Posts Tagged ‘protest’
Thursday, September 13th, 2012
CEOs from a handful of the world’s largest corporations have been meeting in secret, penning blueprints intended to tighten their stranglehold over our planet and further conform our species into complacent consumers.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) – once ratified in under three DAYS TIME!!! – will give global businesses the means to supersede domestic law, imposing pro-corporate legislation on all complicit countries.
If you already know about the World Trade Organization and how they often bully smaller nations into accepting detrimental financial regulations desired by stronger nations, then you’ll recognize the TPP as a further extension of that same mechanism.
This corporate pact – the latest in an unending quest to privatize the world – ultimately seeks to strip regular people of power. Less ways to hold businesses accountable. Fewer means to challenge the authority of big money. All this, plus a fundamental erosion of democratic processes by global forces overpowering sovereign will.
So if you care about your freedom, if you want choice to be more than just an illusion, if you think that people should take priority over profits, then you need to take action. Do something, anything. Even if it’s just signing a petition.
The sooner enough of us stand up to our burgeoning oppressors, the sooner we can reclaim our destiny from the hands of the selfish few.
Tags: arab, awakening, montreal protest, occupy, pacific, protest, spring, street, student, tpp, trans, wall
Posted in Main Blog | Comments Off on Time to Stand Up
Saturday, July 28th, 2012
Democracy is more than just voting for one figurehead or another every couple of years. It’s more than simply slapping some bumper sticker on your car or sticking some sign in your lawn. There’s more to democracy than what happens on election day and at the ballot box.
Real democracy is about taking issue with what’s most important to you. It’s about starting or joining a movement. It’s about getting people involved, out in the streets and on the interwebs, in big enough numbers to force change on to the political system itself.
The Arab Spring. The Occupy Movement. Even the Tea Party. All of these are fine examples of democracy in action where hundreds of thousands – even millions – of engaged individuals worked diligently towards a shared goal. And the best part is that they’ve all made a lasting impact on the world’s political system.
Now this very essence of democracy – this coordinated will to power by the masses – has sprouted up on the streets of China. Outraged at the prospect of a giant sewer running through their backyards, angry citizens clashed with police and rioted in the streets, offering a rare glimpse into China’s ripening revolution.
But here’s the kicker – the protests worked! Officials have scrapped their plans for a waste pipeline. Wow! If only the Quebec government was that quick to fold under pressure, student’s would have free tuition by now.
Here’s hoping for more protests in the days and years to come. Not just in China, but everywhere on earth as our world’s people comes together and rises up against the forces of injustice and inequality that have persisted for far too long.
Tags: arab, awakening, china, democracy, occupy, protest, quebec, spring, street, student, uprising, wall
Posted in Main Blog | Comments Off on Democracy is Working… in China!
Saturday, July 21st, 2012
Imagine winning a 20 million dollar lottery. Pretty sweet, right? Enough cash to live in the lap of luxury for generations.
Now times that by a thousand. This is what the world’s billionaires contend with – a net worth thousands of times bigger than what most humans would consider a fortune.
And now that you have this tremendous sum in your head, multiply it by another thousand. That makes 20,000,000,000,000 – 20 Trillion dollars! – which is the amount of money the world’s super-rich have been hoarding in secret, shielded from any taxes.
Unbelievable, isn’t it? Despite being the richest humans on the planet, they still want more for themselves. Billions of dollars just isn’t enough. It’s like they have the same fear we all share, and all the money in the world won’t get rid of it.
Still, as nice as it would be to temper the growing gap between the super-rich and the rest of us, it seems there aren’t enough elites, like Buffet and Gates, willing to fetter their own expanding wallets for the sake of the planet.
This puts the onus on the rest of us – those of us who aren’t the 1% of the 1% – to stand up and say NO! This economic model simply will not suffice! We want a more just world for everybody, and if you aren’t going to make it happen we will do it ourselves!
Tags: awakening, elite, financial, plutocracy, plutocrat, protest, street, uprising, wall, world
Posted in World Peace | 1 Comment »
Sunday, July 1st, 2012
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.
Case and point, Hong Kong. Touted as one of the world’s freest markets, it is producing a record number of new millionaires. The formation of these newly rich comes at a heavy toll: the bulk of the Hong Kong people facing a 30 year high for income inequality.
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.
Tags: activist, awakening, democracy, demonstration, freedom, hong, kong, occupy, people, protest, street, uprising, wall
Posted in Main Blog | Comments Off on Democracy for Hong Kong
Sunday, June 10th, 2012
Montreal’s Ethan Cox posted a passionate polemic pleading for Canadians to join in the people’s movement, to stand up against a broken government, and to help reclaim our declining democracy.
“Wherever you are, whatever you do, join us in the street,” writes Cox, “If we lose this struggle, if we allow ourselves to be bowed and beaten yet again, I promise you it will not end here. This is our moment, our line in the sand, our primal scream ‘This far, no further!‘”
But the engaged writer doesn’t stop there.
“This movement has awakened our communities,” he says, “We are together, we are strong, and we’re done being pushed around. We’re done being called crackpots and communists for questioning our governments’ slavish obedience to big business. We’re done being arrested, beaten and threatened for excercising our democratic rights. We’re done with greed, with austerity and with unbridled and unhinged capitalism.”
Awesome, inspiring stuff! These words aren’t just for Quebeckers or Canadians alone. The message is for oppressed humans everywhere on earth. Don’t settle for corrupt government. Don’t accept the gross injustices of the system. Rise up alongside your fellow global citizens, and together we will co-create a brighter future for all.
Tags: amir, awakening, cox, democracy, ethan, khadir, montreal, protest, quebec, uprising
Posted in World Peace | Comments Off on This Far, No Further!
Friday, June 1st, 2012
(The new face of power.)
If you caught yesterday’s post listing a few reasons as to why the world ought to watch Montreal and Quebec, you may have noticed that I missed what is perhaps the most fascinating aspect of all: the median age of those who started this movement is about 21 years old.
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.
Tags: activist, awakening, great, hope, montreal, optimism, peace, protest, quebec, student, tuition, uprising, world
Posted in Main Blog | Comments Off on More on Montreal’s Magnificence
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012
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.
Tags: activist, awakening, demonstraction, montreal, occupy, protest, rally, student, uprising, youth
Posted in Main Blog | Comments Off on Montreal Marches On
Friday, May 18th, 2012
Watch out, Quebeckers, North Korea is coming. And its name is emergency Bill 78.
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?’
Tags: activist, charter, demonstration, injustice, montreal, protest, quebec, rights, tax, tuition, university
Posted in Main Blog | Comments Off on Quebec Crushing Charter of Rights
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
Dark days happened in 2010 as security forces caused the largest mass arrests in Canadian history.
Now, a new report confirms what many already knew – during the G20 summit police violated civil rights, detained people illegally, and used excessive force.
The 300-page report finds that “Numerous police officers used excessive force when arresting individuals and seemed to send a message that violence would be met with violence,” continuing on to state “The reaction created a cycle of escalating responses from both sides.”
The report also lambasted the unprecedented use of ‘kettling’, where protesters are corralled by riot squads into closed off areas to be detained and arrested. It is during kettling, where protesters are backed into a corner, where clashes can reach a boiling point and fatalities can occur.
So police were overbearing and essentially silenced attempts at peaceful protest. But what else is there to expect when the government spends 664 million on security? Had nothing happened, the price tag might have seem unjustified.
Still, what is most damning about this entire report is the utter lack of accountability. The authors of the report seem appeased to know their recommendations might be considered by police departments in the future.
But this does little to protect Canadian free speech. How about some firings or fines or something to teach the police a lesson? If anything, the lack of repercussions will just encourage more of the same in the future.
What would be nice to see is a clear message sent to police departments across the nation: do not stifle dissent, do not crush protests, do not silence free speech, do not impede peaceful assembly. Otherwise you will face stiff consequences.
Until that happens, ham-handed security will be free to trample our rights the next time we unite against the injustices of the system.
Update – May 17, 2012 Senior Toronto police commanders are expected to be charged in coming weeks for a variety of misconduct offences over their leadership at the G20 summit in June 2010, according to reports from the CBC.
Awesome! This is more than just a slap on the wrist, or at least it could be.
Tags: arrest, civil, demonstration, g20, illegal, occupy, peaceful, protest, rights, violations
Posted in Main Blog | Comments Off on Police Violated Civil Rights – G20 Report
Saturday, May 5th, 2012
Marches are underway across the land, as hundreds of thousands of people are showing their support for the movement to finally end marijuana prohibition.
In honor of this great day, here’s a lovely infographic showing the negative costs of the ineffectual policies drug prohibition, and what could be gained by finally freeing the weed. (The stats pertain to America, but are equally applicable to any nation choosing to fight the war on drugs.) (more…)
Tags: drug, global, legalize, march, marijuana, pot, prohibition, protest, rally, reefer
Posted in Main Blog | Comments Off on Global Marijuana March 2012
