We are one with the earth. Humanity does not exist independently from our environments. So when all of our life support systems are constantly under attack by this violent industrial culture, it is no wonder that we are messed up. The water we drink and bathe in, the food we eat, the air we breathe: it's all becoming increasingly toxic. We feel this pain and trauma in a very real way.

Drinking water is mixed with chemicals from the tap because our rivers have been dammed and dumped in and are no longer clean enough to bathe in or support other life-forms, let alone drink. Food is genetically modified and sprayed with carcinogens before being hit with radiation, mixed with additives and wrapped in plastic. We are not even allowed to exist on land without paying ever-increasing fees as it is divided into smaller and smaller parcels of property. Oxygen contains so much smog and toxins that we can't escape cancers, asthma, and countless other illnesses. Even though we don't wanna admit it, deep down we know we're being murdered.

We don't want to admit it, because this life is all we know. Once they took away our connection to the land, we were systematically broken, pacified, enslaved into this system and bombarded with propaganda until we believed in it. Now to be free means engaging in a daily struggle against the brainwashing and mind control, the omnipresent authorities and this prison society's systems of social control. If we don't fight back, we destroy ourselves. If we don't fight back, feelings of hopelessness and helplessness sink in and we spiral into cycles of oppression and abuse of others and ourselves.

But things are really bad, and we all know it deep in our guts. Our instincts keep telling us this society is a sinking ship, but we've become so dependent and servile that we defend our abuser, partly out of self-hatred. Being faced with such massive problems and powerful enemies can get overwhelming. So it's no wonder that many strong, beautiful, conscious people turn their destructive urges inwards and engage in the death culture. Feeling incapable of beating the system, they decide to help it beat them.

We feel the pain of our planet on a very deep level, and the effects manifest in soaring rates of physical, mental and spiritual illnesses, desperation, paranoia, fear and depression. Even our relationships with each other have become toxic as we let fear, greed, scarcity, jealousy and trauma dictate the ways we engage in the world. But we can't let this go on.

We cannot do the enemies' work. We need to be strong for each other and ourselves. We need to be warriors for the earth. We need to defend our life support systems (air, water, food, land). We need to live joyful, rebellious, free existences and conquer our fears. We need to support each other's physical, spiritual and emotional selves. We need to destroy what destroys our communities, our life support systems and us! We're in the fight for our lives and we have a decent shot as long as we don't forfeit. Don't give up; the night is coldest and darkest right before the new dawn.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.