Get up!

Webdiary has pointed to an interesting new web-based organisation aimed at making more people politically active. The website is called Get Up! It is based on an American version that was designed prior to the US Presidential election.

However, there are some things about such an organisation that frustrate me. On their about page they say:

The other political parties aren't providing a strong opposition, and the media
is dominated by a handful of right-wing voices.

I disagree with the first part of this sentence. Indeed, I agree that the ALP are not providing a strong opposition. However, the Greens are definitely providing significant opposition given their limited capacity - if only the Greens had greater capacity! If more people understood the Greens and their policies, were active in the Greens then more people would vote for the Greens and then there would be a proper opposition.

Therefore, I feel the problem is that there is no need for such an organisation as Get Up! when there is a political party that agrees and supports with their campaign and more. I am already very active in overthrowing the Howard regime and returning democracy, justice, fairness, and tolerance and therefore feel no need to join such an organisation.

One has to ask why are they willing to join this organisation and not the Greens? Is this group just another wannabe or repackaged Australian Democrats?

I recommend that the first thing people should do is research political parties and their policies and choose the one that best matches your beliefs and priorities. Ultimately, it is a political party that will make significant change in this country - why not be directly involved on some level?

Again, like the Westminster concept (see two posts down), this organisation has no policies other than to 'restore democracy'. On this one issue it sounds nice but what does it actually mean?

I understand that people are not willing to be tainted by party affiliation, I certainly struggled with that for a while. However, as soon as I actually read up on the Greens and their policies, there was no choice, I had to join. The things that are happening in the world today are too important for me not to do nothing about and I am not selfish enough to be more concerned over what people will think of me if they see me as a party member of the Greens.