[BCBMB[B

COUNTER-CULTUREWe exist in aworld that isfundamentallyunjust andunequal. Thedominanteconomicideology iscapitalism...and thedominantideologies ofsocial andpoliticalorganisationin many partsof the worldare the nationstate andrepresentativedemocracyrespectively.These systemsestablish classrule of thefew over themajority.Soviet Union in the early 1990s, capitalism haddefeated socialism That democracy equates to voting into powerthose who rule you Men bring home the bacon; boys will be boys;women look after the kids and clean the house Black people can’t govern themselves All whites are oppressors God is forgiving and solves all problems if youpray The ANC’s slogan “A Better Life For All” Africa Unite! (which presupposes a singularAfrican identity)I WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE ROLE OFIDEAS…In a variety of areas and in many people’s minds,these are some of the dominant social ideas. Infact, many people accept these not as ideas butsocial realities set in stone. However, they arejust that: ideas that we make and remake. Ideasdetermine how we think and how we act. Ideasdetermine how we socialise and how we relateto societal organisation – political and economic.THE WORLD TODAYWe exist in a world that is fundamentallyunjust and unequal. The dominant economicideology is capitalism in its neo-liberal form,and the dominantideologies ofsocial and politicalorganisation inmany parts ofthe world are thenation state andrepresentativedemocracyrespectively.These systemsestablish class ruleof the few over themajority.Class rulep r o m o t e scompetition,greed, individualism; only those with money andpower are counted as people of value. If you’repoor, well that’s your fault – you’re lazy. Get a job,contribute!In southern Africa, our shared histories have alsomeant rampant racism, sexism, homophobia,xenophobia and other such forms of oppression.HUMAN NATUREBoth ideologies of capitalism and the state arepromoted as either inevitable, part of humannature, or the best we have. However, we exist in aworld with massive poverty and huge disparitiesin terms of access to power and wealth. Rampantpolitical and economic corruption, waste,ineficiency and ecological destruction are justsome other terrible features of this particularglobal society. However, if the state and capitalismare inevitable and immovable, this then mustmean that suffering, poverty and domination arenatural to the human condition.I DISAGREE!Human nature (and the way we organiseourselves) is neither ixed nor inevitable. Weare born into societies and all societies havedominant ideas. These ideas and the alternativesoffered from within those societies are whatdetermine who we are and how we think. Ifwe are born into a society that valorises greed,surely we should expect many to be greedy. Whatabout promoting social values that are entirelydifferent?PROTEST AND THE POVERTY OFALTERNATIVESThese last few decades have seen tremendousupsurges of protest against inequality andpowerlessness. All these have risen withinlocal contextseither of failedstatist projects( M a r x i s tCommunism,the KeynesianWelfare Stateand SocialDemocracy,African Socialism,etc.) or in thecontext of postindependencestructuraladjustmentprogrammesand neo-liberalcapitalism. From Latin American indigenousstruggles, to the community struggles anduprisings in southern and northern Africa,to austerity protests in Europe and workerstruggles in East Asia, many seek not onlyslow, piecemeal reform, but also substantialsocial change.Many ideas inluence these struggles, but do manyof them actually question the dominant formsZABALAZA: A JOURNAL OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN REVOLUTIONARY ANARCHISM - No. 14 36