When free markets and democracy get skewed by the power and influence of large business, we get the bastardized version of capitalism called corporatism. And when corporatism is allowed to run amok, the top 1% of 1% of the people consistently get richer and more powerful while everyone else systematically grows poorer.
Given that the corporate stranglehold over their government is set to tighten, they have little hope to reform their state using existing political channels. Any politician that rises to power will already be part of the corrupt game, and any real revolutionary figure would be weeded out well before taking a seat in office.
This leaves few options. One thing the people of Hong Kong could do is unite. By taking the streets, coordinating and mobilizing online, they could forge an entirely new democratic mechanism and channel the warranted angst from the vast majority of the people into tangible political clout. Only then will their voice be heard, and only then will they get the reform they desire.
What the Hong Kong people are going through serves as a microcosm for what the bulk of humanity is experiencing. Right now, powerful forces are subtley yet steadily stripping power away from the entire human race in order to widen their already mind-numbingly fat coffers.
For years now, every single one of us has been under threat of an impending corporatist plutocracy. Only with unity and solidarity will we have any hope to overthrow our billionaire overlords and their minions.
Fortunately, this is already happening. The world’s people are waking up. Slowly but surely, our global eyes are opening, allowing us to see ourselves for the first time. And one thing we will quickly learn is just how powerful we can be when we work together. After that, it’s just a matter of steering our species towards a more just civilization for all.
While the crisis in Quebec is not the first youth movement in history, it’s the first time I’ve seen one this close to home. I don’t remember my generation making anywhere near an impact when we were that age. It’s not that we weren’t equally motivated. It’s that technologies that exist today for the masses weren’t around 10 years ago.
Now, the younger generations – those who’ve been immersed in the Net and social media for most of their lives – are showing the rest of us how to truly harness the real power we’ve been unleashing.
With an even more immersed and interconnected generations on the horizon, along with the proliferation of these new tools to even the oldest generations, uprisings like those in Montreal and on Wall Street are sure to be dwarfed by the revolutions yet to come.
109 days. That’s how long they’ve been protesting in Montreal. Over 3 incredible months. What started out as a demonstration against an impending 80% tuition hike has now blossomed into a full-out fight for civil rights.
Now, whether you’re Canadian or an unCanuck (a term I’ve never heard used until just now), there are many great reasons you should be paying attention to what is happening in Quebec. Here’s three:
Reason 1: It’s massive. Over 400,000 people – 1/4 of Montreal’s total population – have been out in simultaneous protest.
Reason 2: It’s about more than tuition fees. The movement has always targeted the systemic corruption in government, highlighting the way powerful corporations and big business get taxpayer-funded benefits while taxpayers themselves get the shaft.
But now that Premiere Charest clumsily stifled the right to protest, the movement morphed into protecting individual liberties, saving our precious democracy, and, most importantly, sending a clear message that we will not stand idly by while civil rights get violated.
Reason 3: The Montreal uprising is just a sign of things to come. Humans everywhere on earth are undergoing a great awakening. The internet is fostering a social revolution, shifting unprecedented powers into the hands of the masses. Governments, corporations and other major institutions will prove no match for millions of coordinated humans working together in real time.
A new day is coming, where actual democracy gives everyone a voice. With this newfound solidarity we will build a more just global civilization. People will take priority over profits, cooperation will supersede competition, and a brighter, more secure future will be upon us.
(The police demand prior knowledge of rally routes. This is what they get!)
Quebec Premiere Jean Charest is in hot water. A few days ago he passed some short-sighted, heavy-handed emergency laws. These laws, when applied to their full extent, could easily cripple free speech. This misstep has only aggravated Quebec’s youth rebellion. Now, instead of just having to deal with pissed-off students, Charest now has to contend with most of the province being mad at him.
The problem with the contested legislation – Bill 78 – is that it puts the right to protest directly under the control of the police. Anyone demonstrating without prior approval from a police department will face stiff fines or worse, like some entitled security thug punishing offenders with impunity. Yes, I’m talking about you, Canadian Pepper Spray Cop!.
Another problem with Bill 78 is that special provisions target coordinators of so-called ‘unlawful’ protests, who can also be punished whether they partake in the actual demonstration or not. So now anyone who spreads reasons to be disgruntled with government and dares to call for action could end up fined or arrested.
As much as it sucks to see heads of Canadian office trying to force ridiculous laws, witnessing the people’s response more than makes up for it. Clearly, they are as mad as hell and they aren’t going to take it anymore.
Right on! Hopefully Charest buckles sooner than later, and every single Canadian politician gets a reminder as to the power of the people.
It may have been the largest display of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Several hundred thousand people took to the streets, showing solidarity with Quebec’s youth movement while standing against Jean Charest’s draconian anti-protest laws.
Awesome stuff! During the massive Occupy rallies in New York and Oakland, I recall lamenting about Canada’s lack of similar demonstrations. Well, no longer. Canadians will not be excluded from this great awakening taking place all over the world.
It’s not just about tuition hikes and the Charter of Rights. There is something much more fundamental at stake. It’s the world’s people coming together to stamp out the inherent injustice and inequalities of a flawed global establishment.
Expect to see more protests, more rallies, and more outpourings of dissent over the coming months and years. And as our numbers grow into the millions, the multi-millions and even billions, no one – no business, no government, no empire – will stop us from creating the just civilization we now know is possible.
Penned during an all-night session by Premier Jean Charest’s government, this bill sets strict limits on public demonstrations and threatens stiff penalties to anyone trying to exercise their right to gather in protest and exercise free speech.
“This bill, if adopted, is a breach to the fundamental, constitutional rights of the citizens,” says the bar association president Louis Masson, who goes on to note how “The scale of its restraints on fundamental freedoms isn’t justified by the objectives aimed by the government.”
The precedent set here isn’t just bad for Quebec, it’s bad for our entire country. If they can do it there, why not everywhere?
So a handful of individuals seize the protests as opportunity to resort to vandalism and violence and the entire movement gets punished. How typical! No wonder police go undercover to disturb the peace… it so readily negates populist uprisings.
Which is really too bad, because I love what the students have been doing. I love their energy, their spirit, and their tenacity in the face of a domineering establishment. And really, their cause is just. Sure, they already pay the lowest tuition in all of Canada, and the hikes are relatively small. But that’s no reason not to expect better.
Instead of hating on Quebec’s students for being engaged in our democracy, maybe a better question is ‘Why aren’t the rest of Canadian students out demanding lower costs for themselves?’
Occupy is back! Not that it really went away… t’was just a mild hibernation over winter. Now, with Mother Nature being a little more hospitable, the uprising can switch back into high gear, louder and stronger than ever before!
To kick off this season’s social uprising, scores of protesters retook the famed Zuccotti park, aka Liberty Square, after which dozens were arrested. During the march up to the square, NYPD callously smashed a medics head into reinforced glass, breaking the glass and probably the medic’s skull (video above).
Navigating between extinction and enslavement, brave humankind could very well avoid both to reach compelling new heights.
Neils Bohr once said that prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future. Despite the words of caution from the pioneering quantum physicist, I’d like to offer you my take on the three potential futures that we, as a species, are facing.
The first is extinction. This is where the human race is no more because we’ve wiped ourselves out in some foolish conflict or scientific mishap. Either that, or the universe conspires to eliminate us using it’s vast arsenal. There’s not a lot we can do to avoid this, apart from building peace instead of war.
The good news, despite what the mainstream media may want us to believe, is that humankind is actually the most peaceful we’ve ever been. (more…)
There’s a standard business negotiation tactic which has been brought into the realm of politics, used most effectively by right wing conservatives: ask for the stars and settle with the moon. So effective has this strategy been that the entire political spectrum has consistently shifted to the right over the past few decades.
