WATCH: Generation Wise

WATCH: Generation Wise

Postby Oscar » Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:20 am

WATCH: Generation Wise

http://vimeo.com/43330466

by Bis Films Plus

Filmed at the 31st of May and 1st of June nightly protests in Montreal, Canada.
Questions and sound by Jonathan Montpetit.
Visuals by Katherine Macnaughton and Emmanuel Hessler.

Thank you to all who participated and to the unknown choir, which performed at Place Émilie-Gamelin 5 minutes to 8pm on the 31st of May, 2012.
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Driven to Dismantle Community

Postby Oscar » Mon Jun 18, 2012 11:25 am

Driven to Dismantle Community

http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2012/06/18/Di ... Community/
?utm_source=daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=180612

Bill C-38 barrels over belief in a healthy commons. How to wrest back the wheel.

By Murray Dobbin, Today, TheTyee.ca

Of all the appalling abuses of democracy and ruthless dismantling of the country represented by Bill C-38, one stands out of as representative of the right-wing dystopia that Stephen Harper has in store for the 99 per cent. And that is the mentality and ideology behind the draconian changes to Employment Insurance. This is particularly true of the changes affecting seasonal workers in the Atlantic region, but in general the whole underlying principle that workers should simply move, holus bolus, to where the jobs are is an assault on the very nature of community.

Of course, it is not news that neo-liberalism -- obsessed with the individual, competition and the market -- destroys community. Margaret Thatcher made it explicit by stating "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families." All happily selling their labour and buying stuff. And that's all there is -- no cooperation, no compassion, no equity, no sharing.

Of course Thatcher's absurdist declaration was aspirational. This was the model of the world she hoped to create, though to a depressing degree she was successful. But the strong resistance to Harper's gutting of EI demonstrates that Canadians know both that community and society do exist and that they are worth saving. Even the pro-business premiers of the Atlantic region came out swinging against the changes because they know their communities have for decades been maintained on part-time seasonal work. Indeed one of the very best features of EI was that it recognized this and was adapted to make such communities viable.

Yet in the decades since the free trade deals were first signed we have gradually stopped talking about community and have perhaps forgotten just how critical it is to human health and indeed what it is to be human. The hyper-competitiveness promoted by neo-liberalism and the politicians it has captured is completely at odds with our social natures. Community -- the commons -- is at the core of what we have lost and reclaiming it will be at the core of any successful social movement that halts and reverses the current trends.

More . . . .
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm


Return to Sustainable Development/Climate Change

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest

cron