Comrade Marcel
15th September 2006, 19:13
Shooting at Dawson College, Montreal -- Another Columbine?
We Must Together Avert Such Tragedies
- Statement of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist),
September 14, 2006 -
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) expresses its deepest condolences to the family of Anastasia DeSousa, the young woman killed in the shooting at Dawson College in Montreal. We express our sympathies to the some 10,000 students, college staff, their families and all Montrealers who have been so profoundly affected by this tragedy. We express our appreciation for the actions of the first responders, including police and paramedics, as well as the student union at Concordia University, professors and hospitals who took charge of the situation and played the role which befits them. They managed to impart some coherence and confidence within a dreadful situation. The antidote to succumbing to fear is to take up one's social responsibility, especially in exceptional circumstances. In this regard, having mechanisms and arrangements which enable people to deal with such events and with the ensuing psychological trauma make the difference between coherence and incoherence and stop a bad situation from becoming worse.
The recurrence of brutal, insane acts such as the shooting at Dawson are a great shock for any society. Immediately one wants to know: Who was the shooter? Why did he do it? But most importantly, what conclusions do we draw from such a shocking event and how do we orient ourselves to ensure that together we can go to the heart of the problem?
In this regard, we condemn the statement of Prime Minister Stephen Harper who declared the shooting a "cowardly and senseless act of violence." What does he know that we don't know? We live in a society which forces people to fend for themselves and many are driven to commit all kinds of desperate acts. Is it suitable to say such acts are "cowardly"? Even though the acts may be "senseless," does it mean we cannot make sense of them?
The very same day this Columbine-type tragedy occurred in Montreal, news agencies reported that a nurse in Alberta who sedated several of her colleagues to defraud them was found to suffer from bi-polar disorder. She was given two years probation with community service. Nothing was said to indicate she is getting appropriate treatment and will not commit similar crimes in the future. Such reports lead us to question the Prime Minister's statement. Why is he content with dismissing what took place at Dawson with a phrase? In our opinion, it is a cowardly statement which indicates that he has no intention of taking responsibility for a society in which such things take place.
In the same vein, there is already speculation in the media that this event will lead to a more heated debate about the gun registry. Various media outlets are also introducing a discourse about the need to profile certain youth to identify "violent behaviour" or to say that it is the fault of violent video games and movies. In this way, a very serious problem facing society and our younger generation is immediately reduced to so-called solutions which are unhelpful at best -- parents and teachers should "monitor behaviour," we need increased police presence to take more law and order measures and other such things.
Social, political, economic and cultural problems cannot be ruled out of existence with law and order campaigns, feel-good statements or facile explanations and measures which solve nothing and often make matters worse. The very idea that now young men with piercings and dressed in black are to be profiled precisely underscores that our society is in trouble. It is no different to being criminalized for being Muslim. People who look and dress in a particular way are fair game -- for our protection and security of course!
How is it that before people have even had a chance to sit and think, they are already told what the issue is and how it will be dealt with? Who decides how we should proceed?
Following the events of 9/11 we saw how an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty about the future was created and then used as a pretext to introduce the "war on terror" and invade Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, as well as justify crimes against the Palestinian people. It was used to introduce police-state measures in Canada and the U.S., amongst other countries. We are now seeing the consequences of the kinds of arrangements that have been put in place while Americans were mourning their loss of innocence and trying to sort out how to move on. The agenda these arrangements serve is not to be questioned. Meanwhile, even though insecurity and uncertainty have become the new normal, the widespread belief that these measures have not sorted out any of the problems the world was facing before September 11 or after is ignored by the official circles. The criminalization of political views, national origin, religion and behaviour have become widespread. Now U.S. President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Harper and others are paving the way to criminalize any ideology or belief that lies contrary to theirs.
The events at Dawson show how some youth are being driven into a disconnect, leading to truly crazy and barbaric acts. We are not surprised that such things are taking place when the leaders in the U.S. and Canada act in the same fashion in the name of the highest ideals. In the case of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, these leaders openly promote torture and mass killings as acts of great courage and valour. They declare that they will continue doing this because they can. When the tragic consequences of such a culture are revealed, they declare that some individual has a behaviour problem and refuse to take social responsibility.
On the same day that this act took place at Dawson, the Canadian Army released a new set of ads to recruit the youth to join the Armed Forces. They depict scenes from a battlefield in Afghanistan with the words "Fight fear, fight distress, fight chaos." General Rick Hillier, Chief of Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, described the role of the military this way: "Our job is to kill people."
A hooligan culture is being promoted right from the top and it is presented as okay for the youth when it is done in pursuit of "scumbags," but not okay when it harms fellow citizens. This is the disconnect which is leading to tragedies.
When the killings took place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, then U.S. President Bill Clinton said: "We do know that we must do more to reach out to our children and teach them to express their anger and to resolve their conflicts with words, not weapons."
This is the same President Clinton who former White House aide George Stephanopoulos quoted in his book All Too Human from the time Clinton ordered the bombing of civilian targets in Somalia:
"We're not inflicting pain on these fuckers," Clinton said, softly at first. "When people kill us, they should be killed in greater numbers." Then, with his face reddening, his voice rising, and his fist pounding his thigh, he leaned into Tony [Lake, then his national security adviser], as if it was his fault. "I believe in killing people who try to hurt you. And I can't believe we're being pushed around by these two-bit pricks."
When the future presented to the youth is one of chaos, violence and anarchy, who is going to take responsibility for this disconnect in which some of our youth live? In considering what leads some youth to take desperate measures, such as occurred at Dawson yesterday, should we not take into account the present and future of war, militarism and the hooligan culture devoid of any social responsibility which is being forced onto society as the only way to sort out problems?
This society is creating great problems for the youth. Law and order and military solutions and facile explanations will not deal with these problems; they will only make them worse. Whatever happens, we should not let these events be used for partisan political gain, or to impose an agenda that goes against the interests of the society. Solutions must come out of a broad discussion amongst the polity on the overall direction of the society and how to turn things around.
We Must Together Avert Such Tragedies
- Statement of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist),
September 14, 2006 -
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) expresses its deepest condolences to the family of Anastasia DeSousa, the young woman killed in the shooting at Dawson College in Montreal. We express our sympathies to the some 10,000 students, college staff, their families and all Montrealers who have been so profoundly affected by this tragedy. We express our appreciation for the actions of the first responders, including police and paramedics, as well as the student union at Concordia University, professors and hospitals who took charge of the situation and played the role which befits them. They managed to impart some coherence and confidence within a dreadful situation. The antidote to succumbing to fear is to take up one's social responsibility, especially in exceptional circumstances. In this regard, having mechanisms and arrangements which enable people to deal with such events and with the ensuing psychological trauma make the difference between coherence and incoherence and stop a bad situation from becoming worse.
The recurrence of brutal, insane acts such as the shooting at Dawson are a great shock for any society. Immediately one wants to know: Who was the shooter? Why did he do it? But most importantly, what conclusions do we draw from such a shocking event and how do we orient ourselves to ensure that together we can go to the heart of the problem?
In this regard, we condemn the statement of Prime Minister Stephen Harper who declared the shooting a "cowardly and senseless act of violence." What does he know that we don't know? We live in a society which forces people to fend for themselves and many are driven to commit all kinds of desperate acts. Is it suitable to say such acts are "cowardly"? Even though the acts may be "senseless," does it mean we cannot make sense of them?
The very same day this Columbine-type tragedy occurred in Montreal, news agencies reported that a nurse in Alberta who sedated several of her colleagues to defraud them was found to suffer from bi-polar disorder. She was given two years probation with community service. Nothing was said to indicate she is getting appropriate treatment and will not commit similar crimes in the future. Such reports lead us to question the Prime Minister's statement. Why is he content with dismissing what took place at Dawson with a phrase? In our opinion, it is a cowardly statement which indicates that he has no intention of taking responsibility for a society in which such things take place.
In the same vein, there is already speculation in the media that this event will lead to a more heated debate about the gun registry. Various media outlets are also introducing a discourse about the need to profile certain youth to identify "violent behaviour" or to say that it is the fault of violent video games and movies. In this way, a very serious problem facing society and our younger generation is immediately reduced to so-called solutions which are unhelpful at best -- parents and teachers should "monitor behaviour," we need increased police presence to take more law and order measures and other such things.
Social, political, economic and cultural problems cannot be ruled out of existence with law and order campaigns, feel-good statements or facile explanations and measures which solve nothing and often make matters worse. The very idea that now young men with piercings and dressed in black are to be profiled precisely underscores that our society is in trouble. It is no different to being criminalized for being Muslim. People who look and dress in a particular way are fair game -- for our protection and security of course!
How is it that before people have even had a chance to sit and think, they are already told what the issue is and how it will be dealt with? Who decides how we should proceed?
Following the events of 9/11 we saw how an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty about the future was created and then used as a pretext to introduce the "war on terror" and invade Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon, as well as justify crimes against the Palestinian people. It was used to introduce police-state measures in Canada and the U.S., amongst other countries. We are now seeing the consequences of the kinds of arrangements that have been put in place while Americans were mourning their loss of innocence and trying to sort out how to move on. The agenda these arrangements serve is not to be questioned. Meanwhile, even though insecurity and uncertainty have become the new normal, the widespread belief that these measures have not sorted out any of the problems the world was facing before September 11 or after is ignored by the official circles. The criminalization of political views, national origin, religion and behaviour have become widespread. Now U.S. President George W. Bush, Prime Minister Harper and others are paving the way to criminalize any ideology or belief that lies contrary to theirs.
The events at Dawson show how some youth are being driven into a disconnect, leading to truly crazy and barbaric acts. We are not surprised that such things are taking place when the leaders in the U.S. and Canada act in the same fashion in the name of the highest ideals. In the case of the occupations of Afghanistan and Iraq, these leaders openly promote torture and mass killings as acts of great courage and valour. They declare that they will continue doing this because they can. When the tragic consequences of such a culture are revealed, they declare that some individual has a behaviour problem and refuse to take social responsibility.
On the same day that this act took place at Dawson, the Canadian Army released a new set of ads to recruit the youth to join the Armed Forces. They depict scenes from a battlefield in Afghanistan with the words "Fight fear, fight distress, fight chaos." General Rick Hillier, Chief of Staff of the Canadian Armed Forces, described the role of the military this way: "Our job is to kill people."
A hooligan culture is being promoted right from the top and it is presented as okay for the youth when it is done in pursuit of "scumbags," but not okay when it harms fellow citizens. This is the disconnect which is leading to tragedies.
When the killings took place at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, then U.S. President Bill Clinton said: "We do know that we must do more to reach out to our children and teach them to express their anger and to resolve their conflicts with words, not weapons."
This is the same President Clinton who former White House aide George Stephanopoulos quoted in his book All Too Human from the time Clinton ordered the bombing of civilian targets in Somalia:
"We're not inflicting pain on these fuckers," Clinton said, softly at first. "When people kill us, they should be killed in greater numbers." Then, with his face reddening, his voice rising, and his fist pounding his thigh, he leaned into Tony [Lake, then his national security adviser], as if it was his fault. "I believe in killing people who try to hurt you. And I can't believe we're being pushed around by these two-bit pricks."
When the future presented to the youth is one of chaos, violence and anarchy, who is going to take responsibility for this disconnect in which some of our youth live? In considering what leads some youth to take desperate measures, such as occurred at Dawson yesterday, should we not take into account the present and future of war, militarism and the hooligan culture devoid of any social responsibility which is being forced onto society as the only way to sort out problems?
This society is creating great problems for the youth. Law and order and military solutions and facile explanations will not deal with these problems; they will only make them worse. Whatever happens, we should not let these events be used for partisan political gain, or to impose an agenda that goes against the interests of the society. Solutions must come out of a broad discussion amongst the polity on the overall direction of the society and how to turn things around.