A Fatigued Rage

I’m tired.

I’m tired of the Vancouver police pulling innocent men out of their homes at 2am and beating them so severely that their facial bones were fractured and their eye swollen shut. I am tired of statements released to the press of “attempting to hit officers, resisting arrest,” hastily withdrawn, and icy apologies which fail to account for the problem: NOT police incompetence (though that's not good, I suppose), but police brutality and a total lack of public accountability. (The 911 call regarding domestic violence came from the basement apartment - Oops!)

I am tired of the Olympics, which has all the feel of a military coup, and will make my commute marginally more difficult. I am tired of the circling black American-military helicopters, and the show of militaristic security which has been proven, time and time again, to make citizens less safe. But more importantly, I am exhausted by the international gathering in a city which has no level of government accountability. I like our mayor, but...ahhhhhh.

We have No Federal Government. Stephen Harper walked out with his middle fingers (metaphorically) raised when the opposition (majority) asked questions regarding Afghanistan torture.

We were (and ARE) implicit in international torture, in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. We still have a child-soldier locked up there, the last dual citizen held in Guantanamo Bay and youngest detainee, and all because our government has declined to ask for his return. (Oh, AND apparently nobody cares that in addition to torture, there's also lots of murdering happening in Gitmo, too.)

I am tired of the "opposition," who apparently completely forgot about their plans to take over the government last year (distracted by something shiny, no doubt). I am tired of their laissez fair attitude, and I am tired of the failed party system and the entire failed political structure. I am tired of the Queen of England, and I am tired of the Governor General, and I am tired that we as Canadians simply don't care enough to revoke our status as monarchy.

I am tired of the provincial government, where a voter turnout of 30% is considered an optimistic guess for the next election, because no party feels it necessary to shake up the status quo and elect an electable leader.

I am tired of being implicit in all of these things, because I do not know what to do to change them, and I have allowed, along with the rest of my country, for these systems to continue despite full knowledge of their failures.

Do I need to riot in the streets? Would anybody join me, or...would I just be shot?