Our McGill Reporter is censored.
Unfortunately, only good news about administration is brought to light in
its pages. This works well for a while,
but rapidly becomes boring. We need to
see some alternative to the presented information. The enclosed are three
parts describing senate’s future motion about establishing the Order of
McGill, a description of the latest Principal’s expose and the MUNACA’s
meeting. It represents an individual’s attempt
to break the monotony of always reading about the rosy picture of our local
reality. Feel free to share your comments and add your reflections,
Thanks,
Slawomir Poplawski
Dear Senate’s
Friends,
Criticizing
is good to correct people, but it works short-term (http://spop.addr.com/b1.htm).
Much more creative and effective, on a long-term perspective, is
noticing even smallest positive acts performed by others. Praising them publicly magnifies the induced
encouragement. Everyone needs this and
by establishing special awards we can gain more control over the most needed
social changes on each level of our constantly evolving civilization.
McGill
perfectly reflects the present world in many dimensions. When being in this university we don’t need
to go outside to get first hand experience about the economical, cultural and
social globalization with strong feelings of being methodically indoctrinated,
and abused.
The
corporate media gives the impression of being objective and open to any
topic. We see loud debates about shifts
in capital flow and workforce markets that are logically explaining reasons for
people to lose or gain their jobs. It
causes fast changes in people’s material status and it is treated very
emotionally in our consumerist societies.
What is not talked about so much is a dangerous homogenization of
individual personalities that occurs during global economic changes. This is the result of the transplantation
of the mentality of the richest into the minds of the majority. The circles profiting today from
globalization were long influenced by their worship of the “3M trinity”:
Money, Manipulation and the desire to have More of
everything. This trinity is now reaching everyone’s minds, including the
poorest, so that the latter are easier to control, thereby converting the
traditionally antagonistic relations between the ruled and the rulers into the
friendlier dynamic of masters and their followers. What the followers do not know fully is that
those who already have riches are gaining more as they acquire more power, and
the followers are being poisoned with envy, which is treated as a virtue
motivating people to work harder. But they don’t care, because both sides are
further united by a growing aversion to traditional religions, which endorse
dialectally different values from theirs, and provoke uncomfortable
reflections. It allows for the
corporate media to continue their consistent total attack against the all
religions, but the very own worshiped 3M trinity.
This is
a simplified description of our modern society where people hurt themselves and
their families and friends after being indoctrinated with a go-getting
mentality. It makes them difficult to
be spontaneous and socially active. It
makes them more like separately caged animals, afraid of the have-nots and very afraid to risk losing something while
fighting for more respect or independence. The circles behind money and influence
love societies motivated in this way. Their consistent indoctrination and
manipulation become an easily-achieved objective once the monopolized corporate
media and puppet governments lend a hand.
Right now, the true rulers do not need strong police and concentration
camps to maintain their dominant position; but they will when encountered with even
the slightest active resistance to their globalized interests.
In this
context we should acclaim the latest achievement of our Principal, Dr.
Heather Munroe-Blum, and the HR supervisor, Mr. Robert Savoie. They have done what was impossible to
imagine among 1200 isolated support staff members, many of whom loudly voiced
their disapproval of the union organization, which supposedly protects their
rights and dignity. They have helped
for the poorest people to overcome in their mentality the overwhelming power of
Manipulation by Money and never-ending run for More. During the whole year the Vichy-type Union
was able to gather only about 40-50 members for their obligatory meetings with
many from them representing a close-networked circle. Today, thanks to the
latest initiative of our University leaders, the turnout was about 650 members crowded inside and
about 100 others waiting on the stairs. This
is a miracle. However more important
was to hear before this meeting that members (in their published opinions) are
offering even to pay the administration out of their own pocket to keep summer
Fridays. These days were not given but traded to balance frozen salaries as one
speaker was reminding. Only thanks to
this latest “offer” from the administration, some people were able to break the
glorified power of money enslaving their minds. Typically, for a few dollars more it was almost always possible
to isolate workers from their families or break their solidarity. There is a very small chance that those so
long isolated people can soon win their approaching battle in McGill. More important was presented the
near-miraculous ability of the mentioned two administrators to reawaken the
hibernated souls of the exploited crowds of McGill. Today’s visible determination of the speakers is confirming their
repossessed capability of defending the self-respect. This should be
loudly promoted in our fake Western democracies paralyzing people’s free
spirits with the help of the “3M” ideology: This is constantly poured into our
minds by politicians serving the financial spheres, by parasitic banks, by
shameless corporate media and by lawyers introduced corruptly into official
legislatures.
It
seems that we need to establish the Order of MUNACA and then the
Order of McGill: One award from the subdued Quisling-type union, the other
from the top administration, representing the power of money and influence,
both of which in combination
are an explosive mixture. Let’s give
these awards in a spirit of contempt for dirty money and influence, which
either turn people into Quislings, or render them extremely arrogant.
It
is the most typical combination occurring everywhere in our globalizing world
that can be labeled as a palestinization of people on different levels and
platforms (http://hackenbush.org/hackenblog/blogives/00000205.htm
). By
promoting our local heroes, we do more than publicize McGill University’s new
award around the world: We raise public consciousness of these two
extreme and parasitic social groups. The awards can act as a safety valve
for the combined frustrations of the majority and initiate dialogue with those
who fail to respect human dignity.
Everybody
is welcome to comment on this text before it is presented to Senate.
Sincerely,
Slawomir
Poplawski
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Comments about MUNACA meeting from
Oct. 17, 2003:
On October 17 we had MUNACA’s assembly with an
amazing number of 650 members crowded inside and about 100 others waiting on
the stairs. It can be summarized as a
tale about a tricky lawyer and a few activists rescuing the present executive
body. These “leaders” were totally
neglected from the very beginning by the membership. A lack of trust was clearly expressed during a vote that refused
them the mandate to continue further negotiations with the university.
The first vote was inspired by Mr. Dolan. He suggested that we should stop negotiating
with the administration. His voice was the most applauded by the members. The executives were visibly shocked, clearly
unprepared for this approach. It was
only after lawyer Marcel’s muddy legal or rather pseudo-legal arguments that we
were lured into the second vote to replace the first one that questioned
MUNACA’s credibility. This procedure,
initiated and accepted by two lawyers, finally rescued the organizers of the
assembly. The executives begged the
members to get their mandate of a messenger delivering the word “no” for the
University rulers instead of being totally ignored. In this critical time the members were cut from the microphones
and instead of hearing more of their own opinions had to listen for a very long
time to Kevin’s (Vice-president) monologues patronizing the members. He portrayed the members as agitated kids
who only came to the meeting because their lollypops, oh sorry, summer Fridays,
had been taken away. He surely wished
to keep this opinion to himself, but this first vote was making him, and the
other presidents, visibly nervous.
The “kids” were however able to force the executives
into a superficially small change in the originally proposed motion, which was
very crucial for this body. The initial
“no” vote to any negotiations logically meant that their moral duty was to
present their instant resignation and discuss the dissolution of this weak
union. Our poor Marcel (the lawyer) did
everything to scare the members and force them to vote again. At the same time, he was saving his
attractive job -- paid per hours of negotiations -- as only the second lawyer
(sitting quietly) has a regular salary in MUNACA. Formally, these two lawyers should not be allowed to talk during
this meeting; they are stealing time reserved for members. It seems that breaking the rules is always
possible in the “union”, with the executives unable to answer basic questions
about salary negotiations.
After this key moment, when the second vote replaced the previous one, it was quite easy for the executives (still keeping the mics) to convince the members to adopt their “typical barking dogs strategy”, proposed in motion #2, in a form of demonstration. This noisy protest simply justifies the further existence of the union rulers and means the members enter a suicidal path. The voices that favor waiting for McGill’s response to the first memo before a possible demonstration were therefore silenced. If we maintained a reserved approach to the University’s very provocative proposals, we could gain time, reorganize the union and plan new strategies to counter the administration. Only by behaving like a smart silent dog, but always ready to fight, will we get a more tactful approach from the administration.
Our difficulties are 1. The top administration, and 2. MUNACA’s shape. The principals won’t be afraid of big crowds, even if they start throwing stones, in an extreme scenario. It seems that now they need provocation more than before, because that’s the only way can they later present more brutal arguments to justify their presence. What they need is a dense smoke screen after being recently contested as the best paid apparatchiks in Canada, who instead of proving their super qualifications, are only able to show their super arrogance. The latest shocking “Friday issue” can be interpreted as a pre-arranged provocation in a 9/11 style (N.B. presented around this time in September), convenient for the top brass from both sides. The university leaders are clearly unable to present clear and convincing strategies for the McGill community and all society. The McGill Titanic is sinking in many rankings, but the officers are forcing the orchestra to continue playing popular tunes instead of announcing the rescue plan, or indeed declaring their inability to control our fast-sinking boat. (See more in the report about the last Senate meeting of Oct. 15, 2003.) The same situation prevails in our union, ruled by the Vichy-type personalities, who won’t admit that after years of doing absolutely nothing to resist bureaucracy, they are now on the verge of being erased by the growing Resistance Movement inside.
We must also be aware that this confrontation,
coming out of the blue, can be “a priori” set by the
administration, which prepared money to pay for these Fridays at the last
moment. They use a typical bargaining
approach of first asking for more, in order later to offer an easier deal to
swallow -- thereby showing good will.
At the same time, our union proposed nothing and resisted to the end
admitting its parasitic role as the body only good for patronizing the members
together with the administration. Can we learn something for the future? Hopefully we can learn to be cool and start
to think about some alternative solutions – even during heated the
manifestation today.
Yours,
Observer
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Finally,
after 10 months of being here, our Principal presented her strategies to the
Senate on October 15. Many expected her to do this right at the start, but
instead, she waited until critical voices prompted her into this crucial part
of her duties. The Senate coolly
received her four-page report, “Vision,
Achievements, Goals”. Instead of any ovation there were just sceptical
questions about her plans of uniformly “setting standards, priorities … in
the administrative implementation of standards and operational plans toward
measurable, suitable goals [ …].“
Her answers were greeted unenthusiastically. This report, which began
with the word “Vision”, failed to move the most knowledgeable academics inside
this institution, and will surely be ignored by the public, politicians and
potential Nobel Prize winners. We need
the last group more than anything else to apply as new professors or students
to McGill. This University needs
something really catchy! Neither money
nor influence can guarantee its long-term existence.
It is
typical for people with a bureaucratic mentality to use language like, “enhance government relations and communications capacity in
order to promote fair and effective support”. For the top salaries, so far we have seen
only hard-working personnel diligently cleaning the shelves. Instead, really visionary architects should
be publicizing McGill in order to attract the best brains, which McGill needs
more than networks and money. At present, we have dangerous bureaucrats who
prefer confrontation (like now with the support personnel) to constructive
dialogue. Ideally we need visionaries
who can anticipate problems. People like that are discreet, quiet, they maybe
sitting next to us, and they do not crave money and stardom. The problem is
that this globalizing world is still quite successful in promoting its very
weird system of “values”. Yet McGill has a great opportunity to reverse these
trends. Let the proposed Order of
McGill initiate this much-needed protection of our individual mentalities!
After that, it will be easier to protect social justice.
Yours,
Senate’s
watcher