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#thief

chris@diaspora.freifunk-naila.net
Chris Ford

GOTTA LOVE EDMONTON #1

A montage of a chain of incidents with composite conversation a la 'The Conversation' 1974, with Gene Hackman.

"Police complaint line, can I help you?"
"Yes, I filed a complaint 2 weeks ago, file #_________."
"The stolen Honda civic and the Aboriginal thief?"
"Yes."
"Do you have more information?"
"Yes, you can close the file.
"Why"
"The thief died last night in the cold. It was -20°C. He was homeless. He banged on my door at 11:00pm. I threw him out. He was found this morning in the creek ravine. He had mental health issues and was Aboriginal."
"Well, there's one less bad guy in the world."
"Well, he stole my car, and several others, but he was damaged, not 'bad'". "The damage left his head scrambled and it was in a different world from the rest of us. He couldn't get along with people." "And so he was broke", "And homeless."

"He was all of those things because he was Aboriginal, so his mother, being in the Edmonton, had no access to traditional supports when she was pregnant and had a new baby. The White system afforded her no access to White resources so mother and child had basically no support at all. Probably she had no money, either to keep herself or to raise a child."

"And, of course, she was dealing with the effects of 157 years of abuse to her population by Canada, and so had a lot of internal damage of her own to deal with."

"So, really, the fact that he lived till thirty something is rather remarkable, and the fact that he died is more proof of the systemic racism of the system. But never mind, just make a note in the file."
'Goodby'.

#Edmonton, #Alberta, #Indian, #Thief

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danieleg@joindiaspora.com
DanieleG

If we disregard certain residues of customs surviving from past eras, what we must do or not do is determined today by what we must buy. It is almost impossible to avoid making even a small part of those purchases that are offered and imposed as must-haves, that is, "obligatory purchases". Those who attempt it run the risk of being considered "introverted", of losing their prestige, of jeopardizing their professional prospects, of revealing themselves to be lacking in means; indeed, they run the risk of becoming morally and politically suspect. Because, in truth, not to buy is considered a kind of sabotage of the sale, a threat to the legitimate needs of the goods; therefore, not only is it considered a failure to act, but also a positive transgression, akin to theft. If not even something more scandalous: because, while the thief with his appropriation (certainly of an undesirable kind) nevertheless testifies that he loyally recognizes, like every other customer, the attraction and commandment of the commodity, thus demonstrates that he is conformist, and, if he is caught, can be called to account unambiguously, the one who does not buy dares not to heed the call of the commodity and offends the cosmos of the commodities with his renunciation; and then he even dares hypocritically to invoke the alibi of negativity, that is, of having done nothing at all, and by this he really escapes the arm of justice.

Rather ten thieves than one ascetic (Molussian proverb)

Text: Günther Anders, The Obsolescence of Humankind (1956)
Image: Michael Lavery (1930)

#Anders #philosophy #quotation #buying #thief #book