Some thoughts on organising

Vanguard February 2013
Jack D.

The ability to organise ourselves is our greatest function as humans.

This year, 2013, is a year where struggles of all kinds will intensify greatly as the capitalist system more desperately tries to dig itself out of the mire of its own making. The need to organise against the current and the coming attacks on workers and our living standards is crucial.

Like different levels of struggle, there are many different levels of organising. We have seen workers in massive struggle, like the MUA struggle of 1998, where we could say there were very high levels of organising appropriate to the high level of struggle. At other times there are smaller struggles which require less organising effort.

There are also other levels of organising among people where one or two are in discussion, or a small group perhaps; maybe in a café, a kiosk, in the lunchroom at work, on the train or any other such place where people gather.

To organise in such places the subject matter can be gently swung from topics like the weather, sport or suchlike to more important matters of social interest. Topics like housing, education, health care, family issues, the aged care or lack of it and so on. This will often lead to the opportunity to raise the political awareness of those in the discussion, including ourselves. Where possible we should follow up on the conversations with people most likely to become future activists.

This deliberate and calculated act of leading discussion to such subjects for the express purpose of trying to raise people’s political consciousness is organising in its basic form. It is people to people, in small groups. It is an extremely powerful tool, a tool we should use much more often than we do by taking every opportunity that we can. We will learn from experience, to use this tool more effectively.