Revolutionary Liberation Gospel
Syzygy Revolutionary Liberation Gospel
A Call For a Jubilee Economic Revolt
An unannounced and undeclared war has been building in our midst since the so called “Reagan revolution.” Recently, with the developer craze erupting in our midst, the war on the poor has escalated. The war on poverty is thus really a war on the poor. Around the continent, the war has gotten hot in many places. This has to change and several groups have entered the fray among which is the 144k activists who call for a Jubilee and a debt revolt. The concept of a debt revolt is a key battle strategy as the financiers maintain mass control by debt and fear of repercussions. A Jubilee is a periodic levelling of the entire economy that cannot be fulfilled by capitalism and is thus a rapid transitional program. We will delve into the Jubilee idea after analyzing the problem of class war that has as its most visible part, the war on the world's poor by the elite. Locally in Vancouver BC, the war on the poor has manifested in these ways:
Clearing of street venders and homeless to “improve the Hastings St. image to condo developers and buyers”
Forced closing of several feeding outlets (two churches included) that feed the unemployed, indigenous folk, handicapped, seniors and working poor
Police shooting of mainly poor – seven in 2015 so far
Destroying low income housing, though dilapidated and in breech of license and “replacing with far fewer “social housing units” the 7% solution
Making collecting of recyclables a breech of the Criminal Code of Canada (CCC)
Organizing recyclers to work through a middleman
Of loans and loan-sharks, legal and illegal
Experiments directed to the clients of food banks
Booby trapping of recycling bins
Disappearances of mainly indigenous women
Trolls making messes everywhere, bring condemnation of all recyclers
With some qualification, some of the foregoing issues are old and in two instances, decades old. Much of foregoing is new, coming to the fore in 2014-15. Let us now review the foregoing points.
On or about the 19th of November, 2015, the Vancouver Police Dept. (VPD) along with Vancouver City workers cleared some 300 people off Hasting Streets acting on the wishes of the developers of 138 E. Hastings, the five storey wooden condo project that displaced 100 low income and poor from three destroyed buildings. There was about two days of advance notice, ostensibly to allow people to remove themselves before the dragnet was deployed. Among the vendors there were an unknown number of homeless, some of which were sleeping on the street. City Hall allegedly told the VPD not to confiscate anything from these folk, but in retrospect, this appears to be a cover for the real situation. Thus, it did not work out that way and the excuse of misunderstanding by the VPD and city workers was given. Along with collateral for sale, blankets and sleeping bags were confiscated and thrown into trash compacting trucks. This left the homeless exposed to the sub freezing weather of a now prolonged cold snap. Investigation has so far failed to determine if anyone subsequently died as a result of the VPD and city forced exposure to the elements in a “soft kill”. Interviews with attendants of a November 20th demonstration against the incident informed the author that there was a subsequent run on blankets from donations that ell short of a sudden mushrooming of need. To this day, no settlement has been reached.
On or about October 23rd, 2015 last, at least four feeding programs were shut down under threat of fine of operating a business without a licence. Among them were the Guardian Angels Catholic Church program, upon which hundreds relied for at least one daily meal and Christ Church Cathedral under renovation and redevelopment for much of 2015. Two others were closed, but details are unavailable as all of these are not listed or well known, at least not as much as the greater Vancouver food bank locations and other establishment outlets. As unlisted and known only by the donors and recipients, the closures were not indicated in any media outside of here. The Guardian Angels in particular was often good, proving bread, vegetables, fruit, sandwiches and sweets; much more so than the established food bank program that often provides weird stuff. Along with that, the Guardian Angels provided full holiday meals such as Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas. These too have been shut down. Recently, the author was asked if there was going to be any Christmas dinners this year, exposing that this appears to be a system wide closure. The Author explained that he did not know of any. One of the worst aspects of these closures, is that food that had neared its expiry date was donated to thee venues. Now, despite a program to recycle food scarps that developed concurrently with the closures, these donations now go to the landfill! Food goes into dumpsters instead of hungry mouths, leaving the poor either to find and rescue it, go hungry or trek to the Surrey landfill to retrieve food right out of the garbage. Here is a direct example of capitalism forcing people to pick through garbage for a living.
One of the few stories mainstream media did cover, also dated to late October, was the fact of seven police shootings across BC, mainly in Greater Vancouver. The story indicates that almost all of them were excessive beyond the need and involved those with mental issues, domestic disputes and substance abuse. Since then, little news has been printed. Though not as bad as the mayhem in the US south of the boarder, the potential exists.
Lack of affordable housing in Vancouver is a long standing issue in Vancouver, going back decades and has led to several confrontations and occupations including Occupy Vancouver. This is a complex web for a province that has the dubious “honour” of having the highest rate of child poverty in all of North America, several consecutive years running. Despite relentless inflation and increase in housing costs, welfare rates and wages have been at a virtual standstill since June 2007. For a single person, the shelter rate is $375 per month. Couples or single parent families get $570. All other support for food, hydro, heating, food, etc nets $235 and $307.22 per month respectively. The total monthly entitlement is $610 and $877.22 respectively. Larger families and registered handicapped get a little more. Most retired receive a monthly federal stipend of around $1,200 monthly. Market rents vary from $600 for a single room occupancy, $900 for a bachelor apartment and up to $1,500 for a one bedroom apartment at current market rates in the overheated Vancouver housing market with woefully inadequate social and low income housing base. It is clear to see, that the current condo developer inspired rentier class is collecting almost all to more than what folks are entitled to in the BC ministry of social development aka welfare provides per month. Bear in mind that minimum wage, currently set at $10.25 per hour in BC is not a much better source of income. So, how do all these folks feed themselves? They must sell belongings or finds, push illegal drugs, use food banks and feed ins, collect recyclables or work two jobs. In addition, a shrinking donation base and expanding clientele is over stressing food resources, leading to food insecurity and one in two children going to bed and/or school hungry.
There has always been an issue over the building of social housing for all low income folk in BC. There is thus, a several year wait for the available and affordable units. There is an acute shortage, not made any better with the levelling of many available units over the years. Often a person on the wait list has to wait until an occupant dies, freeing up a unit. For the 100 new units that replaced the 100 low income buildings at or near 138 E. Hastings, only seven (7) units are low income, social housing. There is a net loss of 93 units! Hence, the ongoing protest of the lat few decades.
Perhaps one of the more controversial developments of the war on the poor is the criminalization of collecting recyclables such as returnable bottles and tins. In a society that is incrementally tightening a noose on the poor, some rentiers, landlords and agents have decided to close off access to recyclables like bottles and tins. These secured closure places the particular locations into the trespass category of the CCC. From there, access gained, no matter how, now falls under break and enter and theft under $5,000, both indictable offences under the CCC. These offences, when processed by the police, produces a fine of $2,000 and/or 18 months in prison. One agent for a landlord has an enclosure that serves as a prison/holding cell that confines the offender until turned over to a responding police officer. This in itself is an offence under the CCC that is even more serious than the break and enter and theft “violations”. The fine alone for “break and enter and theft” as defined by some rentiers is well above even the highest monthly income of seniors and handicapped, let alone those with lower incomes than these. This attack by economic duress is acknowledged as an act of war in larger theatres involving entire countries. The poor, driven by war engendered austerity, are now in breach of the law.
In seeming contradiction of the above, an erstwhile entrepreneur has set up a business to process volume recycled bottles and tins. To access this service; for a stipend, one has to register, have monies electronically deposited into you bank account and wait five business days for your cash. The recycler has to purchase a specific type of recycle bag from the entrepreneur or hardware location. There is no need to count and each bag costs twenty cents, which holds anywhere from 20 to 100 units. To the collector, this is just another inconvenience and an example os someone muscling in to get a piece of the action on the backs of the poorest.
Some folks cope by relying on loans from credit cards, banks, payday loaners and loan sharks. Let us begin with the “least offensive” case. Pigeon Park Savings managed by the Vancity Credit Union, located on Hastings near Pigeon Park, will process a persons $235 month allowance from the state for a fee of $18 per month. $18 per month on $235 is a type of interest set approximately at 12% per month. Standard credit cards loan at 19.9% per annum compounded. It is easy, where a person is attempting to cope with poverty, to get in over their head in credit and get into a situation where a monthly minimum payment on $5,000 realizes $90 in interest and $60 for the principle on revolving credit, or 60% monthly interest. Further, payday lenders are entitled by provincial law, to exact 599% interest per year. Loan-sharks, the last resort of the very desperate, exact even more, often charging 75% per month on a short term monthly revolving loan. It is expensive to be poor, which is why they remain that way. Little wonder some chose suicide over poverty!
The food bank has become a conduit to one research project and one experiment. The research conducted from UBC is attempting to establish better efficiency in the system, which is rampant with corruption, inefficiency and loss. There has as yet been no change. The other consists of an experiment where the client gets blood-work done in exchange of vitamin supplements. There is little question that malnutrition now plagues many of the poor, merely by looking at them; thin, wasted and emaciated. Perhaps the Fraser Think Tank is working out exactly what is required to keep people just one calorie above starvation for all those “useless eaters”. Past research on the food-bank by the NDP led to a calculation as to how much welfare rates could be adjusted downward as people were getting “free food” from community donations. This was during the so called good times, when there was a larger donation base and smaller clientele. Now, there are severe shortages owing to many circumstances summed up in one word; austerity!
It is bad enough that binners and recyclers have to dodge faeces, spent needles, sharp objects and broken glass, a few folks apparently have adopted the idea of a random act of cruelty a day. Among these is the booby-trapping of recycle bins with strategically placed and disguised broken glass. If one is not careful, or is collecting in the dark, they could sustain a serious injury. Untreated, that could lead to infection and illness.
One of the oldest and long standing issues, plaguing mainly indigenous women is disappearances that have accumulated to several hundred. All levels of government have dragged their feet incessantly in dealing with te issue in any serious way. Life on the reservations (read concentration camps) is terrible. If one watches APTN; the native news, they will learn about atrocious housing, over crowding, illness, food insecurity, substance abuse, violence and not even access to clean water. There is little wonder indigenous youth want to leave the “rez” in order to take their chances in the big cities in a bi to improve their circumstances. Unfortunately, they are met with systemic xenophobia, treated as third class citizens and often find their way into substance abuse, prostitution and crime. Many land in jail, which is disproportionately populated with first nations individuals.
There is a small group of people intent on creating a huge mess in order to cast a negative light on all recyclers. This has resulted in measures by rentiers, landlords and agents to lockdown their garbage and recycling areas and taking stringent measures with the use of the CCC and VPD. This has even resulted in the implementation of holding cells to capture any and all who trespass in search of recyclables and turn them over to the VPD and then into the legal system, possibly ending in prison.
The problems created by the war on the poor has been detailed and now we offer a solution. That solution is a blast from the past called the seven and 49 year Jubilee leveling cycles where the entire economy is reset. This was and can be effected by removing vast accumulated wealth in the hands of a few and distributing it to everyone including the very poorest. Along with this is the mass cancelling and forgiveness of all debts, thereby eliminating indentured servitude aka, debt slavery. As the elite are unwilling to relinquish their hold on vast amounts of stolen wealth and forcing the rest of humanity to live on heavily usurious loans, the key to bringing this unjust system to a full halt, is through a debtors revolt; that is, to seize a Jubilee where none is granted. At the same time, an economy separate from the elite must be built. The watchword then is; “Have a debt? Don't pay!” This will severe the blood money line to the elite and their bankster criminals deemed to big to fail and too big to jail. An alternate economy not based on granted fiat currency of ant type from the state, but based on resources and services must emerge and in some places; free markets are springing up. The Jubilee program is supposed to take care of this, but it needs to be initiated from the bottom up, as the elite will not grant one. They have a lot to lose and will fight it too resist losing it. It is the main reason why there ha always been a war on the poor. Other types of revolutions, both right and left have ultimately failed, because too many are tied to the existing system of usury. What is needed is a Jubilee as described in detail in the Torah and Bible. It is something that almost all Christians are unaware because of a failure by the leadership to even point it out. Judaism, though the father of the current expression, does not practice it either. That Jubilee which is not practiced by so called leaders, must then be acted out by the masses. We link with and promote the 144k program as promoted by Wayne Walton and many others.
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