G8/G20 Communique: Turning demoralization into hope

[1]Krystalline Kraus

 My apologies for the lack of posts, I felll head first into a self-pity hole....

I'll be the first to admit that I can get extremely sad and frustrated at the state of the world.

Despite all the verbs and nouns I use to prop myself up, I am a very fragile creature.

And in that human fragility, I care. I care about people and about the world. I care equally about mothers and friends and family as I do about rocks, animals and the ocean.

How we humans treat our planet hurts me. Look at the basic fact: when a child kills their mother, something is seriously wrong in that situation and matricide is not natural and yet we humans are killing our mother, we are killing the very planet that gives us life ... And the majority of people don't seem to frakken care.

But seriously, what the fuck is wrong with us? If Mother Earth were to say right now that she had enough of us, folded herself in half and told us to leave, I would jump off the edge because we deserve it.

Especially us white people and I've been taught to pray for my own race when I'm in the sweatlodge.

For myself, I would rather work very hard to put myself out of business by fixing all the world's problems rather than live off the profits generated by the misery industry that some social work agencies and NGOs have created to sustain themselves.

But alas ...Here's some hope I managed to dig up from the dark.

PLANET OR DEATH! G8/G20 Communiqué | Rejection of Failed System that Places Profits over Mother Earth and People. It's a solid read -- real, practical ways people can help rooted in the concept of justice -- and contains links to do more.

Quote: Gordon Brown, in his press conference, arrogantly equated the G-20 states as being 'the world" when he made statements such as:  Now the world has agreed [the same arrogance has been present for years with the self anointed G7and G8].

In June, statements from the G8 and G20 will be released; it will be presumably nothing more than tinkering with the economic system. If the current global situation is to be changed, there must be more than status quo measures to prop up the current capitalist system.

Instead the G8 and G20 could reverse the years of contributing to war and conflict, of violating human rights, of denying social justice, and of devastating the environment, this is the statement it should release [3]

Also, the TCMN facilitated protests [4] have declared Wednesday June 23 as Environmental and Climate Justice Day. The day following is the Day of Action for Indigenous Rights.

At the end of the day, though - after my friends accuse me of being crazy for caring so much and getting involved in my "saving the world" stuff, I know a basic truth about myself.

When I comes to engaging the world through social justice, as painful as it is to be aware of all the suffering and injustice in the world, doing nothing about it actually makes me feel worse than if I were to detach and make the planet someone else's problem

Any other ideas about how to lift my spirits up, please let me know...

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To cheer myself up, here's a reminder of TONIGHT'S fundraiser hosted by the Toronto Community Mobilization Network (TCMN)

I GOT YOUR DESIGNATED SPEECH AREA RIGHT HERE w/Richard Laviolette!

Doors open at 8:30 pm at the Silver Dollar (486 Spadina Avenue). Suggested cover is $7 but no one will be denied the right to dance.

I want to emphasize coming up and donating the $7 bucks ...think of it this way, you are really donating the money to yourself because the more funds (or donations in kind) the TCMN receives, the more it can put that money back into the protests to help you out when you're on the street - Food, medical supplies, etc.

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Toronto vs. the G20

Community action for global justice

Saturday, June 5

10:30am-6pm

Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

252 Bloor Street West

Quote:

Q: What are we protesting, again?

A: It's a good impulse to feel contempt for the G20. It's a better impulse to want to talk about it. Join student and community activists to learn about the G20 and current social and environmental justice campaigns in Toronto, and to get involved. Free citywide teach-in. Lunch included

FULL PROGRAM AVAILABLE AT http://g20.torontomobilize.org/torontoVSG20 [5].

ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=111541778889778&ref=ts [6]

RSVP to toronto.vs.g20@gmail.com [7]

Sponsored by University of Toronto Students' Union * Ontario Public Interest Research Group * Toronto Community Mobilization Network * Sierra Youth Coalition * Science for Peace * Canadian Youth Climate Coalition * University of Toronto Graduate Students' Union * Health Studies Students' Union * Diaspora and Transnational Student Union * Native Students' Association * Caribbean Studies Students' Union * Equity Studies Students' Union * Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 3902 * No One Is Illegal - Toronto * Ontario Coalition Against Poverty * And others!

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