Who is responsible?

An individual from Ghana that I have become connected to through the miracle of facebook via various condemnations I made of policies taken in Libya on the BBC 'Have Your Say' page sent me a message on Sunday night. A few years ago, he had a work published containing anecdotes of his time as a student activist at the University of Ghana, the difficulties he faced during the time as both student and activist, and recommendations for the means and the justifications for other students to become active. He wanted my help in making the piece 'more international'. In an almost Trotskyist way, he wanted to reach out to the international student community with a universalizable creed.

So I read it that night, all 167 pages of it. And it was quite a thrill for me, because through his many anecdotes and many attempts to incite student action, and many mentions of tribulations that came from government resistance, reactionary student resistance, etc., I saw what I had been missing being educated in the first world. As I said to him in my reply,

"Although you wish to make it ‘more international’, I believe that the struggle facing the students in the developed world are diametrically opposite to the struggle facing students in the developing world. Those in the developed world are in a state of apathetic contentment because of the privileged socio-economic conditions that they have inherited, while those in the developing world are in a state of resistance against neo-colonialist control and marginalization because of the oppressive socio-economic conditions that they have inherited."

In other words, the means to action in the developed world is not really present because those that are oppressed to the point of desperation (I mean, pretty much everyone who works for a large corporation is oppressed, the CEOs laughing all the way to the bank), are a minority. Most of them are the Native peoples that have been treated like primitive beings since North America was colonized: marginalization on reservations as their land was stolen, sterilization programs and residential schooling as their right to maintain the existence of their beliefs and life-world were stolen, forced into various substance abuses and addictions as their collective dignity was stolen, etc. Much of these individuals live outside of the student collective, and those that find themselves within it do not really have a voice: they are quickly marginalized by their 'archaic' nature, and the mistrust and subjugation that too often exists between racial groups, especially those that have been almost totally disenfranchised.

People in South Africa think that it is all rosy in North America, but I tell them that this is really not so. We have Native populations that are subjugated just like in South Africa. The only difference is that they have no voice because they are neither of the economic majority (as the whites are here) or of the population majority (as the blacks are here), so they are successfully either marginalized or assimilated.

When I ask 'who is responsible?' I do not mean 'who is responsible for this state of affairs?' because I already know the answer: the minority who control the majority who produce through economic and other oppressive means. Rather, I ask 'who is responsible?' as in 'who is going to become responsible enough to answer Bob Marley's plea?'

You can fool some people sometimes,
But you can't fool all the people all the time.
So now we see the light,
We gonna stand up for our rights!

In other words, what is your/my/our role as students? The author of the piece is absolutely correct. He says:

"It is even more worrying as the fallacy of “future leaders” is gaining acceptance not only among the general student mass but beyond. This may result in a situation where majority of the youth across the continent will not take initiatives today because they have accepted that they are the leaders of tomorrow; they will not take responsibility today because they are the leaders of tomorrow, and more important, they will not provide answers to problems today because they are the leaders of tomorrow. For them the future is tomorrow.

Already, in spite of the myriad problems confronting students amidst gross and glaring human rights abuses on their various campuses, student leaders do not feel inclined to fight, or more importantly, propose solutions. Choosing between their fellows and university administrators or the Government has almost always seen them leaning on the latter alternative because it seems to have proven safer and more rewarding, given the fact that either the administration or government could guarantee the safety of their positions and sometimes their grades.

Indeed, it is not surprising to find highly disappointed students encouraging themselves with a rather awkward question: “How many days more do I have to leave this institution?” Obviously, even a whole academic year of eight months could be reduced to 224 days. Thus, by this thinking, they unfortunately leave behind problems that could have been resolved in their time, arguing that the purpose for schooling is the essence of studying, and that is what they do exclusively. As a result, students who could have provided alternative solutions to some teething problems in their various institutions or the nation as a whole sink that innovative side of their minds into oblivion."

I read this and immediately thoughts began to swim through my head: we, as students, have the power to control, because we are collectively pursuing all modes of education that are required to govern, to control, and, ultimately, to lead. All that is required is collaboration, organization, and mutual aid. The author cites one such instance:

"On the streets however, the police fired tear gas to disperse the thick crowd of protesting students. But with the help of some chemistry students, the mob soon learnt that by wetting their handkerchiefs with urine and placing them against their noses, they could still stand safe in the midst of the poisonous fog."

So who is responsible? Who are the people who will lead? Who will say 'no more' to our fathers and forefathers who treat us like children: marginalize us, disrespect us, steal from us, and try to convince us that it is just, all in the name of their own greed? All in the name of the carrot that is dangled before the noses by the global economic powers that be who want nothing more to preserve the status quo: that keeps the dinosaurs laughing all the way to the bank, grooming the next generation to take their place as the next generation of oppressors?

I thought of this and envisioned parallel entities being created through the collective will of the student body: parallel universities where students come together to share their knowledge, and to educate their brethren through the two modes of learning: academic and existential. But by so doing bypassing the stringent corporatization of education that seeks to put money in the coffers of the ruling elite in return for a piece of paper that makes one's academic achievements 'official'. Parallel housing structures that are erected by students for students to come together in parallel committees and discussion groups to discuss what needs to be done to expand the mandate of those who have every right to lead: the people. And who can speak better for the people than those who must enter into and deal with the world that they have inherited from the previous generation? Who is better to say 'no, we dont want this world of pollution and corruption, fragmented and divided, full of mistrust because of all those individuals who will sell their mothers, daughters, brothers, and sons for the almighty buck'?

I mentioned this vision to him and he replied "won't this be seen as subversive?"

You bet it will.