management and Fund Board). Agricultural Bank of Malaysia, Perbadanan Kewangan Kebangsaan, Perbadanan Perniagaan Dan Perusahaan, MIDF (Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad) Perbadanan Insurance, National Investment Company, Housing Trust, Genting Highlands Sdn. Bhd., etc. These organisations cover the fields of industry, commerce, agriculture, mining, banking, shipping, transport, insurance and tourism. Public funds are channelled to the Malay bureaucrat capitalists through these organisations in the form of loans and subsidies, which in practice mostly become outright gifts.
The Majlis Amanad Ra'ayat (Mara) or the Council of Trust for Indigenous People was established in Mara provides "the important fuction of assisting, guiding and encouraging..." the Malay bureaucrat capitalists "...in participating actively in various commercial and industrial undertakings.....Since its inception the Council has gradually expanded its activities in the financing of..." Malay bureaucrat capitalists'" ...enterprises, joint ventures and direct investments in industries and expanded its training programmes and advisory services provided to..." Malay bureaucrat capitalists [See annual Report, Bank of Negara Malaysia, Mara is to widen the particular of the Malay bureaucrat capitalists in the commercial and industrial development. (See Annual Report, Bank of Negara Malaysia,
By the end of Mara distributed M$50 million to Malay bureaucrat capitalists; and M$29.9 million in
"Over the past three years, the Council had set up factories entirely financed from its resources or in joint ventures..." with local big capitalists and foreign monopoly capitalists, expecially American and Japanese. "These factories produce a wide range of manufactured and processed products including leather, tapioca, wood and textiles. By the end of
During Mara operated 12 bus companies, of which 11 were joint ventures, and increased its number of buses by 47 to 627 at the end of Mara to Malay bureaucrat capitalists through the sale of shares, was seven. During
With the rapid growth of Malay bureaucrat capitalism, a large number of bureaucrat administrative staff or lackeys are needed to operate of manage the "government-financed" or "government-sponsored" organisations and other enterprises controlled by Malay bureaucrat capital. "In addition to providing technical and financial assistance to industrial and commercial enterprises, Mara undertakes an education and training programme designed to provide training opportunities for the indigenous people to enable them to participate more actively in commerce and industry. For this purpose, scholarships are provided at Malaysian and overseas centres for business and professional studies." (Annual Report, Bank Negara Malaysia,
Table 1 indicates that "During Mara provided 322 scholarships, 206 were tor studies at institutions in Malaysia and the remaining 116 for overseas studies." (Annual Report, Bank Negara Malaysia. Mara also granted 435 loans to students in Mara. In the five years of the Second Malaysia Plan, it is envisaged that 6,650 people would be given professional training. (See Mara immediately indebted to Mara as soon as they sign the agreements. The students will need to take years to repay the debts and turn into 'modern slaves' of the bureaucrat capitalists.
It is also worthwhile to point out that Victoria University of Wellington and other New Zealand Universities or institutions higher studies have also played a significant and complimentary role in association with MaraMara scheme') in addition to 179 Mara-Colombo Plan scholarship students constitute about 1/3 of the total number of Colombo Plan students in New Zealand! The number of Malaysian Mara Mara- Among Mara scholarship and loan holders, almost all of them are doing B.C.A. courses which implies that Victoria is engaging in professional and business training of young future Malay bureaucrats is the rapid rise of Malay bureaucrat capitalism. When these group of government-financed students return home, they immediatly become the bureaucrats. Political, economic, social
Criticism has also been levelled against Bank Fama.
The FLDA (Federal Land Development Authority), in one instance allotted 33,500 acres land to the Economic Board of Trengganu and the National Financial Construction Board, headed by the puppet Chief Minister of Trengganu, Ibrahim Fikri, for planting oil palm. This puppet is connected with the Insurance Copperative Society of Malaysia in this venture. He has received M$50 million from public funds for developing this scheme. It was this same Ibraham Fikri who had bluntly told the unemployed youths of Trengganu demanding land for cultivation that there was no land available for distribution to the people.
In short, none of the organisations set up ostensibly to improve the welfare and livelihood of the Malay masses has brought them any direct or indirect benefit. The policy and measures of Razak clique are entirely aimed advancing the selfish class interests of the rapacious Malay feudal landlords and bureacrat capitalists whom they represent and further impoverishing the broad masses of the Malay peasants and working people.
The Malay bureaucrat capitalist class, which controls the UMNO Party, has grown out of the Malay feudal landlords and bureaucrats who were formerly in the employ of the British colonial regime. They have, within the short space of a decade so, aquired much wealth and influence by defrauding and plundering the Malay masses. A few of them may be quoted typical example:
Tan Sri Haji Mahammed Noah, father-in-law of Razak the Prime Minister of the puppet regime and also father-in-law of another two Cabinet Ministers, was a former President of the Dewan Negara or puppet Senate. His case is an outstanding example of nepotism and abuse of official position for personal gain which are rife among the puppet leaders. He is Chairman of the Johore Sugar Plantations & Industries Berhad, a joint enterprise between the UMNO—MCA bureaucrat-comprador capitalists and the Japanese-Taiwan big capitalists, with M$25 million capital and possessing a vast tract of land (20,680 acres) given to it by the puppet regime. He is concurrently Chairman of Langkawi Marble Co. Ltd., Deputy Chairman of several concerns including Malayan Flour Mills Ltd., United Malayan Banking Corporation and a Director of many firms including Esso Standard (M) Bhd., Selangor Dredging Ltd., Robinson & Co. (M) Ltd., Southeast Asia Housing Ltd., and First Life Assurance Ltd., He was also the first Chairman of Genting Highlands Sdn. Bhd. and recently he disguises as a Director of this biggest casino-hotel complex in Southeast Asia -- the miniature of the "Las Vegas" or "Monte Carlo" of Malaysia. Thus with the advice of Razak, a former Deputy Inspector General of Police known as Tan Sri Heji Hussain has been appointed as a new Chairman of this 15,000 acre Genting Highlands tourist complex -- "the world of dreams" for bureaucrat-comprador capitalist and and foreign monopoly capitalists. It goes without saying that he is also business agent for his son-in-law- the puppet Premier. (Straits Times, 30-1 72).
Ismail Abdul Rahman, the puppet Dupty Premier, Minister for Home Affairs andchairman of the Johre Alliance, formerly Affairs puppet Ambassdor to the U.S. and the UNO, UNO, is Chairman or Director of many concerns including the Malayan Banking Ltd., Guthries, Dunlop, Food Specialist (M) Bhd, the Cathay organisation, National Shipping Corporation etc. Most of them are companies owned or dominated by foregin monoploy capitalists.
Nik Ahmad Kamil, head of the UMNO in Kelantan, was formerly puppet Ambassador to the U.S. and the UNO and High Commission to the the United Kingdom. The first prominent puppet bureacrat to resign and go into business, he has become President of the National Chamber of "Malaysian" Manufacturers and a Director of the Asian Development Bank and a number of companies, including the Rothman Tobacco Co., Utusan Melayu Press etc.
Hussein Nordin, Ex-Secretary General of the UMNO, who has been puppet M.P since
Mohammed Yusof former Permanent Secretary to the puppet Ministry of Labour, has become a Director of more than 20 companies and Executive Secretary of the National Chamber of Malaysian Manufactures. He gave a special interview to the press to show off his newly-built 15-room palatial mansion, with a swimming pool attached, costing nearly a quarter of a million dollars. He owns more than five limousines. How could he have acquired his position and great wealth so soon after his retirement unless he resorted to the to the grossest from of corruption and manipulation of public funds and colluded most outrageously with foregin monopoly capitalists. This also applies to other bureaucrats who have become millionaires overnight.
As a sharp contrast to these bureaucrat capitalists, the Malay peasents have sunk further down in poverty. Unemployment and prostitution have been on the increase. What the puppet authorities have done is to aggravate these problems. According to the Annual Reports of Bank Negara Malaysia as shown from Table 2, out of M$1,433, the total amount of loans and advances lent by commercial banks to customers at the end of Mara, "Government-sponsored" Cooperative Societies and other bodies supposed to be looking after the interests of the "sons of the soil." From these sources less than 1% went to agriculture (See Berita Harian,
According to the Annual Reports of Bank Negara Malaysia, allocations for agricultural and rural development from public development expenditure for the Five Year Plan periods of
Ghafar Baba, head of the Mara, had to admit that 95% of the Muslims( i.e. the Malays) are living in poverty. It is well known that 80% of the rice growing peasants do not own the land own the land they till but work for landlords or become tenants paying very high rents. Their average income per month is less then $M50. Fisherman have even smaller incomes which average less than M$35.
Millions of dollars have been allocated for so-called social welfare and medical and health services (M$688 million in
Thus from their observations and their own bitter experience, the Malay peasants and working people have come to realist that all the insidious propaganda and Malay chauvinistic policy peddled by the Razak clique about "Bumiputeraism" or promotion of the interests of the "sons of the soil" or "Special Malay Privileges" and their oft-repeated promise of ensuring a monthly income of M$300 for every peasant are downright lies. These lies have systematically been spread to divert the Malay peasants and working people from the class struggle against the Malay expoliter classes.
The Malay peasants and working people are learing from their personal experience that the Razak clique, by be traying the country to British-U.S. imperialism and by ruthlessly oppressing and exploiting them, are enemies no less than the Lee Kuan Yew clique and the reactionary leaders of the MCA and the MIC.
It is not surprising at all that the number of Malay guerrillas in the jungle has risen rapidly and immensely in the last decade. This is of great significance to the revolution of the Malayan people in the
The road of liberation for the Malay peasants and working people is the same as that for the workers, peasants and toiling people of other nationalities in Malaya, that is, by overthrowing their common class enemies irrespective of their nationalities. Therefore, they are determined to unite with their class brothers, the oppressed and exploited workers, peasants and toiling people of other nationalities in Malaya and to carry through to the end the revolutionary armed struggle to overthrow their class enemies, British-U.S. imperialism and the Razak-Lee Kuan Yew puppet clique.
If you are looking for a nice easy subject to take for your degree you should consider the courses offered by the English Department. Paper 101 is a beautiful fillin. It requres no special reading or understanding, and if you showed relative competence at pulling books to pieces and putting the shreds in little pots marked Plot, Character, Theme, Background, and Technique when you were at school nothing more need recommend you. You need not be quite as meticulous and tidy as at school, but the game is much the same. The syllabus is one you will be used to as well selected passages of prose for analysis, a couple of poets, a few quaint plays, four period novels, and a token sample of wornout N.Z. Many of the works you may consider rather too tedious, but dont let that deter you - I have known several people who have got through the course by reading little summaries and analyses, available from your dearest bookstore. Just think - in America you could buy your whole degree!
If you are interested in people's ideas, literature, or writing, do not take the English courses. Take instead philosophy, history of philosophy, history, political science, languages, or give up and do a BCA. English bears the same relation to these interests as a Vietnamese peasant to American aid - the potential is there but the application is lacking. The goodies don't seem to make it through the system.
In no way is this criticism aimed at the lecturers and tutors in the Department - in most instances the standards kept by the teaching staff are excellent, and they often go a considerable way towards making up for the inadequacies in the courses. What I am criticizing is the syllabus itself, which, in attempting to cover multifarious aims, succeeds in defying attempts made to limit and channel it to water any field adequately.
Despite the changes expected with the new exam system the basic English courses are the same as they were eight years ago. The old 'A' course, now ENGL 101 ;201 ;202;203, is for people who do not want to major in English. Assorted texts are studied, usually with no relation to each other; though points of similarity are often stressed to prepare the way for those dreadful 'compare and contrast' questions, the points are usually superficial and forced (i.e. both Conrad and Forster deal in some way with colonial themes). The course as a whole has no direction. All that is required of the student is that he reads and uncritically comments on the text (reproduction of the lecturer's notes will do). The "critical reading of prose, poetry and drama" that the Calendar talks about is an outright lie - "critical" implies the making of some kind of value judgement, something which, in my experience is anathema to the English Department. Never have I heard questions like "Where does the impact of this book lie? Why do you like it?" Answering questions like these is essential to developing the critical faculty, and also to the continuing enjoyment of literature. A modicum of original thinking is required. The answers are also likely to be rather embarassing to the English Department. Perhaps that is why the questions are not asked.
The course covers such a diversity of texts that it is impossible either to make a detailed study of them or to make anything but a superficial connection between them. There is no attempt to make any sort of relevant link with any other course. Students feel that the more lime spent on English the more time consumed out of their worthwhile study. They find the solution is to spend as little time as possible on the course.
Of course, if the whole idea is to develop a critical faculty in the student modern books could be studied just as well, with far more relevance to the student's outlook on life and his attitude to the course. At school there is more excuse for clinging to lame and outdated volumes for study, as considerable capital outlay is required to equip a class with new books. Nevertheless most high schools I know have left the English Department far behind in the study of recent literature. If the course succeeded in developing a facility in critical thinking and expression it would be considered a boon by all disciplines. Indeed for a subject as remote as Legal System the first exercise is a critical assessment of a book to test just this faculty.
The old 'B' course, now ENGL 111;211;etc is for students who feel they have little enough imagination to major in English. It is planned to give a background to the major writers in the English tradition. Professor MacKenzie distributed to the English 111 class this year an elaborate justification for the course, including, among such pompous enticements as "Each poem, play or prose work offers immediate human rewards to those able to enter it with a mind alert to the experience it embodies" a statement of the two main aims of the course: "First, particularity, shown by your skill in reading, and talking or writing about single works; second, generality, shown by your ability to compare and contrast such works, both to heighten your sense of their individuality and at the same time to establish their similarity as expressions of a society different from, but formative of, our own." We have here the confusion of aims that turns this course from one that could possibly have considerable importance to a student of social history to one that frustratingly fails to satisfy study in any direction.
But I must be fair. This course does indeed go a long way towards achieving these two aims. A lecturer with a certain rudimentary knowledge of some of the political and social movements of the period under study is able to give the books some kind of historical perspective, though when I did English 3 the Romantic poets were considered without a thought for the philosophies of Rousseau, Goethe and Schiller that made such an impact on the later stages of the movement, and scarcely a glance at the large political movement led by Godwin with which they were intimately conjoined. People who have studied no history can never understand the tremendous social upheaval that gave Dickens so much material. The class is taught a great deal of the "expressions of a society"; they are not made aware of the society that is being expressed.
The lecturers prefer a safe course under a lee shore, rather than floundering out of their depth (pardon me). So they revert to the old Eeyore useful pot game that I mentioned before. This is what Professor MacKenzie calls "particularity". Here is where the confusion of aims is felt. No student can devote enough time to a detailed analysis of individual texts in a course which at the same time attempts give adequate coverage of an entire period. No lecturer can spend more than three of four lectures on each individual
It would be profitable to restructure the entire English syllabus to fit in more with the needs and wants of the people undertaking the course. With the new paper system a tremendous opportunity has been given for some imaginative replanning of courses around definite aims rather than around apologies and justifications as at present. These courses could be moulded to complement and reinforce those of other disciplines in order that the student, if he wishes, can restrict his study to his own particular into interest. For instance, it is ludicrous to have a historical com as is the 'B' course without linking it to those who are majoring in English.
As far as I can see three English courses are required. Each of these is capable of being moulded and adapted, and would encompass most relevant interests.
The approaches to this course creates traffic jams in the brain. It could begin with a study of current philosophical ideas, showing how these are incorporated into literature. It could choose to show the development of particular attitudes to life as expressed in literature (for instance negro writing in the U.S. has pearheaded the civil rights movement). It could devote itself to certain types of expression - scifi; fantasy; society novels; confession and autobiographical literature; best poetry; horror films; magazines; or advertizing - or to particular countries - N.Z.; India; Canada; Africa. With the new paper system there is no need to promote large and cumbersome units of work. Papers could be offered wherever interest lies, and could be credited to any level of a student's work.
The course as I have outlined it would work even better if students participated in its formation but I fear I have said too much already. Being rather timid I will also refrain from enumerating the obstacles, mainly administrative, that will be determinedly plonked in my path - class sizes, staff recruitment problems, library problems, money problems, examination problems, and other elaborate excuses. I feel that restricting class size and interest by promoting an unimag inative, long, and irrelevant course, is not the answer. It is time for the English Department to stop perpetuating its own dandified image by preening in front of a mirror, and realise that wigs and cravats are no longer in fashion. Alternative ending: Sign or be shot.
When first published in A Clockwork Orange was topical. Before the law and order hysteria became hysterical, Burgess predicted the decline and fall of law-and-order politics. Before the first outburst of generational pseudo-radicalism. Burgess was prophesying that adolescence would soon begin at 12 instead of 15. In
To take the most damning point first, Burgess explicitly attributes the delinquency he is writing about to Communist influence Dr. Branom, one of the doctors who "treats" the novels anti-hero little Alex describes the delinquent slang Burgess uses by saying. "Most of the roots are Slav, Propaganda, Subliminal penetration" And although the publishers blurb informs one that most English reviewers were fascinated by the "incredible teenage argot that Mr Burgess invents to tell the story in ( Punch) the roots of little Alex's conversation
The novels diagnosis of the sickness it describes is idiotic and the cure it prescribes is pure quack. The 'dilemma' allegedly facing the state, of whether to force delinquents to be moral by aversion therapy, or respect their free will at the expense of perpetuating their delinquency is the kind of pseudo-theological non-problem one imagined had died with Duns Scotus. In spite of A Clock Work Orange pretensions as a social novel, the one possibility it never examines is that delinquency is socially caused and is therefore curable by an alternative society. The best thing about the novel is that it does not make the mistake of assuming any course of Government action it describes could make any difference to its narrator's troubled advance to maturity, so that the novel in the end contemptuously disregards its own plot.
It is poetic justice that a novel whose portrayal of violence seems intended to incite the bourgeoisie to the worst extremes of anti-Communist law enforcement should now be attacked by the morality lobby because its cardboard images of brutality may seduce the young into Mongrel Mob bottle fights. The strange view that violence is seductive, surely taken seriously only be repressed sadists, would have to be accepted by Burgess, since there is little point to the novel unless one assumes that the appetite for violence grows on the young like the appetite for chocolates. Those who write books about the tide of youthful anarchy threatening society find their ideas will have succeeded only when their own books are banned. As Patricia Bartlett would say, the more realistically anarchism is portrayed, the more attractive it becomes.
Gold Star Publications, Melbourne,
"If you read this book I suggest you treat it as a cautionary tale of what could happen even in such a green and pleasant land as yours." Noel Adams' advice to New Zealanders (N.Z. Listener, August 14, 1972) sums up the most important thing about Stewart Harris's account of the
Although Harris makes his sympathies with the opponents of the tour quite clear. Political Football should be of greater value to the 'leaders' of our country and to the great, non-protesting silent majority than to people already committed to stopping the
Political Football doesn't contain very much that will surprise people already opposed to next year's tour. It doesn't provide any explanation of the tactics used to disrupt the Australian tour (which is neither surprising nor a criticism of Harris). However the vividness of Harris account made me recollect the
While Stewart Harris makes his sympathies with the protestors clear, he managed to transcend both sides during the Australian tour and praises Charles Blunt (President of the Australian Rugby Union) as well as leaders of the anti-apartheid movement No doubt this aspect of his book will strike a lot of people as something of a contradiction. More important, however is his discussion of police behaviour during the tour, a dominant theme of the book. Harris starts from the premise that, "......the police force is not like other organisations. It is the only arm of the law and, as such, must be expected to have higher standards than any other organisation in the country. It is the arm of the law, and not the arm of the government." (my emphasis).
In my opinion, it is quite illusory to regard the police force in any country as the "arm of the law, and not the arm of the government." After all the law is not something neutral but the expression of the political interests that governments represent. The vague and sweeping language of section 3D of the Police Offences Amendment Act in New Zealand for example was not written by accident or chance, but deliberately, for the express purpose of hindering demonstrations. Of course Mr Marshall knows this better than most people.
Harris represents police 'misconduct' during the Springbok tour as a deviation from the standards the police should have. But Isn't it to be expected that the police will look the other way when a rugby supporter thumps a student, and refuse to take any action however disgusting and hypocritical it is? That is what happened at a match at Too-woomba in Queensland towards the end of the tour, and Harris records how he tried in vain to take up the incident with the police and finally made a statement to the Communist Party's paper The Tribune after being ignored by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.
While I felt rather cynical about a lot of Harris' comments about police behaviour, his account shows that it is wrong to regard the police as merely a monolithic, unthinking machine hammering the non-conformist sections of society. There were divisions in the police force in Australia, as there no doubt will be in New Zealand next year. But in the final analysis, it is illusory and misleading to think that the police can be 'independent' and 'impartial'. When the cops get into the longhairs next year it will be extremely unpleasant and very annoying, but it should still be expected.
A lotof people will be interested in this book to find out if non-violent disruptive protest is an effective tactic. In Australia last year, the protestors didn't succeed in stopping tour or in stopping any of the games. Of course they 'alienated' a lot of people. But they did succeed in stopping the Political Football didn't convince me that the anti -apartheid movement in Australia could have accomplished those things by non-disruptive "mass actions". If the Springboks come here next year and H.A.R.T. and C.A.R.E. are accused of dividing New Zealand and 'alienating' the majority of people from their cause, their answer should be 'thank the Jack Marshalls and Jack Sullivans and Adolf Vorsters for dividing people, not us!'
Finally I think Stewart Harris has done New Zealanders, as well as Australians, a service by writing Political Football. If the parliamentarians and the sporting bodies ignore the practical lessons of playing apartheid sport, as well as the intellectual reasons why we shouldn't play with South Africa or have any other contact with Hitler's successors, they will not be able to plead ignorance later.
Paul Kantner a Weatherman? That guy who wrote We can Be Together? Yep, the same P. Kantner, who hijacked Jefferson Airplane off Marty Balin and made it into the thinking man's rock band, writing right on lyrics and tunes you couldn't even whistle; revolutionary, challenging stuff that for all its pretentiousness was the finest American rock music of the Sixties. What makes Kantner's passage from liberalism to wrathful radicalism pretty interesting are the elements he's added to the typical radical stance of the Volunteers L.P.
On Blows Against The Empire he laid down a vision of release, of escape from the pain and ugliness of now.
America hales her crazies, so you got to let go, hijack a starship, make a new world on it, 7000 gypsy wanderers sailing through the cities of the universe... with free minds, free bodies, free dope, free music...
On Sunfighter this escape becomes a flight into nothingness, a real death wish, two songs are for Diana Oughton, one of those rich kids who blew themselves to pieces with their home made bombs a couple of years ago in New York.
Other tracks sing about running free with the wolf-pack, flashing down to take the town and its children, of saying finally goodbye to the San Francisco Dream, (remember what we sang in America, how we danced so many years ago?) and welcoming the crazies; the last lines again say goodbye to the earth as we go, go into nova (a nova being a star that self destructs in one glorious burst of energy).
Kantner sings about impotence and rage and the yearning to escape; all part of our growing realisation that the old images of revolution have no meaning for this age, there is no capital city whose conquest will yield victory, no working class ready to rise, we have no precedents in history and can have little confidence in our ability to change an increasingly ruthless, omnipotent establishment. It is clear that America (the country and the idea) is a globel exploiter which must be destroyed so the world can live, and the enemy has become whoever gets in the way. In an inability to strike at the heart of America the movement has turned on immediate, vaguely symbolic objects, buildings, banks, embassies. This rage comes from the realisation that those treasured Western freedoms — free speech, free assembly, a right to privacy, to the process of law, — don't mean shit to most of the public and even less to the Government, for our Western sense of freedom has always had more to do with an urge to individualism as expressed through business, than with the fulfillment of human potential. Moreover have tried to rouse a silent majority that has willingly ceded a monopoly on politics to the government; the people may vote, or not vote, but political action, assembly, a demonstration is wrong, antisocial; good citizens mind their own business, it is held a virtue to let the government take care of things which ordinary citizens cannot hope to understand. This distrust and fear of "Unofficial" political action, political speech and political men as the constituency which authorises by the weight of its silence, the official acts of repression and aggression.
In this climate it is not surprising that Western radicals are perhaps the first revolutionaries to hate their own country and to cut themselves off from its traditions - the death wish that permeates Weatherman ideology and this album is that it is better to die in the streets than to simply fade away, thus we have provocation and suicidal action Amidst all this, Jerry Garcia plays on.
Back in Zacchariah (where incidentally the one track they played is the best I've heard from them) haven't been seen again since.
So we come to "The world is one big junkie and needs just one big fix Everybody's hustlin' someone trying' to get their kicks Madness, madness When's it gonna go away"Straightshooter which seems to imply they have been practicing. Start side one - lyrical gems explode in sensory awareness:
follows description of what the world's comint to, with stabbings and rapes down the hall (so what's happening in the streets?) followed by retrogression to non-cognitive kineticism, self-sympathy promotes arrogance
shivers of excitement from the Junior Freaks, as the Gang get into their really heavy scene on the next track
Reached up to touch my lady, but she wasn't there no more swings into a rocky rhythm, vocalist managing to catch the desperation of the situation and I'm into it and he hits me with a sort of Hey Joe (Hendrix,) switch and I'm floored — this is really quite a good track, even if the music is a (yawn) trifle uninteresting.
Side two achieves a definite lift in musical quality, for which the answer lies, I think, in the inclusion of bassist Dale Peters composing for most of this side. First track here gets away from trash. Track two retains this good ordinary music, (high-pitched voice trying to carry off bad situation badly — Bette Davis slips on a banana skin—giggle from Junior Freaks (—what! still here?) and......
Suddenly I almost fall off ray seat — metaphysical vision — I won't try to explain — but Hendrix hears his train a comin'. These guys are standing on the station waiting for it, and if it don't come they'll walk it — not brilliant, but compared to the rest of the rubbish on this LP., interesting interplay of will-consciousness, self-evaluated metaphysical — wow— I do so hope it wasn't a joke. And so into (under) the last track, and such pretentious crap I'll never pretend to having heard — Dale Peters not credited with this one — My Door is Open — and out hurtles my latest review record.
I despair of using words to describe here what I feel must be said about Jethro Tull's music.
Thick as a Brick is Ian Anderson's setting of a poem allegedly written by Gerald "Little Milton" Bostock, aged eight, of St. Cleve. The albums cover is a twelve page issue of the parochial St Cleve Chronical and Linwell Advertiser.
The poem is a long monologue, with several recurring ideas, all arranged around the theme of our unreal social system and its acceptance by the masses. It is written by someone quite obviously on the outside who hurls preconceptions and paradoxes under the feet of those blissfully unaware fools that mouth back excuses for their self-imposed cerebral paralysis:
The style is very evocative, and if you've ever had any doubts about straight life-styles you'll likely find echoes of your thoughts lurking in the deliberately vague text. The fantastic and mystical are present too, usually associated with optimistic ideas of the future:
which is reminiscent of Buckminster Fuller's "better living through technology" creed.
Of course the music is superb. There are many classic Jethro Tull idiosyncrasies — Anderson's incisive flute is perhaps the most obvious — but a significant amount of new ground is covered as well. The scope is massive, almost Baroque in its elaboration. The new drummer, Barriemore Barlow, lays a very crisp, military foundation which is reproduced exactly up each column of sound, creating a lot of acoustic excitement — a colonnade of accents. But it is the sheer variety of sounds that overwhelms, from magnificent bursting explosions of noise to soft moments of transcendentally fragile beauty. The detail is presented carefully so that boredom never catches up Throughout the text appears the line:
Your wise men don't know how it feels to be thick as a brick.
which appears to be a message of the album: When you know how much is unknown then you can know what is known.
Wherein remnants of Neil Young's old backing group lay down thirteen tracks easily, without fuss or undue haste. The title suits, the whole thing rocks along nicely and simply without pretensions. The tone is generally lighter than the group's first LP, though personnel changes since the latter make comparisons misleading.
The songs are mostly movers, unadorned and with predictable changes throughout.
The melodies are pleasant but for from original and though one is very conscious of influences they're hard to name apart from Crosby, Stills & Nash in All Alone Now which has the same persistent, tinkling guitar and chorus as 49 Bye Byes.
is the innocuous title for an unusual theatre concoction which will spill all over the university theatre later this month. It's subtitled: "an original dance-theatre piece, with electronic music". The perpetrators say the plot teas inspired by the civil conflict in Ulster and is an extension of their ideas about the potential of modern dance, electronic soound-montage and lighting coupled to serious contemporary themes. When pressed to comment the theatre electrician. Bill Turner, shook his head wryly and turned away.
The opener Hit and Run sets the pace as Crazy Horse move on in sounding rather like the Doors, especially in the piano (c.f. Love Her Madly) Try eases the pace with some nice bottleneck guitar.
One Thing I love where "there ain't no magic in a one night stand" is smooth even and recals the Byrds and Flying Burnis Bros.
All The Little Things features the harsh guitar which highlights 3 or 4 tracks. This one ends nicely when the piano comes in beneath the guitars and picks the whole rhythm up whereby it all gets a bit frantic. You Won't Miss Me sounds as if Dingo wrote it, one listens in vain for the fiddle.
The lyrics, that now familiar mixture of lost and found love, moving on out to the countryside and "going back to all the old ways," skirt round the sorrows and joys which they purport to describe and one realty doesn't bother to pick up what they're about.
Its easy, its fun and is probably nice to dance to but its all strictly competent. On this outing Crazy Horse line up as the opening act before the quest stars appear.
Every McLeod has a silvery lining, so they say, and for the NZBC and its patrons (us) the return of Monty Holcroft to the editorship of the Listener will be welcome. Rumour has it that Holcroft has come back like a worried parent to an ailing child and that the specific objective in his return is to save the jornal's independent editorial policy. Readers will remember the eminently sane and well balanced editorials Holcroft wrote during his eighteen years in the job, including some powerful anti-Vietnam stuff at a time when such opinions were virtually heretical.
The persistent rumours about McLeod's mismanagement of the Listener and his unpopularity as a superior upstart and gross intellectual snob are totally unfounded. Another snide claim to the effect that the vast improvement in
It is good to see NZBC staff at last getting up on their tiny hind legs and barking over this business. For years they have accepted that inept administration and half willed policy making is (heir inescapable principles proved strong enough to overpower their sacking-paranoia and led them to speak their grievances in public. About time too. Kudos must also go to David Excel. Des Monaghan and the whole Gallery team for the fearless way in which they put Lionel Sceats through the hoops on their programme. Sceats's evasions and back-trackings revealed to everyone the tip of that horrible Public Service iceberg which is made up of hardened inefficiency and dangerous meddling in amateur power politics.
Television's preoccupation with imported shit continues to amaze. It is of course, a fact that the NZBC is desperately short of money. Gilbert Stringer's version of Fantasy-land, Avalon, is costing an obscene amount and that, added to colour conversion and the ever-increasing cost of staffing, the second channel, even if it still wants it. The obvious answer to these problems is to close down the regional channels completely and concentrate all production at Avalon. But this would raise such a holocaust of public wrath that the Corporation would never consider it seriously. Meanwhile, the continuing depression never that local production on a reasonable basis is further away than ever. But a quota system must come - and soon - if ever local output is to improve. Pressure from the Arts Council, the TVPDA and Actors' Equity is pouring on and we must all support these efforts vigorously.
Coronation Street star Peter Adamson (Len Fair-clough) is coming to Wellington in November or December to star in a production by Murray Recce of Pinter's
Pukemanu II is scheduled lo start screening from Channel One on September 14.
Did you sec all those incredible Einstein shots in The Ten Days Which Shook the World? Historical nonsense, most of it, but far out just the same. Most "radicals" sat at home watching it, while 44 Kelburn Pde. was being occupied by The Squatters.