Housing, Not War
This speech was delivered by Greg Farrants of Albertans Demand Affordable Housing (ADAH) at the Global Day of Action on March 15, 2008.
It was George Orwell in his book, 1984, who wrote:
“The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquest of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact.”
I say this because the same war that our government has waged or supported on Afghanis, on Haitians, on Columbians, on Lebanese, on Palestinians, and tacitly on Iraqis… is the same war that this government has waged on its own people and especially the poor and marginalized.
The War on Terror is an oxymoron, a contradictory term. War is terror. This war is really directed against the most marginalized, disenfranchised, the most desperate, and also the most numerous in order for the few to maintain global control of all wealth and power.
Capitalism and its henchmen along with imperialism and militarism are intrinsically connected to poverty. Capitalism needs poverty; it relies on poor people.
Many of the Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan come from places in Canada where opportunities are scarce.
The preying Canadian Armed Forces, like the U.S. Military, is setup essentially like a welfare state. Using its benefits as bait, it targets under-privileged citizens to pawn their lives off for war, supposedly to fight for democracy, but really to keep the oppressive structure of society intact.
So far, 80 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan since 2001. In parallel, since 2005, 117 people have died specifically due to homelessness in Edmonton alone. Who knows how many have died overall in Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, or within other imperial projects.
The war on the poor, abroad and at home, is to shock us into obedience and into a master/slave relationship through the use of fear and intimidation.
Bombing and destroying homes abroad, the Canadian government is also neglecting and ultimately destroying homes here as well.
Poorer populations are seen as expendable. Battlegrounds are the slums of our cities.
Poverty is criminalized and then terrorized.
This government of ours… does it realize the desperation that poverty creates?
This is an unending enterprise in its current form. But the powers that be are bent on dividing and conquering.
In turn, more repression equals more chaos. More chaos equals more poverty. And more poverty equals more injustice.
We need an anti-war government so badly. One that will not only ensure homes here, but also will not bomb them abroad. So in solidarity, we demand peace and homes for all.