Lethal poison for the system

After a long period of frost and ice, a period of long blindness, blindness instated through dogma, oppressive dogmatism, the struggle for dignity has made it's reappearance on the scene. 

Since the early 80's here in Canada and throughout the world, a specific vision of society bred a coercive vision of humanity. It was based in the belief that individualism was the main motor of progress throughout the capitalistic system. Of this conception was born the notion of "free world", this notion of "free world" was also born in utter and outright reaction to the totalitarian communism that had for beacon the Soviet Union and the centralized form of Communism that was but an ideological tool of repression. The notion of freedom has always been a very difficult notion for me to come to terms with, because as any "grand" philosophical notion it means everything to everybody and anything to anyone. During the end of the 20th century the battle to define and to personify freedom intensified. But the battle that ended the Cold War, did not end in with the fall of the wall, it took an unexpected detour.
In 1989, the myth of freedom the intimate link, almost a charnel link between capitalism and freedom was created from scratch. History is always written by the victorious, but the victorious aren't very good writers and sincerely victory does not always translate into a victory of truth. And since then our history, the collective history of the struggle of some to defy the powerful, to fight oppression, to combat repression, to create a more humane system has been stollen from us. The fight to create a more humane system, in the way I see it, is the struggle to create a system in which truth prevails. Truth being the mingling of a strong need for honesty and through that need is born human dignity. Those are the main elements for a strong "humanistic" system = Truth through a coordination of  the need for honesty that empowers human dignity.
 Human dignity should be at the centre of any conceived political system, but in capitalism/corporatism it has been absent as in totalitarian communism it was also. In this day and age, our "humanistic" values are being deprived of that lifeline, its oxygen that is dignity. Dignity comes through several forms and shapes its physical, its epistemological , its material and its emotional. For me each of these vectors is connected to a very "real" and tangible human need, a need on which depends humanity (not as whole, but as a state of mind). The physical vector is a wish and the right of even human-being to live a life in which one's physical integrity and well-being is assured, assured in times of heath or hardship. The quest for knowledge and knowledge are the foundations of human dignity an educated human-being is dignified and can fight to protect his dignity. The material vector, dignity is created when the primary needs of human-beings are satisfied liberating them from the enslavement of survival. The final vector is the need of truthful respect, and respect is born through equality.    
In the modern capitalistic system, such as under the "Red Kremlin" those vectors of human dignity are asphyxiated.  In our modern times, the systems of education and heath care, created to solidify human dignity and "respectful equality" are being scrapped. The final stage of capitalism --> corporatism/austerity is upon us. During the Communist metamorphosis into a totalitarian regime, the strategy of the salami was used cutting off opponents gradually on the left as on the right of the political spectrum. Communism became totalitarian, communism does not breed totalitarianism. As capitalism does not breed totalitarianism, in both systems a blueprint that concentrated the power over many in the hands of few did in fact bred totalitarianism. Totalitarianism is a system in which the regime tries to control every aspect of human life. In communism it has very visible through state enforced propaganda and the concentration of power in the hands of high-ranking party members. In the modern corporatism, illusions are created to keep the population subdued in "illusory freedom". In modern corporatism, words change but the effects are the same.
With the 9/11 and the true entry into the 21st century, a renewed assault against human dignity was lunched by the corporatist oligarchic cycles of power. An assault, commodifying all the systems and social programs that bring dignity, commodifying humanity just as totalitarian communism transformed humanity into an ideological battle. Through the commodification of education and heath care the epistemological and physical vectors of dignity have been shattered. And now finally has arrived the final stage of corporatism, austerity. Austerity is the final and utter destruction of the notion of dignity in political, economical and social terms, to concentrate the combined economical, social and political power in the hands of a chosen elite. Austerity is the destruction of the values and principals, pillars of democracy and democratic rule and the finalization of oligarchy. 
So that's the corporatist "master plan" to deprive the peoples of the world of that lifeline, called dignity, cutting out truth and equality, destroying the current social fabric of cultures, creating one generalized society of mass consumption. But the plan forgot about the chain of reaction, that exist inherently in human nature and when alerted it starts-up. It starts-up when people have no hope, expectations or vision for the future left "grosso modo" no dignity. 
Revolution is born when dignity is under threat, somehow the oligarchies of past, present and future have never comprehended that, do not understand it and shall never perceive it. Because when you want to deprive someone of his dignity it means, that your notion of dignity is false. Oligarchy at least in the corporatist system has replaced dignity in their spheres by money, their lifeline is money without it they are useless, but the power of a dignified people is something money or ideology or brute force can never bend. 
The protests in Montreal and throughout the world have proven a point to me. The cause for dignity, the cause for a system that truly fights for dignity is still alive more then ever. The corporatist "master plan" is collapsing, but we mustn't chant victory until the Cesar is finally berried. Social movements, grassroots movements that bring out the best in mankind, will create a system better for all of mankind. Solidarity in the 21st century that holds for most cherished truth that"injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere" uphold a brighter dawn. So is the whisper of revolution (the struggle to bring things back to their rightful place) and progress (the "reindignification" of society).


Revolution starts by resisting!




Sky.       

Résistance: Igniting the flame of the New European Left.

It all started in 2007, on spring day in may. Nicolas Sarkozy was the candidate of reform, the self-proclaimed champion of the "silent majority". The notion of "silent majority" is very interesting, the belief that the majority of population in France are oppressed by a radical fringe of the population, that has pursued to push the public debate to the left. Mr. Sarkozy openly declared war on the "relics" of Mai 68 and on the ideology that has somehow "occupied" the France political scene, that the social state is the "holy grail".
The truth is that, the feeling that something along the path of the 5th Republic went wrong is recurrent in the French common psych. But the to just conner these occurrences to France, would be to forget the larger European image.


If you look throughout European history, it has always been a history of shocks and counter-shocks, of revolution and counter-revolution. The examples are various and diverse from the battle for the soul of Christianity that was embodied by Martin Luther's revolt in the German speaking lands, and from that epicentre flared dissent and civil unrest throughout Europe, to the French Revolution that brought yet another period of dissidence in Europe and social/political and economic transformation. Europe has always been like a schema of unstable dominos on the verge of collapse.
The last time, Europe did experience a vast and divisive period of revolution and counter-revolution was during the period of the 1920s-1930s. For many it was called the "European Civil War", from the physical and officially declared confrontation in Spain (the Spanish Civil War) that opposed the Republicans to the "Falangists" of the reactionary military uprising, to France and the period of relative instability that preceded and precipitated the birth of the "Front Populaire" and which continued during its rule, to Italy and the fight between communist and anarchist fractions and the reactionary/fascist "grouplings". In the 1920s-193's an ideological war took place in Europe, the conclusion of that war was supposed to be World War II and the death of fascism and reactionary ideology in Europe. But this fight prolonged deeper into the 20th Century and was called the "Cold War". Many times we speak of the proxy wars that occurred in South Eastern Asia or in Africa as the main conflicts of the "Cold War", but on a certainly lesser scale but certainly as intense, a continental proxy war did occur in Europe. The dictatorships of Franco, Salazar and of the Colonel Regime in Greece were supported diplomatically, financially and militarily (even) by the Western Bloc, a bit like the support that Ben Ali and Mubarak received before their fall-out. This points to the truth that capitalism does not always go hand in hand with democracy or freedom of speech. The countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy before them, that did have a significant leftist base, experienced after the fall of their respective dictatorships, "undercover" civil wars. In Italy for example the Christian Democrat Coalition that had tries with the mafia and other organized crime did receive support and backing from the "Free World". But generally socialist/communist parties and anarchist organizations were the target of false flag operations, intimidation and even destructive action. The only reason that, those groups persisted was that their efforts were fuelled by the "Cold War". And then the Berlin Wall was shattered and the leftist heritage of Europe was in disarray and fell into the infernal spiral of outright decadence.
But like a religion that is banned, the belief in a set of values and principals under the ban only amplifies. The ban instead created the ecosystem for a rebirth of the left, but not of the same left, a more divergent and modern ideological purpose was born.


Starting in 1979, and having its nirvana during the 1990s the neo-liberal ideologies, built up through Thatcherism in England and spread like a wild fire throughout the European continent (another example of shock and counter-shock). It deregulated and destroyed the social and economical system that was predominant in Europe... the welfare state. After the fall of the Soviet Bloc, it was almost as if the European left dug their own graves and went for a long hibernation. Some decided to ditch the sinking boat and join the neo-liberal shinning cruiser, other just silenced themselves as if the fatality of reality was a too heavy burden on their shoulders so they collapsed into silence, and some "radicals" didn't shy from the path of truth because of the few walking along it and started the grassroots "résistance" against neo-liberalism and wild gilded age capitalism. At times they might of seemed as if they were peaching the desert, but now with the failing austerity measures, the rising inequality and the destruction of the enlightenment ideals of social justice, from that arid desert land has sprouted a forest of discontent and disobedience.
The last of the resisting domino's to fall was France, in 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy was elected, he was from the 1%, elected by the 1% to protect the interests of the 1%. His administration started little by little dismantling the French welfare state and tearing apart the French social fabric. It resulted in the push the French left needed to harvest the invisible forest of discontent. The champion of this new libertarian Left is Mélenchon, but this libertarian left is not exclusively French. In German parties such as "Die Linke" and in Spain "La Izquierda Unida" have shown the strongest showings since the fall of the Berlin Wall and the "death" of the European left. So is this the "renaissance" of the European Left?(...) Yes, but without a  wakening the revolution of mentalities will never completely be accomplished. Looking at the political environment in Europe, I believe that the new libertarian Left is without doubt on the rise, this being said without power, these fantastic speeches and ideas are but a sermon with nil attendance. So what is the viable option for the "New Left", should it compromise and join the Tony Blair fringe of "fake-leftist" parties, to win over the electorate? Certainly not the true Left should never compromise on it's true and core ideals. The easiest solution is to compromise, but how can you compromise without being compromised? In fact that's an impossibility, we've seen that happen time after time in Spain under Zapatero, in the U.K under Tony Blair and in Germany under Schröder, what was the result of compromising on core values: defeat.
The mission of the "New Left" is to hijack the "mushy" Left movement and bring back the centre of debate to the "real" Left and that is something Mélenchon has done very well during this French presidential election, 2nd ballot or not, his campaign has reignited the flame of the French Left.
And so this is crossroad at which we encounter ourselves now. Spain, Italy, Greece and Portugal are drowning in debt, the crisis is far from over. The myth of neo-liberalism is dying in the minds and hearts of the majority of people and so a vacuum is left. This vacuum has to be filed but not by the authoritarian left of the 1960s or the "mushy" left of the 1990s, but a new vibrant left powered by communities and by social activism and not by lobbies or economic interests.
The "Silent majority" is us and this is our "silent revolution" reloaded.


Résistance.


Sky 

Democracy 101: Social Unrest and Civic Revolution (part 2)

Notre cher Président de la République

The French presidential campaign has recently taken a turn for the worst, possibly the worst possible turn.

The berried violence that once stayed beneath the soil of the French political scene is now front and center, with the shooting that occurred this past week in south-western cities of Montauban and Toulouse. It reminds me of the "incidents" that took place in 2005 throughout the suburbs of metropolitan France. The truth is that neither in 2005 nor now in 2012 could these "incidents" happen without a political climate that allows it.
Nicolas Sarkozy back in the 2007 election, made a huge gamble to take the presidency, a sort of "all in". This gamble consisted in stealing the rhetoric of the nationalist and fascist elements of French society normally backing the Front Nationale and convert them into his own "dear" political base. French society has been at a crossroads for many years now. It is in this awkward position and suffering from paranoia and post-traumatic stress. The truth is that Nicolas Sarkozy and many French compatriots made the decision to live in this "bubble" of "la vie en rose". In a bubble in which France hasn't changed since the 1920's and they occult the reality of the immigrant situation. Instead of taking a proactive stance to resolve the decadence of the already battered suburbs, they decided to paint it pink.

But after 5 years in the presidency the paint is starting to crack-up.
It's a known fact Nicolas Sarkozy, has turned the country of human rights into one of the most perfected police states in the world. Maybe the ultimate fact is that the birth of a police is always intertwined with the hatching of a very subtle, and ancient inherent racism. The French society is no more racist than it's European counter-parts, but unlike many of them it still fights to come to terms with it's WWII past.

The myth that was created during the liberation of France from Nazi occupation, that all French had "resisted" the German armies and the "anti-Jewish" stance, was false. But it was one of the founding myths of modern France and to shatter that myth, would be to shatter one of the pillars of the "Republican Identity".

But now as hundreds morn the deaths, many few wonder why? In our grief, we try to reassure ourselves that it was just a "radical" fringe, a terrorist organization with links to Al-Qaeda. This situation is very problematic, because once again we as "good" french citizens are taking our brushes and painting again this morbid reality in pink. But no matter how many times we re-paint, the cracks will still show, sooner or later. No matter in how many ways we try to pull ourselves from the reality of the political ambiance we live in, the boiling-point is rapidly approaching.

It's time to level things a bit:
When the reelection campaign of the incumbent president is based on cultural warfare openly declaring war on the "Halal Culture" of some French (in this case a big minority of French), than it is only normal that these "incidents" occur. Once again in this campaign Nicolas Sarkozy has made a huge gamble, a bid that might just win him a second term but at what costs? Nicolas Sarkozy and his presidency represent the worst politics have to offer and his rhetoric has fertilized the grounds on which such horrid killings could grow. Nicolas Sarkozy is the perfect political opportunist, stopping at nothing to gain political points ultimately to the demise of the core of French values (Liberty, Equality and Fraternity).

The president made a very good campaign speech today, saying that we should no to be too quick to amalgamate the Muslim culture with such actions... but what has the President of the Republic done during the major part of his political career? Amalgamate. He amalgamated the young disenchanted, the "no future" generation (except behind prison bars) to terrorists and on a crusade to destroy French values. He has amalgamated dockers on strike to enemies of the state, and campaigns that fight for social justice to radicals. He amalgamated to such an extent the gypsy populations of the hexagon to liars, cheaters and vandals, that he had them expelled, bus load by bus load.
And now the "tiny Napoleon" asks us to trust him, to clean-up the mess he was the first one to create and the main beneficiary!
The fact is that "notre cher" president has no notion of how, to resolve the mess he created, because he believes that a tour of the suburbs is a photo-op.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon

So yes "J'accuse", Mr. Sarkozy of being the source of contamination of this crisis.

But to counterbalance these horrid occurrences, there is a light of hope. And that light is Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Mr. Mélenchon's idea of a civic revolution for France is finally a breath of fresh air for all those who believe that a better France is possible, that France is greater than these politics of hatred and division, of xenophobia and volatility. On the foundations of the French revolution, at la Bastille, Mélenchon sketched the contours of a 6th Republic, a political system that would "recontextualize" France in the 21st Century. The fight is on! Between what France could be and what France is and as we have seen at the start of this week, the France we live in is gruesome. The time is upon us as to reinstate a civic empowerment in France. In many cases, throughout many election in France the saying goes, that we vote against somebody rather than for somebody. It's time to change that trend and vote for the candidate that truly embodies the multicultural, diverse and hopeful society that France could be.

Aux Armes Citoyens!

Sky     
                     

Democracy 101: The Battle for France's soul (part 1)

It's been a long time coming, but it was perhaps worth it.
I remember back in the spring of 2007, at the end of my stay in France. I was riding in the back seat of a car. It was election day, and somehow even if all of us in the car, didn't know the final results, a bitter taste had filled our mouths. The campaign was great propaganda campaign on the part of the right. The right united under the effigy of Nicolas Sarkozy (populistic, dogmatic neo-liberal, one-percenter) had capitalized on the fragmentation of French society. He had used an almost "racist" rhetoric to sway the Front Nationale's (extreme right party) natural base. We knew that the worst was to come. And utter silence nothing more, nothing less had built up to an unbearable point.
"And now we can announce with certainty that Nicolas Sarkozy the UMP (French right wing party of Gaullist heritage and now under the claws of neo-liberal dogma) has won the presidential second round ballot with 53% of the vote".
There was almost a generalized outburst of "Merde" in the car. And then one of us said "that's not a thin margin at all, what were they thinking". The conversation then was centred around the weakness of the left and how, the old guard of the socialist party did not do enough to make electoral victory a certainty.
That was true. The inner fighting, that characterized the French Socialist Party, was horrid and with out doubt was a factor. But what we didn't really comprehend that evening as we rolled throughout the valley of the Rhone... it was something bigger, then just a mere election.

BBC November 2005

The story begins in 2005. France was a ticking bomb. The last 10 years on the social and "racial" level have been comparable to the 60's in the United States. The 2nd and 3rd generation of immigrant populations were fed-up with their living conditions. The "Ghettoization" of France was in full steam. And yet it appeared to many outside of the mainstream everyday life of politics and social activism, as if it was life as usual.
But since the mid 1970's the ticking bomb, was ticking. And 2005 was just one of many eruptions to come.  What sparked this widespread and violent protest against the "xenophobic" and "racist" policy of the French government? The death of two teenagers in one of the suburbs of Paris. Both were found electrocuted after hiding near a power generator.
It's not so much that this was an extraordinary happening in France or in the suburbs to the contrary. Many tired to pin down the protest as influenced by "islamic radicals" and "foreign organizations", the extreme right party of Jean-Marie Lepen (France's own George Wallace) linked the riots to Al-Qaeda. Now in our times, these times doesn't that seem familiar? Maybe Bashar Al-Assad uses the same rhetoric?
Instead of looking the problem straight into it's eyes, the French governing political class decided to find incoherent excuses to defeat their legitimate "oppression" of the Suburb dwellers.
But who gained the most from these riots? It's answer with a silver underline was Nicolas Sarkozy (at the time minister of the interior).

They are vandals, they are racailles (in french means immigrant scum) I'm persistent and convinced of that.
-Nicolas Sarkozy
Source: http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2005/11/11/nicolas-sarkozy-persiste-et-signe-contre-les-racailles_709112_3224.html 


Nicolas Sarkozy was the up and coming star of the centre-right political spectrum. He was young, energetic, "hype", but little did anyone know the danger that he might of presented at the time.
Sarkozy, changed-up the French political scene forever. The divorce in French between religion/culture/ethnicity and the functioning of the state was always paramount. The centre-right and centre-left wing parties always defended the importance of non-religious republic rooted in the declaration of human rights and the heritage of a radical impartial and independent state system. But Mr.Sarkozy was more intelligent then the average politician, he was always more ruthless.
Sarkozy saw the fault-lines that existed in the French political landscape, and was the first one to use those political fault-lines in major manner to gain political points.
Nicolas Sarkozy is to France, what Berry Goldwater was to the United States. They both brought a new radical ideology (sometimes flirting with the extreme-right) into the political scene, the difference between the two, one was crushed, the later became head of state.
The fact is that today, is that France is caught in between two very violent and radical movements, Revolution that has always been a vector of progress throughout French history and Counter-Revolution.

But Sarkozy (left) only poured verbal kerosene on the flames, dismissing the ghetto youth in the most insulting and racist terms and calling for a policy of repression. "Sarko" made headlines with his declarations that he would "karcherise" the ghettos of "la racaille"-- words the U.S. press, with glaring inadequaxcy, has translated to mean "clean" the ghettos of "scum." But these two words have an infinitely harsher and insulting flavor in French. "Karcher" is the well-known brand name of a system of cleaning surfaces by super-high-pressure sand-blasting or water-blasting that very violently peels away the outer skin of encrusted dirt -- like pigeon-shit -- even at the risk of damaging what's underneath. To apply this term to young human beings and proffer it as a strategy is a verbally fascist insult and, as a policy proposed by an Interior Minister
Source: http://direland.typepad.com/direland/2005/11/why_is_france_b.html#comment-11026593

So the French 2012 presidential election is set in such a scenery. After the "debacle" of Sarkozy presidency, the left is reunited and has like a phoenix has been reborn from it's ashes. The opportunity for a new left leaning progressive government is higher then even in modern french history since the election of François Mitterrand, and if France does elect a new left government, France being one of the most influential countries in the European Union could re-set the EU on the right track and maybe unlash a generalized left wave throughout Europe.
I will be staring by, waiting, commentating about the occurrences of French politics. This might be the start of something truly historic.

Sky

Greece: Or the death of an unborn "social" European Union

Imaginary flames surround Athens tonight. But they also surround the "eternal city" tonight.

Rome was the birth place of so many things, but in the history of the European Union more specifically it was the birth place of the accords of Rome, that are the "birth declaration" of the European Union.

Since the out burst of the economic global crisis in at the end of 2008, Europe has more and more set it's "fundamental" values (in the sense of the values at core of it's foundation). The construction of a federative European association of nations. During the 19th century after the Napoleonic wars, the revolutionary experience flared throughout Europe, many intellectuals built the idea of a unified Europe, these ideas ran throughout the common European bloodline. The fact is that the ideological source of the European Union, has gone dry. The actual EU as an institution has almost nothing to do the founding principals of the "European Ideal".
The actual European Union is nothing more then a free market zone and a "neo-liberal" transnational authoritarian regime. I will not come back on to the toppling of the democratically elected governments of Greece and Italy. But this is just the visible tip of the iceberg. The fact is that because of the disinformation firewall that has used the myth of economic prosperity, of peace and of democratic values.  It's time to get the information out there, and to destroy this firewall.
Since the fall of the Berlin wall, and the end of the bipolar world, the European has started it's quest to perfect it's "neo-liberal" union.
In eastern Europe, the European Union on behave of the idea of integration into the union, imposed a very severe and "undemocratic" integration criteria. In Poland, the EU hijacked the Solidarnosc union/political movement, and forced them to water down their social democratic values and mix those up with "neo-liberal" dogma.
And throughout eastern Europe, this was common currency. Eastern Europe had lifted itself from underneath the iron curtain, and it was hustled down by the new "bleu stared" curtain. Many still tend to believe that the fall of Communist regime in the URSS, meant that the whole of the left leaning ideologies were condemned to death. I don't believe that affirmation whatsoever. I believe that now, more then ever in this time and context in the general history, that arrogance has been defeated, and is in retreat everywhere... except in Brussels and in Strasbourg.
The "Brussels Consensus", has shown over these past months it's dictatorial face. How can you pass austerity bills and plans, when in front of the very place your are signing those bills/plans into law, massive protesting is ongoing and a battlefield has been entrenched.
That's exactly what has happened through Europe, fault line have been created, and the EU has no plans to soften those tensions. Because the EU generates it's strength from those same fault lines. The truth is that the "Eurocrats" have no will whatsoever to see a unified Europe, the ideal Europe that was dreamt by its founding fathers.
So the tend continues, between the "1st" set of European Union nations, and the "2nd" and "3rd" sets. It almost seems like an elaborate plan of power transfer from the secondary and tertiary nations. As we have seen the European power is centralized in the hands of an Oligarchy. And since the 1970's there has capitalization of power into the hands of an elite, of cooperative/financial/multinational interest.
The European Union of it's founders wishes, was supposed to be. So we actually need a revolution, in the real sense of the term, a revolution to rotate the European Union back to it's rightful directory, and it's righteous "ideology".
Today as I finish, this article on the 1st of March. The European Spring is coming.  The links between the Arab spring and the perhaps future European spring, may seem to many as incoherent, let me say it bluntly it's not that is not my point of view.
Many may, say that those peoples were fighting against undemocratic regimes. But isn't our fight a fight against the undemocratic deals struck by politicians in our name? After the Arab spring, one of the questions that passed through my mind and since it have has nested it's egg and they have hatched: Do our "democratic" regimes differ realistically from the "authoritarian/oligarchic" regimes of North Africa?
Our manifestations are met with less violence, but aren't they shut down anyways? Do our regimes hear our demands?
The answer to the both of those question are obvious, Yes to the 1st and No to the 2nd. Those answers underline the basic knowledge that questions the legitimacy of a "democratic" regime.
The fact is that for some time, a trend has been that D.O.I.N. have been popping up through out the western world. Neo-Liberalism is unpopular, true story. From Tunisia, to Poland, from Bolivia to the Congo, the Neo-Liberal project has been met with fierce hostility. In one of my "elder" articles I explained that from my point of view, Neo-Liberalism as a global power machine was built in two times. Imperialism on the colonial scale, was the first from of Neo-Liberalism that profited the more "developed" countries industrially. Then came Neo-Colonialism came hand in hand with Neo-Liberalism. It's was ironically and cynically easy for the post-colonial and the "leader" of the free world to topple elected governments and instate dictatorial regimes, that would basically sell off their natural resources for have the market price. That's a good deal right...
But it wasn't enough back at home, unions and the political left and the "fringe" (as if the neo-liberal policy wasn't fringe)  were a block in the path heading to a fully "globalized, Neo-Liberal" world.
So they'd have to cut down.

There will be another article detailing the whole process of transition from the "30 glorious years", during which the social state and grand prosperity. The Keynesian political thinking that was born in crisis period of the 30's, was born with the will to end the enduring burst and collapse system of the global capitalistic system of the age of the great barons (they be of the railways or of high finance). They pushed the world into the hands of an economic recession. With regulation and the construction of an active government role in economics.
The link with the European Union is that, the Union was built in that optic. In the optic of building together economic common prosperity. But today Brussels and Strasbourg are not creating and generating economic prosperity... it's called economic vandalism and destruction.
The fact is that Neo-Liberalism and the political parties linked to Neo-Liberalism (the New Right) only thrive through division and shock.
In Europe very few Right wing political parties access the reign of political control, with a clear and decisive majority.
Because decisive and divisive are not synonyms to the contrary.
Political victories of the New Right, do not unite or make the electorate flock to the polling station. Sarkozy divided electors on the issue of immigration and "national identity".
National identity is another myth of creation, it's a dogma (but that's another post soon enough).
In Holland/Belgium/Danemark/Poland/France/Germany/Italy/Spain "Neo-Liberal" political parties marry with basic "racist islamophobia". Divide the electorate and disintegrate the electorate.
So are these elected "Neo-Liberal" parties legitimate? They are elected with less then 50%+1 of the Nation wide vote.

I guess that it's time to believe in another way of doing politics. Politics don't have to be (excuse my french) a shit-throwing match up between the various political parties or political allegiances. The European Union is a fantastic ideal, just the fact that ideal does exist makes me believe that "pendulum" swings back and forth between regression and progression but always push a bit more on the progress side of things, so even if we feel that no progress is made immediately over the long run progression is a factor, I would say the most important factor.
So it's time to ridden Europe and the world of the Neo-Liberal disease of austerity and divisive politicking.
The "rebellious" geese that once awaken the Romans in the accent times, just before a barbaric tribe of Celts was going to conquer the city during the night in a surprise attack, have awoken today and are screaming at the top of their lungs. It's time to send the financial barbarians packing and their political chosen elite.
We can defend the "eternal" city. We must just awake from our long hibernation. Good news the spring is coming...
TO BE CONTINUED...

Sky

The European Union of Austerity.

And so the farce of the so called E.U. has finally been uncovered! The "Eurocrates" in Brussels and Strasbourg finally have taken off their masks. The myth of the European Union did live a rather long life and we did believe in it for a time. But when the going got tough, the horrid reality and the "real meaning" of the European Union was for all to see.
Since the birth of the European Union in post-war Europe, 1957 and the signing of the Rome accords that have been put down in the history books as the birth mark of the European Union, a myth has been created. The myth that a basic neo-liberal free trade agreement was in fact a much more humane and dignified human experience. In this "utopia" the E.U. was more then just a free trade agreement, it was the start of the construction of "United States of Europe" as Churchill once pronounced. It was more social then economic, it was about the people and not about the corporations. The "common-money" was not just an economic factor, it was a factor of unity. The birth of the common monetary zone was supposed to be a step in the right direction, a step in the direction of further unity and cooperation between divergent european nations. It was supposed to bring us together... but it has brought us apart!
Europe, the European Union nations are now facing the worst economic downturn in the history of the union without doubt. The 2008 crisis that lead to a globalized recession, is the worst possible scenario for Brussels, but it is also the E.U. first major crisis.
You see transnational institutions that have the pretension to affirm such global and humane values are really only put to test in economic downturns such as the one we are passing through as this article is being written. And so what lessons can we take from the E.U.'s reaction to the global economic crisis? Not a very good from my point of view.
The fantasy of a great and grand European Union was torn into shreds by the debt crisis, so were the acquisitions of the European Union founding fathers (Jean Monet and Konrad Adenauer etc...). The fact is that the general idea we have of the European Union and it's real face are very divergent. It's "ideal" face (in sense of the way it should be) and it's practical face are unrecognizable. That's why it's fair to say that European Union is bipolar and edging on schizophrenia. Because on one hand the European Union has such great principals and values, and on the other it erodes democracy and diminishes economic equity in it's member countries.
I'm from the first generation of "Europeans". The first real generation of a generalized erasmus exchange system. Me and so many of my close friends are the product of Europe. We have lived in various European countries, speak various languages and have contacts throughout Europe. We are the first generation to almost automatically say we are Europeans instead of French, Spanish or German etc...
But we are not products of the European Union, but we might soon be...
By this I'm saying that in one way the E.U. did break down the national barriers and permitted a greater transnational cooperation/connection. But this success is only the visible tip of the iceberg. I also have the firm conviction that E.U. or no E.U. transnational cooperation/exchange/connection would have only increased.

Having lived in Europe for 11 years of my life, and having travelled extensively throughout the European heart land and speaking four of it's languages, I considered myself as much as I am Canadian, a European. And more then just a European I considered myself pro-European. And in being a pro-European, I believe that it is my duty to point out the problems with the E.U.
Having lived in Belgium and having spent some time in Brussels, I always had the impression passing by the great buildings of the European Commission and other "grand" institutions of "Pan-Europeanism" that there was a huge disconnect between the European quarter of Brussels, between the spirit that resided in such a place and the rest of Europe and specially in my "European" home of Lisbon. It's almost impossible to explain how huge the gap is, because the gap is so big it's impressive. They really are two worlds apart.
Sometimes I hear, people referring to the European Union as a Union of different countries of different speeds. Let me explain myself, first you have the European Heart: I would consider that the more robust economies meaning Germany, the United Kingdom, the Benelux, France and the Scandinavian members, then you have the group of less integrated members (medium speed): that being Spain, Italy, Poland the "economic miracle" of Slovenia and others... and then you have the "outsiders" (low speed): that being since the economic downturn of 2008 Ireland, Portugal and Greece but also countries like Latvia ( that in 2008 hit a recession of 10.5% of it's GDP, an important chunk of it's economic growth since it's entrance into the "free" market economy, "evaporated").
The E.U. imposed "criminal" economic austerity measures in countries such as Greece and Portugal. Those two countries have been forced by the almighty Troika to accept to be the economic slaves of creditors in big multinational banks (alike the banks that "levelled" the terrain for such an economic crisis to grow) for the next decade. The problem with those countries, is that they have been hijacked by a political elite that cares more for benefit, then for social justice and social ascension. Just like Portugal and Greece, the E.U. has been overrun by corporate and banker interests. The once grand idea of a social/cultural union between European nation-states is but a fade, old, grey memory, lost in the dustbins of history.
Now the agenda of the day is austerity and the concentration of economic power in the hands of a political and economical elite and the "damnation" of the lower and middle classes of the "damed nations".
The funny thing is that in these modern days and times, political guidelines of left and right, are of no importance whatsoever. So the E.U. does it's magic of a European division of labour. The lower speed countries thus will always be dependent on the higher speed countries. And so the shift of national sovereignty and self-determination is transferred from Lisbon and Athens to Brussels (the HQ of the multinational corporation that is the E.U.).
And this is a fact, the European Union staged a number of "democratic coups" and even undemocratic coups. But because they aren't violent and gruesome, they aren't newsworthy. At the end of the last year the democratically elected governments of Portugal, Greece, Italy and Spain we're removed from power through democratic and undemocratic coups. The most notable one was the coup the E.U. backed by Sarko-Merkel axe hosted against the left-wing coalition of Mr. Papandreou. The link between all of these coups each and every government was replaced with a neo-liberal cabinet.
The problem with Brussels, isn't that Brussels is broken, it's that Brussels is bought.
But do not lose hope. As you few that read my posts with regularity know, I'm a eternal optimist. I believe that many Europeans are now awakening to this reality and want change. They don't want change because they are fed-up with the current system, they want change because that's their only way out, the only way to survive. We have been pushed into a conner, the media and our political elite want to make us believe that this the only way. But we know it isn't! We just have to look north to Iceland to see that there is an alternative way.
As I write this post, families in Greece and my dear Portugal awake to yet another painful day of austerity. The pain is huge in Portugal and Greece over the last past 6 months, the number of child "abandonments" has risen dramatically and let's not talk about the suicide rates (that I guess that isn't newsworthy either). People tend to link crime to murder and violent crime, but how ,about the crime of being the cause of death indirectly? Economic crimes against humanity have been lunched by the corporate interest, their banks and by their lobbies and for the time being the I.M.F., the E.U. and the World Bank have been complacent.
But we have to remind Brussels, one little thing... they aren't "EUROPE", we are "EUROPE". We citizens of all colours and creeds, of all walks of live, of all linguistic backgrounds and cultural settings we are the "European Dream". It's time to take back our Europe, the Europe of our founding fathers.
"EUROPE" doesn't solely reside in Strasbourg or Brussels, "EUROPE" resides in the port workers of Piraeus, "EUROPE" resides in the dreams of an African immigrant traveling stormy seas tonight. "EUROPE" resides in us, not in some of us, but in all and each and everyone of us. And a threat against the spirit of "EUROPE" anywhere is a threat to "EUROPE" everywhere.

Sky

The War is on : The battle for Canada's soul.

Steven Harper or the problem with Canada.

Today, as the morning shines throughout Canada, as it enlightens the majestic lakes, the great green forest that flourish far and near, in every possible corner in this great white north. From the snowy tops of the rockies to the sandy shores of British Colombia, from British Colombia's thousand islands to Lake Ontario thousand islands, from the great bay of Hudson to the bay of Halifax, as the proud polar bear dashes all through the white ice fields of the polar gap. As people awake today, as almost everyday in this country people awake and are crushed by this nature, this impressive nature that surounds us everywhere we go. People awake and rejoice in this fact, for always has Canada been a leader in the defence of our environment for we take it as part of our and every future Canadian's right. We also rejoice in the fact that we live in a Multicultural society, some might fear diversity we embrace it, just to say so 35% of us were born outside of the federation's boarders. We take pride in this because we believe that diversity isn't a bad thing that it actually something essential to the conception of our entire perception of ourselves and of our Canadian Federation. We take pride in that fact, that we are a caring nation, because we believe that society in general can only be judged by the way it treats the less well-over. Or do we?
Since 2006 (the coming to power of our honourable prime-minister Harper) the Conservative majority has started to chip away the fundamental pillars of the Canadian democratic edifice and of Canadian society in general, a fight has been enhanced for the soul of Canada. Because everything basically does come down to that simple question do we still believe in the values that once made us unique? Do we still cling to the idea that a better world is possible through virtue, solidarity and compassion? Throughout this country's history we have took our stands even when we knew very well that it wasn't in the best of our interests (the decision to not participate in blockade against Cuba, at the time Canada was the only "Nation" in the America's to do so). And today, after the bittersweet symphony that were the 2011 elections and 2011 in general. In 2011 we partially reunited ourselves with that "antique" Canadian soul. Jack Layton brought out the best in us, he really was maybe one of the last great politicians of his generation and in his last words recorded in his letter, he even in front of death set the way for millions of Canadians to build a great and more perfect union and society.
But Jack Layton's death left a vacuum in the middle of the Canadian political spectrum, and it's such a shame that Jack didn't have the time to fully finish he's campaign to take back Canada's soul. And it's probably one of the moments of greater sadness in this young life of mine, for with Jack Layton's death I put everything under questioning again. Are we capable of really continuing Jack's fight?
Because since 2006, the front-lines have become so foggy, so blurry, because the real factor that keeps Harper in power is fear, he was elected by fear, by two kinds of fear, the fear of the external threat, and the fear that is generated between distinct parts of our society because of the incomprehension. The truth is that this government is a government of fear, from fear and for fear. Harper's regime wants to divide Canadian society into divergent "opposing sections". It's the oldest trick in the book devision makes absolute power possible. And since 2006 he's seceded in doing look back at 2006, at  Canadian society back then and take a look, a good one at Canadian society nowadays, and you'll see that he has succeeded in dividing a country, a federation that seemed indivisible. But who do we have to blame but ourselves?
One the most shocking things that came out of the 2011 elections, was "the hurray we won't have to go back to the polls until 2014", where's my Canada? The majority of these same people haven't any notion of the luck that they have to live in country were elections actually exist. Were they aren't cut down like bad grass just because they pronounced an opinion whatever it is. And worst then that was the so-called left and specially the liberal and more specifically Bob Rae that all made it clear that 4 more years of Harper would kill us ,but then took more shots at the NDP and Jack Layton then at the Conservatives and the "Harper regime". The only thing that is worst then a Conservative is a Conservative in disguise, and there are thousands of them in the NDP and in Liberal Party, those people that are just part of the political system to be part of it , those opportunists that just believe in one thing "making money" off the back of their constituents.

Jack Layton 

And then Justin Trudeau speaks out and has to apologize (why?), because just like so many of us he's just fed-up with all this undemocratic stance and rigged political system. A rigged political system in which the Conservatives can design (in drawing the electoral ridings and in adding in some) their "holding" on the grips of power for the next 10 years, and even if they're kicked-out they've got enough power Supreme Court wise to hold the barbarians at the gate. And then more and more "insane" measures are taken by the "Harper regime" the criminal bill that is (excuse my french) a piece of bullshit, probably the biggest piece of bullshit that has even been presented to parliament in it's history. It's sure in a country alike the one we live in, one of the safest in the world we really need prisons popping out of our ears and that the big problem in Canada is kids smoking dope? All this is ridiculous, it's just part of the strategy to maintain us in fear and keep us part and in doing so maintaining power. This strategy of course has some side effects, the probability that it will alienate part of our society, it has already started alienating the Native communities but are we natives? no so of course we don't care. And then one day it will hit us, the wall that we've been running into for so long and we'll fall flat on our faces and ask ourselves how did we get here?
And we'll feel like Adam and Eve kicked out of paradise, and then it will be too late. Our grand Canadian society will be lost, we'll be segregated into this and that box and we won't even recognize it anymore, we'll just think its normal.
So Canada before that happens we better take a stand shouldn't we? Before our Canada becomes the paradise of the grand old Banks and the no tax-paying millionaires, before Canada becomes the home of "the" rising social inequality, a country in which we think universal heath-care is a communist idea, before we have a two-party system and no democracy expect for the oligarchy that from time to time permits elections but the results are already known and everything is controlled. Does this ring any bell?
So I declare war.  I declare war on all of this system of Democracy Only In Name. I declare war on the conservative and the plan for the 'Americanization" of this our Canada. I declare a war on Harper and his hidden racism. I declare war on that hidden racism and by doing so I declare war on the ignorance that breads that hidden racism. I declare war on the broken schools, on the broken families, I declare war on all of this "Harper regime' and on all of its sources, on all of the things that bread fear in Canada. Because fear is the main supporter of this "Harper regime" and more then that I declare war on the phoniness that is the main essence of this political system we live in, only a "real" democratic system, a direct form of democracy that gives back dignity to the median Canadian and puts the power back into the people's hands and out of the spectrum of an elite.
So Canadians it's time to get fed-up, it's time to change this rigged system, to tear down the walls of fear that keep us separated and distinct. It will be a long battle and this is only the beginning, but our great white north is worth it. So get mad Canadians, get very mad...

Canada we stand on guard for thee


Sky