This is not okay, under any circumstances.
The student protests in Montreal have me quite conflicted. I'm a graduating student this semester, and while my work is complete and that process will continue without interruption, there was awhile when it seemed like my professional life would be delayed due to the actions of others.
I'm also conflicted because I don't find the reason for the protests to be something worth protesting over. This likely stems from the fact that, while I did post secondary education in Quebec for parts of 6 years, I didn't grow up here, and therefore paid out of province tuition. This means I would pay ~$7000.00 per year instead of the ~$3500.00 that people from Quebec would pay.
I was able to pay for this by with a bit of help from my parents, who are admittedly wealthy (which consequently keeps you from getting almost all scholarships by the way), a small scholarship coming out of high school, and working my ass off for 4 months every summer to build a savings that would get me through the year.
I made sacrifices, like not going to rock concerts or bars, and I didn't have a vacation from the summer of 2004 when I began to save up for school, until 2009. But I also didn't live poorly. I lived downtown for most of my education and paid premium rent on a nice place. I also had a new laptop and put up cash for extreme high speed internet and cable, where most of my internet came from.
There have been times since I moved out here in 2005 that I've struggled financially, worrying about making enough for rent, but I always found a way, and I'll be graduating debt free. But enough of my story, my only point in this is that it's possible to do this.
So as you can see, I'm not for the protests. I never really was. In fact, most students are either against it or apathetic. In my program I was one of only 75 students to vote whether or not to strike, and my program is huge. This is why the rhetoric surrounding the student protests legitimately worries me.
I understand that people don't care for the methods the striking students have employed, I agree. I understand that foolish blockades have inconvenienced people on their way to work or on their way home, I agree that it's incredibly annoying. I understand and agree that the vandalism happening while these protests go on is unacceptable. What I don't understand is the vitriolic response, as if people believe that they have a right not to be inconvenienced in their every day life. I don't support the protests either, but you know what? Too bad.
These students have a right to free assembly, even if their cause is spurious. Complain all you'd like, debate the issues on social media, and condemn the actions of the students when they go too far. All this is good.
What isn't good is the increasingly frequent vitriol I've seen popping up, where people are comparing a bit of vandalism and a smoke bomb or two with terrorism. Do you people even know what terrorism is? Please tell a New Yorker who lived through 9/11 or lost a friend or family member how terrifying these student protests are as they terrorize your neighbourhood. This kind of rhetoric is dangerous, because it dehumanizes the people you're speaking about, which leads to my next point.
I have never in my life seen so many people calling for and excusing police brutality. This is in an age where police brutality is completely out of control. Not only is it on the rise, but there are almost no consequences for police officers ruining someone's life. Read this story, then tell me how just the police can be. Not all of them are bad, but the ones that are bad are given free reign and being rooted on by idiots who think themselves pundits.
Do you really think that a 19 year old kid making you 20 minutes late for work on a Wednesday needs to be beaten within an inch of his life? You may want to re-examine your moral compass if that's the case, you're a little bit old testament for modern society.
All too often I've heard people condemn this generation for not fighting for anything. Too busy checking Facebook to get out on the streets and do something. Yet when they do, the same people do nothing but complain. There were even people calling for military intervention this week. Is this the 'red scare'? Should tanks be storming campuses to bulldoze the people you don't agree with? Is this how Canadians want their society to behave in 2012?
