Cold Hard Truth, Eyes of an Allied Settler – Idle No More
Submitted by William Ruff
My name is William and I am a first generation settler. My father was born in Canada and is Russian descendant. My mother born in Holland and survivor of WW2. I grew up in the public school system where they don’t tell you the whole truth of first nations but pieces. Only in the last couple of years my eyes where open to some hard truths of the world. As I became more involved with the world around me I started to become part of a greater community. Knowing the issues the world faces I could only reach out and support all those of like mind. In reaching out I found their was a deeper problem the world faces. We are divided as a human race. Spiritually, culturally and ethically we are divided.
Respect for one another is lost in personal issues and racism. As a human race we lost respect in nature and is regarded as a thing not something living or breathing. In loosing that respect we lost respect in each other so we war and fight. Fight for something that truly doesn’t belong to us in the first place. Fight for oil, the remains of our ancestors. Fight for water, our life blood, a fight for land where our bones will always return or a fight for the very air we breath. As those that hang on to greed and power rape the world. They keep everyone else distracted by playing on our differences, “divided we conquer”. In paradigm created those who lead us we find that their way will lead us to extinction. A way that divides race and culture and everything can be bought and sold. A person is looked with suspicion based on the colour of his/her skin. Or shot just for religious beliefs. All these actions just speeds the poisoning of mother earth. I am a man that believes in community but isn’t fully accepted by community. Many the time in my fight for mother earth I seen and felt the lateral violence that divides everyone. We are all occupied by our own lives and feelings. We seem unable to put differences aside and fight the good fight for mother earth. Come together, all nations, all people. Fight for something greater than ourselves. Fight for a better world for all children.