Democracy literally means “rule of the people”. It is a great and noble idea, originating in its modern form during the enlightenment of the 17th and 18th centuries, when rationalism and humanism rose out of the cesspit of feudal Europe to challenge superstition, irrational fear and the rule of a decrepit and self-serving elite.

How far we have fallen. The exercise in democracy that Australia is embarking on over the next month is the most reactionary and dispiriting in living memory.

Rudd’s great prelude to calling the election for 7 September was to make it clear there is no barbarity that Labor will not inflict on refugees in pursuit of electoral gain. Whatever shred of human decency there was still clinging to the ALP has now been decisively cut off.

With the notion that Labor is any better than the Liberals on refugees now dispensed with, what else are we left with? A contest between two parties beholden to big business, both equally committed to confronting the end of the mining boom with cutbacks and austerity. Two parties who refuse to take any meaningful action on climate change. Two parties willing to spend whatever it takes on militarism and border protection, but who refuse to provide decent health, education and social welfare.

On top of the right wing policy consensus between Abbott and Rudd, what makes this election campaign so appalling is the disconnect between the political and economic elite waging the campaign and the population that is expected to fill out their ballot paper on election day. Democracy is meant to be about the people exercising control over our society. Instead, this election is something that is going to happen to us.

From the Murdoch and Fairfax media barons who have set the terms of the debate, to the corporate interests whose access and donations dictate policy and the priorities of Liberal and Labor behind the scenes, we have been cut out. The debate between Liberal and Labor is a debate among the people who rule the country. The rest of us are treated as fools, worthy only of facile messages about “trust” and “the future”. Christopher Pyne demonstrated the lack of self-awareness in this regard when pushed for specifics of Liberal policy in a recent radio interview. “Concretely”, he said, “we believe in building a better Australia”.

Democracy should be better than this. And it can be – when it is actually about the mass of people taking control of their lives and their society. The last few years have seen no shortage of outbreaks of this real, radical democracy. Think of the Arab revolutions or the Occupy movement, or the huge struggles across Europe, Latin America and elsewhere against austerity and neoliberalism.

These outbreaks of mass political participation have been messy and contradictory. But they demonstrate that people are more than willing to engage and invest deeply in politics when they think their involvement is meaningful.

These upsurges in political activism tell us something else as well. Real politics isn’t about slogans worked out through focus groups, it is about struggle. In Greece last year, the election was a galvanising moment because one party, SYRIZA, promised to stand up to the European and Greek establishment to end the austerity crippling the lives of millions of Greek workers.

In Australia neither of the major parties is prepared to take a stand against the rich or to side with the mass of working class people. Neither says: “Take the money off the billionaires and give it to those who need it.” Neither says: “Stop funding militarism and build an education system that gives a future to working class kids.”

The bleak electoral landscape reflects the reality of Australian politics. The Liberals laughably talk about Labor’s “class war” policies, but the truth is that the class war has only been waged by one side in recent times. The steady advance of neoliberal economic and social policies over the last three decades has met only occasional resistance from the trade union movement, and has been wholeheartedly embraced by the once social-democratic ALP.

If we want a different politics, we need to build a fightback outside parliament – on the streets, on campuses, and in our workplaces.

This doesn’t mean we should ignore this election. Red Flag is calling for a vote for the Socialist Alliance in seats where they are running. One of the Socialist Alliance slogans, “Blame the billionaires, not refugees”, captures well the alternative the left should be injecting into the political debate.

But voting left isn’t the main thing. In the coming weeks there are numerous protests and actions in defence of refugee rights, for same sex marriage and against education cuts. Using these opportunities to put forward an alternative to the despair so many people feel about our political system is important for the future.

We can expect that whoever gets in will be attacking all of us, while ensuring those at the top keep making money. A fightback by workers and students, a political battle that challenges the government and big business instead of scapegoating refugees, would be more of a step towards a real democratic society than anything we are likely to see in this sordid election campaign.