The chaos of a Melbourne street protest in September 2018 provided an unlikely moment of clarity for Craig English. As police clashed with far-left demonstrators protesting UK conservative figure Nigel Farage’s visit, English watched a fellow activist pour water on officers before being dragged away by police. What happened next would plant the first seeds of doubt in his revolutionary convictions.
“Did you see what happened to Cam?” English frantically called out to his comrades amid the turmoil. The response he received – or rather, the lack of one – would mark the beginning of his journey away from the red banners of socialism and toward an unexpected spiritual awakening.
“Nobody cared,” English recalls of that pivotal moment. “Nobody actually cared that he might have been hurt or something might have happened to him, and no one knew where he’d gone.”
For twelve months, English had been deeply embedded within the Socialist Alternative, one of Melbourne’s most active far-left organizations operating in what many consider Australia’s protest capital. His experience offers a rare insider’s glimpse into how these groups recruit, indoctrinate, and mobilize activists – and what can ultimately drive someone to abandon their cause.
The Making of a Revolutionary
English’s journey into radical activism began innocuously enough during his studies at Melbourne’s RMIT University. A simple flyer advertising a Marxism conference caught his attention, leading him down a path that would consume over a year of his life.
Universities serve as prime recruiting grounds for organizations like Socialist Alternative, according to academic Eric Louw, an expert on Marxist ideologies. “As one would expect, organisations like SA are very interested in working on campus because that is where they can work to influence young minds and spread socialism and communism,” Louw explains.
Once recruited, English found himself attending regular meetings and “classes” designed to mold him into a revolutionary. These sessions, held in rented campus rooms, covered everything from “Marxism 101” and “Communism 101” to more specific topics like Stalinism and the October Revolution.
“It could be ‘Why capitalism is bad,’ and how Marxism or communism is the answer,” English recounts. “The second talk was about why the police are bad. They’re going to be the enemy of the communist movement in any kind of communist endeavour, because they are just tools of the ruling class.”
The organization, numbering over 100 members, actively coordinates with other far-left groups and infiltrates existing movements including climate change protests, Black Lives Matter demonstrations, and pro-Palestine rallies. Unlike other socialist groups in Victoria, Socialist Alternative maintains a laser focus on disruptive protest and ideological purity, deliberately avoiding political aspirations.
Behind the Revolutionary Facade
What English discovered beneath the surface of revolutionary fervor was a toxic environment rife with gossip, betrayal, and rigid ideological policing. Members were constantly scrutinized for ideological purity, with even minor philosophical disagreements leading to expulsion from the group.
“They were always primed to call out people who they suspected of not being communists,” English reveals. One of the greatest sins within the organization was being labeled a “Hegelian” – a reference to German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, whose belief in humanity’s inherently spiritual nature conflicted with Marx’s purely materialist worldview.
“If you thought anything Hegel said had any merit you were just quickly thrown under the bus, because that was the worst thing to be – almost worse than being a Nazi,” English explains.
The organization employed sophisticated tactics to maintain its influence while staying in the shadows. Socialist Alternative would create front groups like the Campaign Against Racism and Fascism, which has recently mobilized to counter immigration protests. They also worked closely with anarchist groups who served as the “muscle” in confrontations with police and opposing demonstrators.
While Socialist Alternative officially avoided advocating for violence, English observed that “everything that they encouraged people to do in terms of resistance, ended up being violent.” He witnessed normally peaceful individuals transformed by the group’s rhetoric, describing one “softly spoken and friendly” person who became consumed with “blind rage” during protests.
The Quote That Changed Everything
Despite growing unease with the organization’s methods and internal culture, it was a single phrase that ultimately shattered English’s commitment to the cause. The words came from Leon Trotsky, one of the heroes venerated within Socialist Alternative:
“I shall die a proletarian revolutionist, a Marxist, a dialectical materialist, and consequently, an irreconcilable atheist.”
For English, the idea of being “wholly wedded to atheism” represented a line he could never cross. This moment of clarity revealed the fundamental incompatibility between his personal beliefs and the organization’s rigid materialist ideology.
His understanding of Socialist Alternative’s methods would later deepen after reading The Epoch Times’ editorial series, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, which examines the history and tactics of the Chinese Communist Party.
“I saw how many parallels there were between their tactics in China and the tactics of the socialists here,” English reflects. “It might not take exactly the same form, but operationally, they’re doing the same things. It’s just that they’re perhaps not doing it on quite the same scale, because they don’t have the political power.”
A Different Kind of Revolution
By December 2018, English had stopped paying membership fees to Socialist Alternative, effectively ending his formal association with the group. When he moved back to Western Australia in 2020, he found himself reconnecting with something from his past that would offer a radically different path forward.
In 2013, English had first encountered Falun Dafa, an ancient Chinese spiritual discipline also known as Falun Gong. The practice combines meditation exercises with teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. However, it wasn’t until his Tai Chi instructor encouraged him to revisit the practice’s main text, Zhuan Falun, that English truly embraced its teachings.
Falun Dafa was introduced to the public by Li Hongzhi in 1992 and quickly attracted over 70 million followers in China due to its reported health benefits. However, the practice became the target of brutal persecution by the Chinese Communist Party beginning in 1999, when former leader Jiang Zemin launched a campaign that has resulted in millions of detentions, widespread torture, and documented cases of forced organ harvesting.
For English, rediscovering Falun Gong represented a profound transformation – what he describes as the return of the prodigal son. Within six months of resuming practice, he experienced significant improvements in his mental, spiritual, and physical well-being.
From Hatred to Healing
The contrast between English’s life as a revolutionary and his current existence could hardly be more stark. Where once there was anger and conflict, he now describes finding peace and purpose through spiritual cultivation.
“I used to be very lonely but now I no longer am,” English shares. “I was a very promiscuous person with no regard for personal health and safety. I was also very combative with others and had a high degree of intellectual vanity, not to mention having been deceived by modern ways of thinking.”
He acknowledges that his previous lifestyle had led him to a dark place: “All of these deviant mindsets and behaviours culminated in a deep hatred of self and I was truly lost.”
Today, English describes himself as much calmer and more rational – a dramatic departure from his days marching under red banners and clashing with police in Melbourne’s streets. The transformation has been both internal and external.
“My eyes brightened for the first time since I was a child, and they were no longer sunken and withdrawn,” he explains. “I learned to be much calmer and also less critical of others and myself; my deeply rooted notions of self-judgement began to dissolve.”
English’s journey from revolutionary activist to spiritual practitioner offers unique insights into both the appeal and ultimate emptiness of radical political movements. His story also highlights how traditional spiritual practices can provide the meaning and community that political ideologies often promise but fail to deliver.
As Australia continues to grapple with political polarization and the activities of both far-left and far-right groups, English’s transformation serves as a reminder that individual change – rather than revolutionary upheaval – might offer the most sustainable path toward personal fulfillment and social harmony.
For someone who once believed that violent revolution was the answer to society’s problems, English has found something far more powerful in the quiet cultivation of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance – principles that stand in stark contrast to the hatred and division he once embraced.
