Tiananmen Square Massacre

( what we were not told)

when we saw their Goddess of Democracy
we all thought, and we were told
the students were marching
against Communism
for a Capitalist Economy

that boy who stood in front of the massive tank
what was he calling to the soldier - the driver ?

we were told the boy was calling
for an end to Communism (our media fed us that lie)
thousands of student demonstrators marched
were murdered for what they were calling for

we of the West, impotent as watchers & readers
believed our media: TV, radio, newspapers
but we were not told
what the ‘real call’ was for

we were not told
that America’s Milton Friedman
his ‘free-market’ economy
& his Chicago Boys
had got there a year or so earlier
we were not told
change was already happening in China
happening
long before the students
ever thought of marching

China had decided to begin
implementation of globalization
these changes were about to affect
the lives of ordinary people -
rapid changes of law & de-regulation
wages (already low) were about to plummet

the students who marched
got word of these changes
they knew that they
and ordinary workers
would be worse off
so the protest marches began

what the media didn’t tell us was
those students were calling for the harsh new
capitalist free-market change to be made fairer

they were calling
“we want democracy
within change to a global economy”
the students were not demonstrating
against communism at all
(but we were never told this)

we were lied to
the students were massacred
for insisting on justice & democracy
within the implementation
of the free-market

so you know the rest of the story
thousands of students murdered
their Goddess of Democracy smashed
by the free-market global economy
they were calling to be fairer

they wanted democratic Capitalism
which we in the West know
is ceasing to exist

all this brought to mind
Bill Clinton
when he once said
“It's the economy stupid”

enough said, I guess

Pamela Sidney 2.3.08

The Ousting of the Seventies

(or, was it a 'friendly' American coup?)

in the light of current reflection
it’s sad to think on
the Whitlam Government
we might have had

in the light of never forgetting
it’s clear what Gough was about to do then
was absolutely forbidden

in the light of Milton Friedman’s
free-market corporatist ideology
what Gough was about to do
was an absolute ‘no-no’

Gough was about to (as he put it)
“buy back the farm”
he was poised to put Australia
back into the hands of Australians
but he needed a big, big loan to do it

in light of the passion of the day
the 'Kemlani' loan
brought his government down
instigated by a vengeful Liberal Party
led by the stoney-faced Malcolm Fraser
they blocked the money supply
halted all government business

this was the hawkish Liberal Opposition
acquiescing as always to US interests
eagerly bowing to the pressure
of Friedman’s economic-purists
the Chicago Boys
who spread his ideology globally
gangster-Capitalists

unfortunately Gough
had given too clear a signal
he was not about to let
free-market Global Capitalism
rape us of our assets

Gough had set alarm bells ringing
Australia was
'not available’ to be ‘bought-out’

American interests must then have
nervously asked themselves
would Whitlam then bow to local pressure
take steps to 'get rid' of
Pine Gap US spy-base?

so with a deviousness
known only to the Liberal Party
and with, not a 'little' help from
a drunken Governor General
'Kerr's cur'
the dirty deed was done
and Australia was cheated
of her democratically elected government

in light of the inevitable churn of world events
America’s 'laissez-faire' free-market imperative
would eventually arrive anyway
fully blown in the 90s – ironically -
via Labor’s Paul Keating

Keating
celebrated in song & dance these days
was just one more naïve
US besotted politician
(as Premier Kennett was later)
completely seduced
by Friedman’s failed abstract theory

Globalization
had already killed millions world wide
in military coups & political assassinations
torture, murdered civilians
all crimes against humanity

Keating had fallen
right under Friedman's spell
he sold off our national treasures
Commonwealth Bank
national airline Qantas
others followed
falling like nine-pins
gas, electricity
& the great tragedy – water

I can still hear his words
from the ether of the time
as he proudly announced
a massive budget surplus
- somewhat zealously -

“a beautiful set of numbers”
he said

Pamela Sidney 17.3.08