Becoming Fool of Love: The sap of r)evolution

It's hard to make sense of what's been happening; there are moments when I wonder: how I can consider myself to be a writer, when I'm not actually writing? Though )at the risk of being redundant) somehow it also makes so much sense:The readjustment, the adaptation, the unceasing movement of impressions and emotions... my need to let this process unfold within, in its own time, and away from the screen. There is so much happening inside, that I can't keep up the transparent and immediate processing the way I usually do.

Transparent and immediate processing has been a cause of mine. Lately, I've embraced what I consider to be a yin approach (my own sense)... no words, no conceptualization... only this ineffable mystery of unconscious gestation and silence.

... Meanwhile...
in the streets of Montréal city...
a revolution is wanting to take place.

The students are still on strike!
Protests and marches are happening daily now.

Two days ago (April 25th), I watched this video on Facebook:

I watched this video and I thought of one thing: Prague.

Such mobilization, such fervor, such numbers... It's so important that we remember the amount of power that a people can have, if only enough individuals dare get out and stand up, together. ''Un pueblo, undo, nunca sera vincido!''
Hold on seers, revolutions take months to unfold... evolutions take centuries.

Now let me say this,
My roommates have been passionately involved in the student movement, while I have personally found it more difficult to fully identify with the arguments and the cause. I am not in school anymore, for one thing; but that's not a real reason, because I still consider the education system to be the concern of all citizens. So the reason why I've been tentative about wearing ''the red square'' - the symbol of this strike - is because I don't think we're highlighting the real issues, the real incentives, the real needs...

And besides, I am after all a good Libra; I can very well empathize with multiple perspectives.

''These students are complaining with their mouths full; tuition in Québec is still one of the lowest in America, and in the world.''

True, and...

''Education is at the very foundation of a society. In a true democracy, it should be public and free.''

This needs more exploration and nuancing, but I'd say that I basically agree.

''The costs of living have increased so much over the past thirty years; if we want the employees of those institution to earn a fair wage, we need to raise the prices we pay to attend schools. If we want to keep the universities open, we need to raise tuition.''

Are we talking about finally valuing the work of our teachers? Then I'm in. But even here, we'd only be talking about professors... intellectuals... the elite. What I really want to see happening is for society to acknowledge the most fundamental role and function of all the people who educate our children, starting with parents, and nannies, kindergarden ''technicians'' (as we call them here) and high school teachers.

One more thing on this. We need to ask about the management of university funds. Where would the extra money would be going exactly? Those currently earning the highest salaries are not our professors, they are the top administrators, those whose job is to bring more funding to the busin... I mean, the school.
Well it's out now, I've said it: Yes, universities are businesses.
(I played four years of NCAA soccer. I saw it from the inside.)

That's what the strike is really about.
It's not about a few hundred dollars. It's about capitalism hijacking and corrupting what should be our most valued and noble insitutions. It's about the mixing of money and knowledge. It's about something that's not turning quite right. Something in the equation sounds contradictory... if we live in a popular democracy, where equal citizens get to exercise their reason... that critical thinking... should we not teach how to thing critically? Should we not focus on emancipation rather than student loans?

Slogans are easy to shout.
The issue is so much more complex and it runs so deep. We are having a hard time verbalizing what it is.

As far as I'm concerned, that's why the movement is unstoppable. It is bigger than us.

I am talking about that unconscious undercurrent, el rio abajo, that invisible power streaming under the surface... sweet maple sap rising up : we have termed it:

''Le printemps érable'' (a pun on ''arab Spring'' and ''maple Spring'').

When discussing the situation, I always make sure to underline that what's going on is part of a global transition. We generally seem to agree. Nations stand up to their tyrants, corrupted bankers are being uncovered, ice caps are melting faster than ever. The temperature is rising.
(What year is this again? Oh yeah... it's 2012.)

From Berlin to Warsaw, Istanbul, Toulouse, and Cadiz.
The revolution is breathing...
(All pictures I took this Fall)

But to get back to the topic at hand.

''If we make university free, people will stop valuing it. Kids won't take it seriously, and they won't have the incentives to take their responsibilities.''

Really?
Sure, it's true that my debts are ''forcing me'' to get on the boat and join the system.
That's where the problem lies. Too many westerners are stuck in jobs that alienates them. Depression is a real plague. (I bet xanex has a lot of money to put towards university research programs!) Wouldn't it cost less to society in the long run, if we invited students to try all the classes and the programs they might be interested in, so that they'd be able to choose what really sparks their interest? Wouldn't we be glad and impatient to take responsibilities in a world that aligns with the values of our generations?

Do we truly need monetary incentives to wanna contribute to the world as best as we can? Could we not learn to value things for its own sake?