I joined Socialist Alternative nearly a year ago after attending the COP26 climate protest in Glasgow. At the time, it felt like we were all moving through multiple crisis points upon already existing, deep-rooted inequalities: the pandemic, the climate crisis, war, human rights abuses and more billionaires. It was easy to get overwhelmed and angry, but I felt that I needed to turn all the anger and confusion into action and the best way to do that effectively was to join a movement.
I had been getting involved, dipping in and out of a few different activist groups in Liverpool, but I felt that there tended to be a focus within some spaces on single issues, and that therefore resulted in limited single-issue solutions.
I liked how SA had an approach of drawing parallels between problems within societies and understanding how they intersect and impact each other. It seemed to me a more concrete way of developing solutions to multi-faceted problems
I was also drawn to the fact that SA had a strong balance between an international and local outlook. Since becoming a member it has been equally valuable to learn from campaigners in Hong Kong, or Brazil, as well as meeting local train conductors and bus drivers on picket lines.
I have been inspired by historical stories of struggle like the miners’ strikes that affected the South Wales Valleys where I grew up, the determination of Welsh language campaigners, and the rights that were fought for and won by the working class and their unions.
Learning and remembering these stories is a reminder to me that change is never passive; it is always fought for. It feels important to believe that change is possible because it has happened before. The power of working class solidarity has proven that the capitalist system we live in is not an inevitable way of life.
