Australian protesters speak on war dangers and Trump immigration ban
By
our reporters
6 February 2017
Reporters from the World Socialist Web Site spoke to a number of students, workers and retirees who attended demonstrations opposing the sweeping immigration ban imposed by the new US administration of Donald Trump.
While the Greens and the pseudo-left used the demonstrations as an opportunity to promote Australian nationalism, and to call for a more “independent” foreign policy, many of those who joined the demonstrations were animated by genuine opposition to the persecution of refugees, the eruption of militarism and war, and the growth of far-right movements around the world.
In Sydney, Carolyn, a 76-year-old retired deputy principal, spoke about the anti-establishment sentiment that the Trump campaign had capitalised on.
“I think people were fed up in the long term with the series of Bush’s, Clinton’s, probably even going back to the Kennedy’s,” Carolyn said. “I think they were fed up with the whole political establishment. That’s fair enough but you don’t do that by voting in someone like Trump. They didn’t want to vote for the establishment but for god’s sake don’t jump the boat for someone with a narcissistic, personality disorder.”
Commenting on Trump’s foreign policy, she said, “The age of imperialism is gone and the US realised they lost in Vietnam and didn’t get anywhere in the Middle-East. They’ve got to wake up to the fact that they are not going to stop China. I think it’s a survival instinct and they are hunkering down.”
Carolyn agreed that this heightened the threat of a global conflict, noting, “Every time countries look inward that is the result and it’s not funny now that warfare is entirely…