I voted, but that won’t change a rotten system
No good will come from stealing land then trying to build progressive government on it
Well, I voted. I voted NDP. I am not excited that I voted NDP because they are not exciting. Let me tell you why:
The NDP does not represent change because you cannot change a system that has rotten roots.
Indigenous nations have been fighting this system for hundreds of years. Time and again they invite us to fight with them. Time and again they show us we cannot move forward if their sovereignty and self-determination are not front and centre.
But we haven’t been listening.
You see, the quicker we realize that “reform” cannot change the system, the quicker we change this world for the better.
The problem with reform is that it morphs an existing system of violence and oppression into a different and more covert form that we might not recognize at first. Or at all.
The Indian Act is the new colonization. The prison industrial complex is the new slavery. And all in accordance with the law. So I hope you voted.
Because we will get small victories that do make people’s everyday lives a little better.
But, although positive, know that none of these victories will ever amount to giving back stolen land and resources, because that would upset too many Canadians.
This is the utmost expression of how corrupt and rotten this system is and the NDP are not exempt.
Understand that this is a system where those in power are wired to want to stay in power, not to invest in our moral, spiritual, character and material growth.
Governing today is not based on values, it is based on votes — which means we always have to be the loudest. That is tiring, unsustainable and is not the only way.
Especially considering that no person in their right mind can expect to work to live and have the physical and emotional capacity to constantly be engaged with government. It is a terrible model and is certainly not the natural order of things.
Letting go of the reins of engagement cannot mean that you might lose your livelihood and so constantly engaging itself is an oppressive phenomenon. The least represented have the least resources and time.
So I hope you voted.
That’s what I did but understand that this isn’t “change.” The NDP is not the end — the NDP is what we do for now while we teach younger generations not to make the same mistakes and to find creative, more equitable forms of governance because whatever version of this system remains it will be oppressive; for it only seeks to sustain itself.
No good will ever come from injustice. No good will ever come from stealing land then trying to build progressive government on it.
That is absurd.
That is oppression morphing into something it thinks you won’t recognize. Recognize it.
Also recognize that this, at least to me, is incredibly uplifting, rational and liberating.
Not only is it clear what not to do, but it is also clear what must be done.
This doesn’t mean I know what a better future will or should look like, but it means I know it starts with engaging in nation-to-nation relationships, truly appreciating what that means and honouring treaties — even honouring that some of them were coerced and were unfair.
This is the starting point of the least oppressive timeline, bar none. And when you know exactly where to start, why wouldn’t you?
I leave you with these two tweets from Melanie Lefebvre, a Red River Métis & Irish, writer, visual artist, researcher, grad student living on Kanienkehaka Territory:
We aren't Canadian, we r (in no particular order) Kanienkehaka, Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, Tuscarora, Métis, Cree, Anishnaabe, Inuit, Saulteaux, Nakota, Lakota, Dakota, Potawatomi, Oji-Cree, Mi’kmaq, Migmaw, Abenaki, Siksika, Dene ... this might take a while — Melanie Lefebvre @theoriginalmel, 3:01 p.m. — May 27, 2018
Globally over 5000 Nations later) we were here LONG before resources became something for settlers to steal & abuse (see “colonization” and “time immemorial”) — Melanie Lefebvre @theoriginalmel, 3:06 p.m. — 27 May 27, 2018