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The Last Act
By
Claudia Schibler
Political Fasts, today, commonly known as hunger strikes, have been around for eons and utilized as a means of peaceful protest to raise public awareness in an effort to replace abuse and inequality with justice.
Outside the White House, people have organized in an historic strike called ‘Troops Home Fast’; Gandhi’s hunger strike gained international attention as he rallied the people of India and opposed British Colonial policies; Ceasar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Hunger Strike attracted national attention and the support of Senator Robert F. Kennedy. And let us not forget Dr. King, Jr., and Marion Dunlop, a 20th century suffragette; all perfectly sane people who chose to deprive themselves of food so those they represented would not be deprived of their rights.
If the Media had not been interested in pursuing their stories, the People would have remained uninformed and these leaders for change would have achieved nada: Nothing gained. History not made.
On April 6, 2009, Canadian Forces Veteran, Steven Dixon began his own hunger strike. He is in a protest for justice, recognition of illnesses, benefits, transparency, accountability and reform within the Dept of Veteran’s Affairs. He proudly served his country and now suffers from emotional and physical injuries, as well as Huntington’s disease. We’ll all die someday but Steven Dixon is dying now. He has no lingering hope there will be a miracle. He has no illusions he’ll change The Larger World like Gandhi or King. He just wants to seize the moment and affect his smaller world. He knows he'll never see change in his lifetime, however, he hopes others will see it in theirs.
Before the final curtain drops, Steven wants, as a last act, to present a gift to his brothers and sisters in arms which he feels will give even further meaning to a life already full of service to others. He has engaged in this selfless act, not for himself, but for the greater number who have found themselves negated and abused within the veteran community.
How will those he acts for react? Will strength be gained and for once ‘ALL’ come together and support him? And when he slips away, will his memory be honoured? Will anyone carry on his legacy of not giving up when there is even one veteran in need? Steven doesn’t want to become a martyr; however, he may become just that, if the Government AND the veteran community don’t get their act together. The last numbers I’ve seen: 197,000 traditional war veterans; 588,000 Canadian Forces Veterans; 77,000 survivors of these two groups: Total-862,000. That’s one hell of a Cast, that doesn’t include a full complement of children, extended family and friends. If it ever mobilized, the politicians might take notice and actually give a damn.
What will be the national/international impact as Steven hastens towards his death? Sadly, his story made it as far as a small column in the B section of the April 2nd edition of the Chronicle Herald. Let’s face it-stories of Veterans fighting for their rights have become tiresome; they just aren’t sexy. No history in the making here. No journalistic awards presented on a black tie night.
And that’s just how the Government likes it. The Canadian public have been lulled into apathy by the repetitive and seductive tones of influential politicians singing the ever popular lyrics of the MPs hypnotic rhetoric: ‘We love our troops. We love our veterans. We support them. We’re doing more than enough for them.’
They’ve repeated it enough that they believe it. They’re hoping the rest of the nation does, too.
If this story does not gain momentum, then in all likelihood Steven will simply waste away as his body, quite literally, consumes itself and the public will be none the wiser. If the Public were to ever think critically, tune itself into the ineptness of Government and Mainstream Press and use their right to vote on more than Survivor or Idol, power would return to where it belongs; the Electorate.
Even if there was a desire to do so, moms and grand-moms, dads and grand-dads, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, across this country, would not be given an opportunity to share their views. And if you should not agree with his method, look beyond to his message. The man and his message must be brought to every Canadian in all the nooks and crannies of this nation, because at one time or another, every village, city and outport has felt the loss of a family member, neighbour or friend who has served in uniform.
The method is just a sad by-product of the heartless, powerful few who will do anything to minimize the story, keeping it hidden in the back pages of a newspaper or keeping the public disinterested with their subtle political, powers of persuasion. Let’s not get lost in condoning or not condoning and put our focus where it belongs: On the bigger picture.
The Veterans have never wanted to place additional financial burden on the taxpayer; they’re taxpayers themselves. They’ve paid into their own programs and the Government has misused and absconded with their contributions. This same Government body attempts to mislead the public by implying they’re taking the food out of the taxpayer's mouth. Just who is doing the taking here?
Recently, the Nova Scotia Government offered Lockheed Martin, a company that earned over $3B in profits last year, $1.8 million in payroll rebates and the Federal Government will throw in $1.4 Billion. I’m wondering if the Taxpayers of this country, who declare such support, would balk at the small fraction of money (veteran’s own money) it would take to fix all the abuses of the veterans. The Government has selective memory. It tends to forget it takes soldiers to run the equipment it buys and soldiers to fill boots on the ground; soldiers they’ve made a moral contract with if a soldier should become veteran.
It’s not the soldiers or veterans who place financial burdens on the Canadian people, it’s the Government. When war plans are made and costs calculated, add the human element. If the cost is too high, then resign our military efforts to guarding our sovereign nation; ensure our citizens are secure and their basic needs (health, housing, education and infrastructure) are met before lining the pockets of multi-billion $$$ profit making companies like Lockheed Martin.
Steven Dixon is the face of all the young men and women who have heard your call to arms. They’ve answered this call since the birth of our nation. They want the same things all Canadians want. They have the same hopes, dreams and fears of their fellow citizens: The difference is what they have been prepared to do for their nation and complete strangers who they regard as friends and family: You. This is the ultimate gift they offer: “Greater love has no one than this; that one lay down his life…” What is done with this gift is an individual choice and one of conscience.
The death of a man is like the fall of a mighty nation (Czeslaw Milosz). It’s difficult to think about and accept, but this nation which has become desensitized, may not give more than a passing thought to Steven Dixon from Beaverbank, Nova Scotia. And for the life of me, I can’t fathom why he thinks we, in uniform or out, are the slightest bit worthy of his sacrifice in the first place. I hope he figures this out and lives his remaining weeks and months without giving one more thought to any of us. What Paris Hilton does is of more interest than what some veteran does.
Unfortunately, I don’t think this will happen. Steven seems determined to end his life with the same conviction he had living it. So I wonder, what will Joe and Jane Schmoe and Steven’s military/veteran family do before he goes from being warm and alive to cold and absent? If we chose to disassociate, then pray for a miracle to forget his face and his name.
However this whole story unfolds, I know he’ll haunt me. Long after you sleep the sleep of angels, I, for one, will not forget you, Steven Dixon.
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