Informal Productivity

[This image is from theorangecommune.blogspot.com]

Most recently, I have been having dreams... No. More like nightmares about what I am going to do with my life. Like most recent graduates the pressures of student loans, working a thankless job and a lack of intellectual stimuli have left me thinking about potential jobs. No. Careers.

I approached those that I hold in high esteem about this directional dilemma. Of course, they told me that the decision was entirely up to me. However, a dear comrade of mine said this:

"Briz, of all people you should know that you are not what you do in life but what you do for life" ... in so many words. He was right. Stepping back, I saw how the MAN was getting me at such a ripe age. There were so many calculated steps put in place to ensure that I would reach a point in my life where I would sell my soul and work for the MAN every night and day: Debt. A useless degree. Societal pressures.

By getting a formalized job, that means that I would have to work by the bureaucratic rules. For what? To make my parents proud? So that complete strangers would look at me in awe as if I were completely altruistic? Would having a home in suburbia with 2.3 children, a golden retriever and a minivan ever make me content?

If I may, dear comrades, I would like to say that 70% of the developing world's business is the self-employed. Formalized work has become for the elite. It can indenture people to be overworked and overrun. When the formal workers get home, they just want to watch their favourite episode of Blind Date that they captured with TiVo. Most of the formal workers that I have met hate Mondays.

As well, it is important to note that most NGOs and international charities work directly with commercial developers. So, when signing up for Habitat International or the Bill Gates Foundation one should be aware that there are hidden agendas for most of these big-name philanthropists. Not saying that they have not done some good things in the past, but there is always a monetary benefit to the superficial cost.

In the end, after the money has been drained from benefactors and southern African nations have been forced to use genetically-modified crops, people go home feeling like they did their civic duty. In this formalized setting, that's what it will look like, too.

I might just be writing these things to make myself feel better about 'not doing my part', but I believe that we should do things to do good, not just to look like we are doing good. Let's think about ways to better our world through an informal means. Travel, talk with locals, share stories, ride bicycles, spread the word.

You may not gain any recognition from friends and family. You may not be able to go out and get bottle service for a night. You most definitely will not be making six-figures a year (if you do, let other know how to as well). But, by not selling your values and morals (whatever they may be), you might just find peace in the chaos.

a scandalous affair

If I told you that a bunch of grown men and women started physically brawling in Parliament, what country would you think of? Would you believe me if I told you it was one of the Korea's? North Korea fighting like five-year olds may seem more realistic, but North Korea doesn't have a Parliament. It's a dictatorship.

[Photo by Ahn Young-joon/The Associated Press]

Correct. Members of Parliament in South Korea have resorted to the playground principles of headlocks and noogies over passing bills that would reduce restrictions on the media. The party in power, the Grand National Party, tried to swiftly pass a bill that would allow ultra-conservative, corporate media big-wigs to regain a powerful presence in television and newspapers. The opposition felt that this could lead to the persuasive positive portrayal of the current party in power. As a result, things got heated.

Although this freedom loving cat does not agree with protectionism, I do believe in the state's ability at controlling and being controlled by major corporations. That is why I wanted to post this article: to show how the state and corporation are carnally linked in their lust for power.

L'art pour l'art

An impressively scaled art project was brought to my attention a year or so ago. It seemed surreal to think of the impact that art can have on a community.... until you see it.

Art is the epitome of evolution. We, as humans, have worked so hard to gain leisure time so that we can express ourselves and create something. This is something I think is worth it all.

To do whatever you need to do to make you happy!

What's in a name?

Recently, I was informed that my posts on this blog were too abrasive because the terminology I use is too vague. It never occurred to me that some of the words I have been using would seem irrelevant or confusing. Therefore, I am writing this entry to clarify a personally relevant issue.

I use the term comrade intentionally. To me it is a word that connotes friendship, trust and a firm socio-political stance. It is a word from the dark ages of Marxist Russia and Cuba. However, in no way does it mean fascist-Communism on this blog.

Marx is a misunderstood individual. So many people associate him with the sickle and hammer or totalitarian dictators. Despite all of this negative cred, he believed that humanity would come to an age, some point in time after capitalism, where we could do anything that made us happy.

As a quick re-cap of his entire works, Marx believed that the Industrial Revolution was a great idea because machines were supposed to free up our time in order to allow mankind to create art, build houses, weave baskets... whatever you were good at that made you happy! Marx definitely was a firm believer in a communal style of living where every necessity was provided to everyone so that we could live our dreams doing what made us happy. However, like most great thinkers, his ideas were perverted. Most people think of Marx as a lover of the state when he actually abhorred it. He thought that the state was a corrupt facade for major corporations to exploit the worker, the proletariat. Instead, he thought that Civil Society was the perfect social provider and peace enforcer. He hoped for a day when the workers would unite and tear down the capitalist fibres that poison our society. By doing this, each worker, no matter his/her job or skill would be considered an equal member of society and all would be friends (comrades).

So, there you are comrades. The reason why I choose to call each man, woman, child, and animal comrade is because we are all the same. Even though we are animals, our logic and reason can tear down the steps of hierarchy and unite us.

Don't let the machine make you think that you are not worth your natural right to freedom.

Tuesdays without Mitso: Same Same but Different

Last Tuesday, my dear comrade, Mitso, came into work with a kink in his neck. He went home early and got someone else to close for him. Coincidentally, I was not hungover the next day.

Nonetheless, his vigour has usually been my inspiration to passionately publish posts about the corruption of the state and its formalization processes for workers. Since I have not worked with him in a while, I felt politically deflated.

Yet, some things happen for a reason. If I was hungover, I would not have had the energy to check the news and be reminded of the development occurring at Toronto's Regent Park.

This region of the city is being developed through a PPP, a public-private partnership. The two contributors are Toronto Community Housing, a public sector, and The Daniels Corporation, a private developer of condominiums. This is an interesting partnership because the goal of developing this state-of-the-art-high-rise condominium is to create a multiple-income community. The city and the developers believe that this will give the area an appropriate facelift which would encourage varying socio-economic interactions. Apparently, by doing this the residents of Regent Park will not feel alienated and marginalized.

My question that I would like to pose is: who's standard of facelift is this?

A facelift is gentrification which is a symptom of the globalized, proto-capitalist system that we are enveloped by today. What we believe to be an upgrade is merely a polished facade of what is really going on in a community.

Let's take the example of people. Although each person's body is his or her own, a surgical facelift provides a temporary solution to someone's lack of self-esteem. No matter how much you pull that skin tight, it will never be tight enough unless you really address the issue of aging.

Same thing with a community. Developers see Regent Park as prime real-estate because it is so close to downtown business. People are willing to pay to stay in these 'undesirable' neighbourhoods. Therefore, the private company capitalizes on the demand by creating a false supply of condominiums. This is done all in the name of philanthropy as the developer also supplies the current residents of Regent Park with brand new condos. The problem with this development is not the improved housing, but the way in which it is bureaucratically set into action.

Although the current residents of Regent Park have been asked their thoughts and opinions about the development, there have been no movements on educating them on the potential consequences of living in high rises. Urban developers across the world have tried to promote high rises as a win-win situation: the poor get housing and the commercial developers get to do what they do best.

An example that reminds me of this dilemma is of this can be found in Giridharadas' article on Dharavi, the world's biggest slum that is found in Mumbai, India. The author describes how a community's system for survival is destroyed by moving people into high rises. Placing people on top of one another is not conducive to sustaining a community where informal economies and social networks thrive.

[photo by Giridharadas]

So, what will happen to the community's weekend markets that generate a small income for some of the families?

That is a question that I cannot answer nor provide an adequate solution to. All I have learned from seeing and reading about these circumstances is that the solution is never from the top-down. For this exact reason, I do not think I can provide an adequate solution. I do not live in Regent Park and do not know what would be best for the community. I think that people have to get off their high-theoretical horses and start doing things within the community. Ideas can come from above, but the work must be done on the ground.

Let's bring it back to the roots!

TIP: Military Coup de Fact

As we have heard in the formally owned and operated media, the Honduran president was ousted by a military coup just the other day. How un-Democratic.

Did you also hear that the military operation was actually ordered by the Honduran Congress?

Well, my dear comrade Jameson did.

The removal of the democratically elected president was ordered because after Zelaya was elected, he changed his platform. As a result, a recent popularity census found that less than one-quarter of the Honduran population supported him. As a result, Z pushed for votes on a bill that would change the Constitution. The changes included an extension of his presidency until the year 2013. Therefore, exhausted of all possibilities, the members of the Supreme Court, parliament and Congress decided to tell Z that he had 24 hours to step down. He refused. They gave him an ultimatum: If he did not step down, the military would be called in to help him down off his high horse. He still refused.

We all know how it 'ends'. For now.

This is an instant where the state, not a ruler, had to step in. In the name of protecting the people's right to vote (true democracy, not Democracy) officials decided to take action.

But, Briz! You don't even like the state...

There is nothing wrong with the state being present in order to ensure the protection of the people. It is when the state becomes one power, or one man, that it becomes corrupt. Absolutely.
When the state is so centralized without proper checks and balances it becomes consumed with maintaining and increasing its power. This, the citizens pay for with their rights and cheque-books.

I am not explicitly condoning these practices, but it is something to think about. Naturally, the people who wanted Z out were the political and socio-economic elite of the country. Undoubtedly, there are some not-so-hidden agendas. Nevertheless, let's think about it.

Oh! And CNN, do some research.

- T.I.P., The Informal Press

Tuesdays with Mitso: Informal Tattle-Telling

This is the third day to my hangover that ensued (post- and post-haste) Tuesday night.

Beaten down and exhausted, not from working, but from discussing the informal sector with one of my most beloved comrades, Mitso. Actually, the pain was my own doing this time. I shot my motor-mouth off to some belligerent neighbours of ours at the establishment in which Mitso and I work.

I was atop the roof, taking a break with another comrade when I saw miniature explosions of water coming up from the ground. One of these spontaneous explosions almost blew off an innocent citizen's shoe-lace. After the third mine had erupted, I realized that these explosions were not mysterious aquifers, but were bombs being launched from above (the top-down!). I looked up at the neighbouring building to see three grinning faces with curved-peak baseball caps. How hilarious.

The next aerial water bomb nearly annihilated a girl's clean-shaven, spray-tanned arm!

No matter how obnoxious or unfortunate the creature, no one deserves to be unknowingly water-bombed.

After a few "HEY!"s and "STOP IT, ASSHOLE!"s, the idea of calling the cops dropped into my mind as quickly as a girl's pinky-toe polish was wiped away by a Molovwater-cocktail. One of my comrades thought calling the cops was a great idea, even though he made it quite apparent that I would have to take the rap for being the rat.

He was right. Even though it was infuriating to see fellow citizens raining on people's parade, the thought of calling the cops made me think of the horrible, authoritarian pomposity that would undoubtedly be released on these ignorant asses. What else could I do? This was a private party, on private condominium property, and security would never let me pass....

Wait! That's it!

These assholes pay their condo fees from which a portion is used to pay a security officer who privately keeps the peace for all of those who live in that condommunity. The security officer's job is not only to prevent assholes from getting into the community, but to ensure that those within the community are living in peace. This includes people being too loud, boisterous, or launching hand-propelled water-grenades from the penthouse suite.

Comrades! Keep watch! I'm going over.

Needless to say, the barrage of bombs ceased within moments of informing the security officer. The point of the story is that social enforcement not only stopped people from misbehaving, it prevented police perversion. Not to label the police as illegitimate actors of peace-enforcement, but we all know how haughty and inappropriate they can be about their 'rights' to power. If I had called the cops, not only would they get to the scene of misdemeanor too late, but they could bully and belittle the party-people for 'wasting their time'.

Too many times the police forget that they are civil servants and that they work for civilians. Too many times have they used their illegitimate authority as a shield to berate and assault the innocent. They usually seem to forget that they are there to serve us, not to intimidate us.

Of course, I explain why and what I had done to my comrade, Mitso. And, of course, I needed another drink.