To the Students on Hunger Strike in Chile
Erasmo Calzadilla
This is a post reflecting my great anxiety and concern. It is requesting that the students on a hunger strike in Chile abandon that effort immediately, before the irreversible occurs.
If they’re struggling for life then what makes rationale sense is that they take care of it. Other methods of struggle exist, such rash alliances with death are not indispensable.
People of the world, let us call on these young people based on our good sense and compassion, and if not to them then let us appeal to their family members, friends and others who will suffer from their valiant but deranged and apparently ineffective effort through that slow and torturous road to death.
The strike has already achieved an extremely important objective: sensitizing masses of people around the entire planet to the serious problems of education being faced in Chile. However the death of one or more of these reformers will only generate widespread condemnation of their campaign – and a good day for the sensationalist press.
What would be brave at this point would be to remove the handkerchiefs covering their mouths and start eating. Whoever takes the first step will save the lives of some of these comrades who are on strike, those who are the weakest.
Then they will be able to return to the street if they wish. Wouldn’t they be more useful there?
We in the US are not getting any news of student struggles in Chile. All attention here in the bourgeois media is on Libya, Syria and for example a CBS “60 Minutes” segment on the post-traumatic psychological problems of the 33 rescued Chilean copper miners.
I agree with you totally, Erasmo. The hunger strike is useless, and these valiant student strikers would be much more valuable staying alive. By ending their strike they would get a great deal of attention, and their change of tactics would get a great deal of exposure.
well said. to add one sentense: it’s a shame for the high school students to sacrify their youth and life to fight for the career, which should have been done by politicians!