International Socialists

While three of our members were away in Melbourne, we organised and implemented a small scale action here in Dunedin. Our motivations were twofold  both to express solidarity with those organising events around the rest of the world and in Aotearoa, and to celebrate the day traditionally owned by the working class as our day to make our voices heard.

 

A number of us met at the university union and walked into town. We hadn't intended to draw attention to ourselves at that point but managed without even trying, as we were carrying placards, balloons, wings, masks, banners and drums, the aim of which could be summed up in one word: visibility. Gathering at McDonalds ("close down Mackers - May Day is for workers!") at midday were a diverse group of environmentalists, socialists, the Alliance, Greens, and others. The mood was highly festive and celebratory. We chanted, stamped our feet, beat drums, blew whistles and shook noisemakers, in a beautifully rhythmic fashion, and with the inspiration offered by good old-fashioned unity and solidarity.

 

The open megaphone offered the George Street shoppers a sample of the range of causes that find their mutual enemy in corporate greed. We made a lot of noise for an hour and then, in line with our own principles - "stop the hypocrisy, give us democracy," we democratically decided to move on to Starbucks, where we criticised their revolting coffee and managed to make a plea for the importance of "human need over corporate greed" as well.

 

Enthusiasm proved to be difficult to temper, and at 2pm we were still marching, making music and chanting as we made our way back down George Street. The most exciting aspect of the whole day was the simple festivity in making a point against so obvious an enemy, not just McDonalds and Starbucks but a wider phenomenon: capitalism, with the profit motive as its sole driving force over and above the majority of the world's population and the environment.

 

We witnessed not just solidarity, but the capacity for unity between many on the left, and gave those involved a sense of some sort of potential to build from where we already are, to further "globalise the revolt."