It is deeply affirming to see the peaceful campaigning against military connections and associations in Australian universities. Demilitarisation of places of learning is something I have been strongly advocating for over many years, and it surprises me that it has taken this long to become a focal point of rights issues. University involvement in militarism has frequently been the case, and it remains the case, even where universities deny such connections. My email signature at one university I am associated with reads:
for the complete demilitarisation of universities, schools, and places of learning
Having experienced ostracism and complaints (to put it mildly) within [that] university because of my stance, I wonder how the entrenched militarists feel about broader protest action? And I make this post as a plea for consistency among the protesters — ALL military associations lead to death somewhere in the world, and ALL military associations are culpable. Divestment (as the terms goes... placing it within its capitalist ambit and reflecting part of the core issue) from ALL weapons-related 'defence industry' and interests is the only just approach.
To be selective is to condone death and suffering for 'other' people, to justify violence under 'certain circumstances' — the reason the cycles of violence persist in the world and dominate human interactions, ensuring the perpetuation of injustice. Divest should mean cease. Divest should mean there can be no learning with the spectre of death underwriting one's studies. Whether it's working on submarine sonar or receiving funding from any of the military-profiteering companies, it comes down to the same issue: these are modes predicated on death.
See this poem from 2020 written to a VC and university hierarchy about 'defence' industry ties to universities.
John Kinsella
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