Thursday, July 8, 2010

Scream For Resistance !




Hello,

My name is X and i am an imagemaker and currently working on housing
projects of mobile communities. The need for me to stay involved is because
I do care. I believe that the power of squatting is that the basic is now and not
within the planning of then, soon or sometime. The places I have been living
and working are various from slums like Kloeng Toey in Thailand till the streets
of Amsterdam in cars and abended houses around Holland, Belgium and
France.

In Japan's greater Tokyo, the population of the homeless is estimated more
then 30.000 people on aproxx. 12 million people.
The government figures it significantly lower. Encampments like selfmade huts
and tents are existing everywhere around tokyo under bridges, alongside rivers
and in parks just like in all metropolitan areas around the world.
The most well known place is undoubtly at Ueno park. During the day you will see
groups of mostly older men hanging out at benches. Their selfmade huts are being
a bit hidden at the corners of the park.

The large economical downturn during the asia crisis in the mid-ninetees
of the past century resulted in the huge rise of unemployment.
The people who for instance had no family and an age that wasn't working in their favour
of finding a new job or a house are still in the more or less same situation as then.
Usually their places are being left alone by anyone and there is a selfregulating system
from within these groups to build up and maintain their places to live.

It also seems to be painfull enough for countries that have a seat in G8 or G20
to acknowledge the situation of millions of people in their so called grey areas of these powerstates.
Instead of encouraging or tolerating initiatives that enable people to do something
about their situation themselves governements work all the time on repression.
Like in Holland the new governement is implementing a law that
will bring thousends of people in a new situation. (A) Sleeping in the public space is prohibited
and people will get fined (60 euro) everytime they will be caught (B) Squatting will be prohibited
and therefore you can get the maximum penalty of imprisonment of 16 months and fines
going up to tens of thousends of euro's. The common opinion about homeless people
in rich countries is that they have it all to blame on themselves or that it is
something you just only know about on the moment when you are homeless.

If you compare the global situation of today and see the dark future of inhumane
lawmaking machines that neglect the lifes and rights of people in the EU alone.
I am pretty sure that there is nothing to expect from the debaters, lawyers,
politicians and the ones that just obey the law or enforce it
because 'they are just doing their job'.

The slums, the selfmade huts and the tents around the world are squats. Also known as
the taking care of your life step by step in a squat method born out of need instead of luxury.
Squatting will continue as long as humans live on this planet. Get used to the fact that
also if you don't know what is going down, the right to be a human and live on this soil,
breath the air we do, will overcome anything.

The only way to survive is to act and live free or die trying.
A law like the anti squatlaw that will be implemented soon and that suddenly criminalizes
thousends of people in holland alone and that serves no one but the chosen few screams for resistance.

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