he promises of capitalism and the actual experience of ordinary people. On the one hand there is the myth of equality before the law, the romantic idea of ​​everlasting love in monogamous marriage, the emphasis on our «individuality» to name just a few. However the class divisions in society and the fact that exploitation and oppression demean people means these myths make a mockery of most people's lives. There is a popular idea that people will only fight back when their lives become unbearable as a result of falling living standards. But the process by which people resist is much more complex. Lack of power breeds lack of confidence. But in the long post-war boom, rising living standards actually raised levels of confidence. The fact of the boom moved people to expect more from life than previous generations. But of course, bosses and governments shared no such aspirations. But also, it increasingly became evident that in spite of the boom, racism, and other forms of oppression would not be wiped out without a fight. One of the first signs of this recognition was the Civil Rights Movement in the US. This in turn highlighted the need to struggle to others. For instance, it was the US Civil Rights Movement that inspired mostly white, and one black university student, Charles Perkins, to organise a «Freedom Ride» from Sydney University around the outback NSW towns where anti-Aboriginal racism was rife. This led to increased anti-racist activity. Again, the Women's Liberation Movement arose from the contradictions highlighted by the boom. As women were pulled into the workforce in growing numbers, as contraception became available, and more women entered tertiary education, especially as teachers (pulled in by a shortage of teachers in an expanding education system), the idea that they should be content to be housewives and mothers began to come unstuck. It is not insignificant that it was working class women, many of whom had been influenced by the Communist Party of Australia (CPA), that hit the headlines in 1969 protesting over equal pay. Working alongside men, catching public transport where they paid the same fares, but being paid less, facing the problems of childcare while experiencing discrimination at work drove an at first tiny minority to take a stand.
The boom led to workers expecting higher living standards, but facing huge fines for their union every time they took industrial action because of the anti-union laws of the right wing Menzies government. It was no accident that in the same year women chained themselves to buildings to demand equal pay, a million workers had taken action earlier that year and successfully smashed the Penal Powers as the anti-union laws were known. When one group shows that gains can be made, and solidarity is possible, it gives others increased confidence. This can be especially important in helping oppressed groups make their first move. Out of this growing level of confidence and struggle in the late sixties, the Builders 'Labourers' Federation (BLF), after many years of struggle to unionise their industry and win safer working conditions, took the lead in urban environmental campaigns to save historic working class areas and parks around Sydney. Their campaign in turn inspired environmentalists who took up their phrase В«green bansВ» and applied it to their movement. This all-male workforce became famous for their support for women's struggles, in particular, for the right of women to work in the building industry. They inspired activists with their bans at Macquarie University in defence of a gay student victimised because of his sexuality. None of this was simply accidental or merely episodic. It is the nature of class struggle to encourage ideas of solidarity. Because workers find that on their own they come up against the power of governments and bosses. Once solidarity has been won, the issues of new supporters gain a new hearing and so on.
But it is not simply that issues link up in a linear way. Qualitative changes become possible once the normality of everyday life and its subservience is broken. In the turmoil of struggle, ideas which seem settled and undisputed come up for grabs. Because once workers begin to take some control over their lives, the sense of powerlessness is weakened. This then provides the basis to examine long held beliefs. There is nothing so encouraging than to win an argument with workers organising a picket that women should participate against their doubts. And it is not only men who accept sexist ideas about the role of women. Well, perhaps more inspiring is to witness women (or any workers for that matter) feeling their own power. One of my earliest political experiences was a strike by textile workers at the Kortex factory in Melbourne. Their joy when they turned back a truck from entering the plant is something embedded in my memory that hel...
