22:28 on 2012/04/27 Reply  

• Antonio 06:26 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  André Pratte, editor-in-chief of La Presse and one of Quebec’s most lucid and intelligent commentators, writes about the dangers of normalizing violence and exploiting it.

• Raoul 06:30 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  I think all public property dammage should be tacked on to the tuition increase. Thatll teach them not to damage public property while they’re still not contributing for it’s upkeep. We all pay for that.

• Antonio 06:53 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  @Raoul: that’s wishful thinking. I think that the bozos who get arrested get a fine of $400 or so, but that’s a drop in the bucket.

• Hamza 08:45 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  to beat a dead horse (so to speak) , only very confused people use the term violence when inanimate objects are damaged.

• Marc 09:22 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  @ Hamza: So vandalizing property that doesn’t belong to you, irrespective of what it is, you’re cool with that?

• ant6n 09:25 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  @Marc
  that’s a bit binary don’t you think? Either you’re ‘cool’ with property damage; or you have to denounce the ‘violence’, blame the students, and ask for more tuition hikes.

• Anto 09:36 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  @Antonio: André Pratte’s “editorials” are most often a rehash of PLQ press releases.

• Steph 10:10 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  Most of the people are being arrested for not dispersing/attending an illegal march, not for criminal activity & vandalism. Lets not get get washed up by the PR campaign against the students and the quota of arrests the SPVM is making. It’s like the photos in Le Journal that show bandana covered faces in a cloud of billowing smoke; that smoke is not burning vandalism but tear gas, the bandanas are not to hide their identity but to help you breath in that tear gas.
  What’s the point of a protest march if your opponents simply have to decry it ‘illegal’ and everyone packs up and goes home? Pilots go on strike – illegal. Canada Post employees go on strike – illegal. Nurses go on strike – illegal. Even Montreal cops have gone on illegal strikes.

• Antonio 10:37 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  @Hamza, this might help you (though I’m not optimistic):

  World English Dictionary
  violence  (ˈvaɪələns)
   
  — n
  1. the exercise or an instance of physical force, usually effecting or intended to effect injuries, destruction, etc
  2. powerful, untamed, or devastating force: the violence of the sea
  3. great strength of feeling, as in language, etc; fervour
  4. an unjust, unwarranted, or unlawful display of force, esp such as tends to overawe or intimidate
  5. do violence to
    a. to inflict harm upon; damage or violate: they did violence to the prisoners
    b. to distort or twist the sense or intention of: the reporters did violence to my speech
   
  [C13: via Old French from Latin violentia  impetuosity, from violentus violent ]

  Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/violence?s=t

• Hamza 10:39 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  No , it’s not binary, it’s making the point that there are a lot of very sick or very confused people who seem to have no problem with students and supporters being physically injured in the midst of legitimate protest, but can’t resist shouting if a bank’s [insured] windows get broken or the Apple store has paint thrown on it .

• qatzelok 11:30 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  @ Raoul “I think all public property dammage should be tacked on to the tuition increase.”
  If environmental damage is tacked onto the price of gasoline and cars, they will practically disappear from our roads. Until this happens, talking about “making vandals pay” is just empty polemic.

• mdblog 12:02 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  @qatzelok What the fuck are you on about? Are the demonstrations about tuition increases or are they about every last god damn thing that is wrong with the world? Yes, environmental destruction is bad. Yes, capitalism is a far from a perfectly fair system. Yes, in a perfect world we could all get top-notch educations for free.

  How about the students put their energies toward constructively solving some of these problems instead of marching in the street whining about how unfair life is?

• ant6n 12:10 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  @mdblog
  What the fuck are you talking about?
  qatzelok (in his/her spirited words) was merely saying that asking students as a whole pay for the damage caused by some protestors is unreasonable, invoking a comparison that attempting to show that all sorts of public costs are not internalized to the groups that cause them. How do you go from that to claiming that the students protest against environmental damage?!

• Antonio 15:24 on 2012/04/28 Permalink

  Though I don’t agree with qatzelok’s analogy, I think he’s right that society subsidizes the automobile way too much, and the subsidy includes but isn’t limited to all the environmental damage caused by cars, which we don’t factor into the cost though we should. We need to wean people off of cars and into public transit.

  Well, here’s an (admittedly imperfect) analogy…we’ve got too many BA’s and not enough skilled workers making decent money to keep funding our social programs with their taxes; let’s stop subsidizing an arts degree for every Jane, Jill, and Barbara, and selectively subsidize courses of study whose graduates the economy actually needs and will pay for. This way, fewer cars on the road and fewer self-righteous arts grads with no marketable skills and poor job prospects. Better environment and economy and less pollution all around.

• Raoul 06:11 on 2012/04/29 Permalink

  Im with antonio on his last comments. Not only that, youll get better service at your local coffeehouse/gasstation/restaurant. I stopped counting the number of retarded managers i had to put with that had no business skill except, you guessed it, an arts degree. (not that i mind the EI, but still…)

• mdblog 08:10 on 2012/04/29 Permalink

  @qatzelok I missed your point entirely. Just frustrated that these students are wasting their collective energy asking for a handout. If only they would protest FOR solutions instead of empty whining about problems. My sincere apologies.

• Kate 14:14 on 2012/04/29 Permalink

  Raoul, please don’t throw around the word “retarded” like that – it’s not acceptable here.

• Raoul 07:40 on 2012/04/30 Permalink

  Kate, with all the expletives ive read in other comments, you wanna give me shit for a word like “retarded”? you know im not talking about the special olympics. but wtv, the thought police has spoken.

• Josh 12:36 on 2012/04/30 Permalink

  Oh for crying out loud, Raoul. I’ve butt heads with Kate a bunch of times, but it *is* her blog and she’s clearly welcome to set the rules she likes. It’s not thought police for someone to dictate the terms of use for their own blog.

  If you don’t like it, no one’s stopping you from making your own blog.

• Alex L 18:42 on 2012/04/30 Permalink

  @mdblog: students have been protesting for solutions for months now, and not only over tuition fees. I guess it all depends on where you get your information.

• Kate 22:38 on 2012/04/30 Permalink

  Is using “retarded” offensive? (Metafilter says yes).

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