“Unlike other Canadians, he’s not allowed to speak to the press.”
You might think that line would part of a joke. But the reality is not funny at all. The quote appears in a Toronto Star article (“‘Staggering’ conditions on accused G20 ringleader,” Oct 15th) about the draconian new bail conditions placed on Alex
Hundert. Hundert is charged with conspiracy for his involvement in
protests at this year’s G20 summit.
One of Hundert’s original bail terms was that he not participate “in
any public demonstration.” Police labeled a university panel discussion
he participated in a “public demonstration,” and arrested him. To
clarify its tyrannical intentions, the court dictated new bail
conditions, including “a restriction on planning, participating in, or
attending any public event that expresses views on a political issue”
and a ban on speaking to the media.
The authorities are clearly trying to marginalize Hundert. Unlike
power-mad politicians or mouthpieces for corporate criminals, he is
forbidden to persuade or influence people on any political issue. Any
interaction he has, no matter how informal, can lead to his arrest if
his persecutors label it “political.”
Perhaps the workings of the court system and the choices its petty
tyrants make betray an unconscious crisis of legitimacy. They want
people to lay the blame for destruction and violence not on summits of
the powerful, openly plotting for world domination, but on
“conspiracies” among the activists who protest those summits. Whatever
bogus charges they can bring to silence those activists will be used for
the purpose.
But if people don’t really believe in the system, then they at least
better not believe another world is achievable. Meetings where a handful
of politicians decide what is best for the entire world — which in
their view means whatever appears to best promote stable power relations
— defended by legions of heavily armed paramilitaries is supposed to be
how the world has to work. People who speak out against the system must
appear helpless before entrenched corporate interests, professional
politicians, the conviction-factory court system, and the police who
protect and serve those who give them orders.
Resistance may be tough, but it is never futile. A better world can
be ours, but only if we work for it. Every information network,
organization, or community that operates outside of authority’s control
dissolves some measure of authority’s power. Expanding the influence of
anti-authoritarian alternatives reveals a viable and attractive
alternative to current oppression. The more people oppose the system,
the easier opposition can become.
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