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I’ve been thinking about what it’s like as diaspora to combat liberalism within our diasporic communities. The title is obviously a bit hyperbolic, but it’s rooted in the truth that we can’t simply take our own opinions of what’s happening in the motherland for granted as being true. I am diasporic myself – Indian, for my sins. In the imperial order, India is at least somewhat allied with the West, and over fifty percent of funding for the far-right RSS comes from the diaspora, who in general love Modi. Reading anti-caste scholars talk about brahmins and other oppressor caste people with maids, servants and drivers (including my family) who go to the west and remake themselves as “people of colour”, while still maintaining brahmin hegemony within the west and in the motherland[1], has also been enlightening to say the least. Hopefully this article serves to strengthen the revolutionary tendency that is emerging, allows us to better identify and avoid endeavours that waste time and energy, and redirect energy towards those actions that may cause serious impact (both creatively and destructively)

There are many factors that create a systematic bias among ‘australian’ diaspora. For one, australian visa policy is designed by and for the ruling classes of australia. We all know about the white australia policy[2]. But it is also fascinating to note that just after the white australia policy ended, South-Vietnamese refugees to ‘australia’ were hand-picked[3] by officials who travelled to refugee camps to select who would be given a visa – functionaries of the same government that had recently been prosecuting an anti-communist war[4]. This led a bolstering of thousands of anti-communists in the polity over the next few years. Today, the ‘character requirements’ for an ‘australian’ visa include whether ‘you are subject to an adverse security assessment by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’[5], with support for an anti-colonial liberation movement resulting in immediate cancellation.[6]

australia’s physical isolation supports a particular class position among migrants. australia occupies a series of islands, and is quite far from most neighbouring landmasses. In comparison, the US shares a land border with Mexico, which enables many exploited class people to find ways to cross the border. This is next to impossible here – and creates at the first level a financial hurdle – biasing those among the global south who can afford plane tickets at imperialist exchange rates. Even for refugees who take the extremely dangerous voyage here by boat, these trips are extremely expensive, even when money is collected across multiple family members. Globally 67% of refugees are located across the border[7]. When we take into account visa policy, securing the kind of visa that might allow for permanent immigration to australia requires decent amounts of money and certain kinds of education or job prospects. Thus, regardless of what kind of labour roles a person might take up, on average, people …