In a world of constant semi–Cold War, the armies of the richest countries essentially become public militias specialized in exploiting poorer countries. Nuclear deterrence has prevented any war between Western countries since 1946. The question then arises: why is it still relevant to fund the Canadian military?
No but seriously, I swear the military is important…
The military is the result of a mix between the human tendency toward conflict for selfish reasons and the tendency to organize in large groups. In practical terms, this means that the military has always been a tool of domination. Whether to steal land, resources, lives, or minds, the military is an organization whose explicit purpose is to temporarily subjugate the other in order to extract what one wishes to obtain. That being said, it is quite commonly accepted that the military remains necessary for defense. After all, without military force, we risk invasion… right?
The military no longer serves to defend
As a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the so-called Canada is protected by several agreements that therefore grant the “country” a form of nuclear deterrence. Moreover, because of its geographical position, very few countries can realistically attack the territory directly by land: only the United States of America and Russia have this advantage—countries for which it is hard to imagine cooperation with hostile intent toward “Canada.” That said, countries like Costa Rica manage to exist without a national army, and we could imagine solutions such as decentralized armed forces, by province or region, for example.
But then, we help countries that need it, right?
I can understand why some people might say that, after all, the so-called Canada does help poorer countries that may have difficulty defending themselves, and that this perhaps helps reduce the number of wars in the world. That said, I reject this idea, which comes directly from the imperialist and colonial remnants of the so-called Canada. The idea that it is good for “Canada,” a supposedly superior “country,” to take on the mandate of helping poor little countries that cannot defend themselves is the very definition of imperialism and the “white man’s burden.” These ideas emerged in the wake of the great colonial conquests and have been used ever since to justify the violent domination of other human beings. “The White Man’s Burden” is a poem published in 1899 that called on the great European countries to, for example, “watch over a light-hearted and savage people … under heavy harness.” If reading this poem reminds you of something, that’s to be expected, since the rhetoric it promotes is still used today by many countries to justify military interference and neo-colonial economic domination. I therefore invite you to be wary of such arguments.
So where does the money come from?
Whether to fund an additional 81.8 billion dollars for the military over five years (that’s 16.36 billion per year) or to cut the tax on unused homes, Carney has to get the money from somewhere. Obviously, it is not from those who have money to spare that we will seek what we need. The only mention of a tax on luxury goods, for example, is a proposal to remove the tax on luxury planes and boats. Although one would have liked to see a tax on the largest fortunes, it is, among others, students who will face cuts. Indeed, under the pretext that the Canada Student Grant for Full-time Students (a program originally intended to assist full-time students with financial needs) would be too easily abused, the government proposes reducing the number of students who can access it, thus saving a hefty one billion dollars. In addition, the proposed budget also suggests reducing immigration. The goal: to admit only 380,000 permanent residents per year instead of 395,000, and 385,000 temporary residents instead of 673,650. All this while increasing the percentage of economic immigrants from 59% to 64%! Proof of the government’s clear intent: pluralism and culture are no longer priorities; what matters, even in immigration, is money. These are just a few examples among many others that show that, even at the federal level, austerity is ready to destroy our lives and our dreams.
And where do we fit into all this?
We can no longer let this happen! The people have been mentally taken hostage by a government that, little by little, is showing its lack of interest in those it is supposed to serve. Of course, fighting back is scary. Repressive laws are designed for exactly that purpose: to punish those who risk having a real impact on the world and to make activists into examples, hoping the rest will be too afraid to act. It is important now to understand that, through numbers, we are invincible. Every action, from political discussion to civil disobedience, can make an enormous difference.