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OPINIONS.

Fight for your right

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The pros and cons of peaceful protest

Elliot Chan Opinions Editor

‘ts opinions@theotherpress.ca

hat began as a peaceful

protest near Rexton, New Brunswick on October 17 turned violent as armed RCMP clashed with those opposing shale gas exploration and fracking. Led by the Mi’kmaq First Nations people, the protesters created a blockade and asserted they were “willing to die” for their position. Molotov cocktails and firearms don’t necessarily demonstrate peace or a willingness to negotiate, so when the smoke cleared, guns were holstered, and the roads were emptied, 40 protesters were arrested and five RCMP vehicles were torched.

This was a fine example of

a peaceful protest gone wrong, but has a peaceful protest ever gone right? Has dissatisfaction ever been effectively communicated through defiance? Do rebels ever sway public opinion? Personally, I am a supporter of protest: when injustice is clearly displayed, it’s our duty as citizens to stand up and stand together. The history books are full of great examples of effective peaceful protests. Of course the results weren't immediate, but those who banded together sparked changes and got the rolling

eS

Protesters have to pass burning police cruisers to get out of the way to saftey | Photo courtesy of Laura Brown/@01LBrown

wheel of revolution heading in the right direction.

What some consider mischief, others see as heroic. Hell, when put in a high pressure situation, I hope I have the guts to march out in front of

a moving tank like the students did in Tiananmen Square during the June Fourth Incident in

1989. I like to think that I have the courage to stand up for my fellow man when the situation calls for it. We all like to believe

we can take down Goliath, and we like to cheer for the underdogs, but often we simply bark—what happens when we bite?

More often than not, we consider protest to be a waste

of taxpayers’ dollars. Just take a glance at the accomplishments— oops, I mean the consequences— of Occupy Wall Street in 2011. When done right, a protest

will trigger debates, dialogue, and meaningful conversations. When done wrong, it becomes

a spectacle and a shame on the city, country, and even mankind.

There is a lesson we need to learn from all of this: lessons from Mahatma Gandhi's hunger strike, Martin Luther King Jr.’s March on Washington, and John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Bed-Ins for Peace. The strikes, boycotts, and protests garner attention, but all lead to tragic results. They effectively call attention to a problem, thus paving way for a solution, but we must recognize that there might not be such thing as a peaceful protest: all protest hurts in one way or another.

As disruptive as it is, protesting is our human right—or it should be. North Americans are accustomed to their safe little abodes and often only see the devastation of violent protests in other countries. Those people in Egypt and Turkey aren't uneducated ruffians causing trouble for the establishment. They’re just like us, trying to find comfort and trying to defend something they truly believe in. Those people are “willing to die” for their cause, and to me that is something humanity needs. Protest is an amiable choice and a potentially horrible one—but when push comes to shove, only the cowards are passive.

Artwork is work

Does the responsibility in ensuring a healthy culture lle in us?

Julia

Siedlanowska Staff Writer

he debate about whether

arts should receive public funding is a hot one. Although a part of me wants to believe that the arts should be able to sustain itself in a competitive market based on demand, another part knows that the government has a responsibility to ensure the health of our culture. Some art institutions providing valuable

services could really use a hand in starting up. Some artists

are worth developing, and sometimes that requires a grant or residency funding. However, the root of it all doesn’t just lie in the government—t lies in us, the majority.

We live in a complex and fast-paced world—this we know. Music is abundant and everyone is a photographer. After all, when was the last time you paid for a song on iTunes? Music downloads are everywhere on the Internet, you can pick up the latest print from IKEA for $20, and everyone and their dog seems to make artisan soap and jewelry. In a world of excess, even the movement to simplify can quickly be disregarded, because of its

abundance. There is simply too much!

Love and passion are not always enough to make a living; and yet, we can see a distinct difference in quality between all these artistic products available to us. We only buy a product if we think it'll add value to our lives. Perhaps a part of the problem is that we've forgotten what really does add value and how to patronize it accordingly. In all this abundance, we've forgotten that there is a person (hopefully) pouring their soul and talents into their craft.

Our community is still developing, even though the arts have had frighteningly drastic funding cuts in the past few years. The Cultch is opening up the York Theatre on

Commercial Drive in December, starting the season with a very appropriate East Van Panto. The music scene is thriving with DJ's playing after hours shows. The burlesque and contemporary dance scenes are continuing

to grow as well. Vancouver

is developing its own unique and vivid identity. I, for one, am becoming more and more excited to be maturing and developing as an artist in this city.

I dreamt of a time when art could be a community event— free, without politics or want of personal monetary gain. Earning a living has always been a struggle for artists, and the extraordinary have made their mark (sometimes surviving, sometimes dying in squalor).

Travelling bands of actors

had to go from community

to community to make their fare. Artists provide a quality service; however, it’s in our hands to identify which services are valuable, and to show our gratitude in coins, bills, or plastic.

The arts should unite us in public events and connect us with our community in a way that echoes its original roots in myth and ritual. It should engender a pride in ourselves and our culture. Although this is something that the government should value, we should also prove its value in the way we live our lives daily.

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