Oil: Could this be New Zealand's Future?
Society’s priorities appear to
be a little messed up of late. A few weeks ago when the Otago Rugby Union ran
out of money and was set to collapse there was a huge outcry! People got
outside and collected money; rallied together in Dunedin Central and showed a
display of unity; Cambell Live even organized a televised giant sausage sizzle
to raise money to get the bankrupt rugby union back on its feet! Yet when the worst
famine Africa has seen in the past thirty years is announced on the news,
nobody organized sausage sizzles or rallied together to try and do something
for these poor starving people on the other side of the world.
I understand – It is partly
because it is “normal” news. Africa has been having famines for as long as you
can remember. You expect to turn the TV on and see people starving in Africa,
suicide bombs going off in central Asia, and economic problems in Europe. You
may have even become accustom to it and pay no attention, or you may feel
helplessness and powerlessness, and wonder “what can I, sitting at home in
little New Zealand, do about this?”. You may even pay someone like World Vision
or Unicef $10 per week, say you have done your bit, and forget about it - but
unfortunately, even though this payment will do some good, it does not change
the oppressive system that we live in that leads to starvation, war and
economic failures – nor, as I need not say, does sitting in-front of the TV at
6 o’clock each evening wondering “what the world has come to”.
This magazine, and the
Organisation for Global Nonviolent Action (OGNA), help to highlight some of
these terrible things that are happening in the world. But unlike the
mainstream media we aim to show that through the use of collective nonviolent
action you are not powerless. You can, as many have done in the past, change
society for the better, and develop on what they have done to create a world of
equality, free from oppression, exploitation and war. But to do so you have to
organize, study and offer alternatives, and protest – from the grass-roots up,
not from the top down – they have messed to world up enough as it is and don’t
plan to do anything otherwise.
We, as a society, must demand
change – change that will only come if we do something about it. OGNA is here
to help with that.
If you want to help us (even if
you’re not completely sure how you can), or have any questions please contact
us at:
ogna.nz@gmail.com
Thank
you and we hope to hear from you,
Joe
Llewellyn
The aim of
the magazine is to be a publication that highlights non-violent action, looks
at it in historical global context and reports on current struggles from a
socialist perspective, always aiming for the improvement of society through a
future social revolution. We also look into and debate about how a future
society may look. We are open to articles from individuals or organisations as
long as they agree with our policies as stated in ‘What we are all about’ on p1.
No comments:
Post a Comment