Masthead managing editorin-chieg nal ‘content editor-in-chief Teas huntsman merit sam swap production manager ‘maya fischmann copy editor sv billingsey polities livia cht & nam jag joshua bienstock opinions ash man & carelle sarkis arts & culture Tey stark & tamara milion avant-garg uwina persaud & maya felsehmann Teas untsman merit tal olieeadete alyssa lon isabella persaud ‘yler riches contributors madison johnstone ‘angela sidsworth The Ga Weare volume sixty-seven, issue 7 eis University College's aper that believes that sometimes you should be angry. and that sometimesyou should ‘be loud, and if you have not hada voice before you deserve a voice. We donot give print space to ‘igo and we do nt feign neutrality on ses of social justice. At tis moment everything nur january 25, 2022 Editor's Address Ahoy matics! In an era of renting access to soRware and information, when ‘we own very lite digital media: pirating becomes nteapitaispranst Share les with your frends, download everything to external hard drives, burn cds, bring down firowals! We're entering anew golden age of piracy. It's the morally correct thing todo. ‘Our tmabers are certainly shivering this January.So keep ‘warm and entertain yourself with the treat rove of at and icles entained inthe Prates & Pray ese! Your captains, Linea Huntsman Merkur & Annika Keller Béitrs-in-Chief 2021/2022 About us fest student newspaper and publishes every two weeks. ices sailing on and over thebig bive wet thing Production bi-weekly on discord (join our server fr instant elu). urgargosle@gnail.com/submissions@uegargosess, vmacgargoylecaAgainst Intellectual . Property. i In na ion to the obvious By So why is this narrative so heavily peddied tous? -+ Why are heroes and geniuses and saviors so integral to the fabric of our reality? Well for monetary opportunity they starters, admitting the value of the collective is, ‘ admitting that they have a stake in the benefits provide, the lattice of IP % that are usually reserved for the few. It would ES threaten to transform private indulgence into a public good. If we admitted that the production line workers of Tesla are just as integral (if not more) to the process as Elon Musk (barf emojis) | then we could no longer justify paying them the © poverty wages we do. Further, it would Pf , \ rights and laws only act to », occlude knowledge. ercan namah jaggi TL 2 ae Much like the creation of private property barricaded our bodies from the land so essential to their cultivation, intellectual property rights of the 21st century only act to further impoverish our minds. For most of human existence, performance has been valued over authorship. Oral traditions could seldom be credited since most culture was built on religious myths or common folklore, and did not originate from an individual creator. Hence, copyright and any basis for it happen to be distinctly modern. It is. but a natural extension of the market economy, reifying individual accomplishment and achievement as the foundation of all the progress and developments we make as a | society. Its ideological ramifications are not z demystify the savior/god/iibermensh position the Baron currently holds, revealing his wealth tobe a result of greed rather than planetary 5 missionary fund. Intellectual property and copyright and patents are not a testament to + individual excellence but capitalist modes of | production and unequal wealth distribution. 1 9 = Are , t i Figures like Elon Musk and Bill Gates oceupy a. = most contradictory position in our culture. They = claim to be fiercely pro-science and champions 4 of progress while their actions only undermine +> both those ideals. Every idea that is created is a product of society and will better serve society if itis shared and improved on. In barricading technology or patenting vaccines, the inventor class of billionaires act only to serve themselves. Pp Yet, this remains to be an institutional defect. AY aude Billionaires are not rogue actors but poster A “ * children of the systems they have scaled. Musk» valorizes the individual. The etchings of and Gates are not alone; they are armored by ownership invariably obscure the parts of the yar, 3 i" | whole, making indivisible not only the labour if intellectual property laws and copyrights that 4 ies the collective and } but the legacy of knowledge that brings an idea Protect their interests. } to fruition. So deeply inculcated is the myth of * solitary significance that I am having state what 1 Pian © should be painstakingly obvious: no individual is All the sophist squabble that upholds | | . solely responsible for any scientific a progress as the primary paradigm of the free t J breakthrough or societal advancement or vital C market falls flat and dull when welook at the > progress we make. From the public funds 7} ways in which progress and development are ||), jj funneled in, to the workers who do the stifled. Information or knowledge are no longer \7->) undesirable dirty work to the centuries of 4 heralded as resources, they are reduced to iy knowledge that act as a footrest, creation is a | social act through and through. there is no € justification for personal reward in public ‘achievement | commodities. And commodities are not oriented * towards progress or development but cold, a naked profit. In exposing the empty nature of q patenting, one must confront the shambles of : the institution of science. Rotted, chipped away "Ni and ultimately sacrificed for capital. we o x IRC OW Tag |machinatio ns of the torrenting obsessed father a reaction from his communist child joshua bienstock my father and i rarely see eye to eye these days but we both vehemently hate society and are rather selective when it comes to following the rules. growing up, my dad ‘was always the type of person that got what he wanted, or atleast tried his hardest to make it happen. on vacations, he would negotiate with the check in counter ‘personnel for bigger rooms, at restaurants, he'd ask for something that wasn'ton the ‘menu, and at home, he would use torrenting to download copyrighted and restricted media for free. imean who doesn’t want to get exactly what they want ina worldin ns of dollars, finding, ‘ways to consume content for free is kind of based. so why does it bother me so much when my father does it? it has something to do with his positionality and the ways in which it fundamentally effects how he navigates the world, especially in the realm of the law. ‘you see, my father went to school to become a lawyer and passed the bar but never went on to pursue a career in the field. instead, he utilized his talents in the area of business leadership and continues to doso today. like many middle-aged white men (many of whom are fathers), my father entered the professional workforce at a burgeoning time for the ‘managerial’ sector. ‘managerial’ is a broad term that academies ‘and analysts use to identify a large sector ‘or class ofthe labor force that arose parallel and proportional to the growth of another large section of service workers. ‘common knowledge on this subject posits that the neo-liberal forces of globalization and financializaton oriented labor towards the needs of the global network, facilitating a major shift in the nature of labor and industry in many parts ofthe west as we moved from an industrial oriented ‘economy to one centred on the financial ‘sector. in this shift, major western cities, ‘such as toronto, became even more important in the production and maintenance oftheir respective national ‘economies. as the managerial class grew in these cities, so did the need to support them such as inthe realms of food service, building maintenance and management, transportation, retail, and hospitality. ifyouare well attuned to issues of inequality, as we all ought to be, it should. ‘be easy to notice that the growth of two sectors economically dependent on one another does not occur in an equitable manner (because of course not, we live under capitalism). in fact, looking at the data, itis clear that the managerial and service sectors are demographically distinguished along racialized lines, with the managerial class being an overwhelmingly white and socio- economically advantageous sector while the service sector is overwhelmingly composed of racialized and socio- economically disadvantaged people. 50, what does this all have to do with my feelings towards my father torrenting armageddon or the bee movie in 2008 instead of renting it atthe rogers store? my father was able to find his way toa successful and financially advantageous career in a time of significant economic ‘upheaval which is not something that can be said for the majority of his neighbours in the city of toronto alone and has just as much to do with his positionality as a canadian born ei-white man ast does with all the hard work he put in to get himself there. my father’s positionality silos hin to navigate and at ies, circumvent, the rales because the society in swich heli isnot stractared to polos him or even suspect him of committing a crime in any meaningful manner. and moreover, if he is charged, he isnot afraid that he won't be able to pay it off; whether he needs to simply pay an expensive parking ticket or a lawyer to fight for him, 1he's got himself and the people he cares about covered. as such, he's not so concerned thatthe feds are going to come after him for ‘downloading princess movies o the completed discography of elton john for the next family trip tothe carribean off bittorrent. andthe honest truth is that shouldn't really mind him exercising his privilege inthis specific way, eventhough not everyone can do the same, because he's not really hurting anyone in doing so. and tobell with disney, viacomebs, and warnermedia... they and their mi dollar executives, actors, and artists don't need our money and they certainly aren't ‘compensating their menial workers adequately enough to make it worth your hile to eare. and yet, my father's ever- ‘volving obsession with torrenting makes me crazy! the phenomenon of the middle-aged white man's obsession wit illegally downloading copyrighted media instead of simply purchasing subscriptions to streaming services (that they can very well afford) serves as an ever so small and yet still salient example of the fact that his positionality enables him to basically do whatever the hell he wants. the bounds of ‘one’s ability to actualize ‘freedom’ under liberal capitalism is directly proportional to ‘one’s positionality. if you are privileged ‘enough to be one of the some who find relative success, you are blessed by liberal capitalism and encouraged to continue to acerue wealth for you and your family. however, the ascendence of some towards the upper echelons of society means the continued marginalization and subordination of the rest towards what's left- which, these days in particular, is no more than an existence of un-freedom and subservience to the white man in a society that does not care about you beyond. making sure you do your part to maintain that status quo. so, ifyour father is anything like mine, next ime he does some seemingly questionable things which may or may not be illegal and then boasts that his actions constitute the actualization of his ‘freedom’ in deference to the ‘oppressive’ structures that are supposedly ‘totalitarian’ for telling him that he can’t have the suite for the same amount as the double or that he has to drive 120 kph instead of 140 in his $40 000 ear on the private highway to avoid ticket, maybe try pers ‘to put it, and put him, into some spective. it's not that you ought to viify your father (wel... unless you have good reason to), but more so that itis prudent, especially now, to recognize your own positionality in reference to his. and, moreover, to ask ‘yourself what ought to be required of you towards the people and structures around you to rectify the grave reality of inequity ‘within the liberal capitalist state that ve depicted here from getting even worse in the coming years. i certainly don’t have any ‘lear answers for you, but 'd start with warning your fathers that the (soon to be ‘reated) future communist state of the ‘gzeater toronto area will not look kindly on his oh so precious ‘right’ to accrue capital, or in my own words, his ‘ight to “do whatever the hell he wants’.an excavation of my z- library/libg en search history Joshua bienstock vis isan resource for Steals fo find and dowalead complete academic and non-academic publications for personal and course-based needs alike! ifyou're looking for academic articles you should first go to the wot library website, bat this isthe place to go for books that the ‘of library system doesn't have access to ‘online or any fiction or non-fiction you don’t need a paper copy of- which is expecially relevant now hat we have been back to remote learning. {n surveying the many searches i've made from libgen and an affiliate site, z-library, i noticed a common theme (given that i often panic research for essays) texts regarding Zionist setler-colonialism and the ‘oppression of palestinians. as such, the following review of selected texts from my search history can also serve as a mini literature review of a variety of important texts on the subject and may even prove helpful to you in your own academic or personal learning joumey if you are so inclined. (god i'm insufferable) (but this is ‘an important topic so... et over it). and no, ‘haven't read any of these books in full because most basically just say the same things over and over again and i'm tired. i will also rate each book because i feel like it ‘edward said- orientalis said is such a zaddy, a king, and a ‘mammoth legend of the field of postcolonial studies including but not limited to the specific instance of palestine. his positionality as a palestinian academic in a time when such a positionality simply didn’t exist in the west was prolific in and of itself, he was also an amazingly talented ‘writer and theorist. his text, orientalism, ‘remains one of the foremost depictions of the ways in which colonial norms construct the discursive landscape of the language we ‘use to ‘know’ what it means to exist in the ‘west as fundamentally defined by the construction of the ‘other’, manifested in the idea of the ‘orient’ (hence orientalis). reading orientalism changed my life. highly suggest you read it (also, look up ‘edward said throwing rocks’ for praxis). 1000000/10 joan peters- from time immemorial ‘okay so this isa particularly funny one. i downloaded this book in order to see how insane it really was after reading about it in alan dershowitz’ similarly insane book, the case for israel from time immemorial is a founding text of israel propaganda. it forwards an argument using sketchy historical data to discursively erase the existence of their ever having been a substantive palestinian population of any kind, as such, she calls the ‘arabs’ who ‘remain’ in palestine no more than a ruisance who should be ashamed of themselves for standing in the way of the jewish state. suffice to say, the book is a racist tool of settler-colonial propaganda but could be fun to read so you can make fun of zionists. -1000000/10 jasbir puar- terrorist assemblages, ‘homonationalism in queer times besides being really great at titles, puar is also a prolific academic in the realms of critical and queer theory. ‘homonationalism’ basically argues that liberal capitalism weaponizes queerness by using it to legitimize itself and the imperialistic violence done in its name. this phenomenon is also known as ‘pinkwashing’. her argument was really fascinating to me and i've used it since in a ‘umber of essays to argue that zionist hegemony engages in ‘pinkwashing’ in order to legitimize its oppression ofthe, palestinian status quo Tpanheldinisterntory. sho yasmeen abu-laban & abigail bakan- Theat pudestine ond the peltisofrace: exploring identity and power in a global context abbie bakan is a professor here at uoft! i had her this past semester. she rarely teaches undergrads because her main area of interest is in education which puts her at cise most of the time, but she does a seminar every now and then. this particular text, which she writes with her self- described “writing colleague”, abu-laban, deals with contemporary debates about the nature of race asa salient framework for understanding palestinian oppression at the hands ofthe israeli state. i read one chapter in close detail on the recent history of israeli ‘pinkwashing’ and how it has, manifested in p campaigns on the global stage which was interesting, that said, reading it felt more like reading a textbook or collection rather than an original piece of writing. 6/10 Library Genesis norman finkelstein- beyond chutzpah norman finkelstein is aking and the og ‘self-hating jew for how he has used his ‘academic career to call out zionism and the israeli state apparatus for what it truly is and does to the palestinian people. he has ‘been blacklisted by the jewish community and his advocacy even cost him his tenure at depaul university. this particular text ‘goes on to make an argument that the Jewish establishment has weaponized the discursive landscape surrounding antisemitism and the memory of the holocaust for the purpose of israel propaganda, it's a fascinating argument ‘and he was one of the first to say it without parsing words. he also rips joan peters yposed “evidence” with regards to palsies Sr hihisvey 90 judith butler- parting ways this book is interesting to me because it ‘was the frst time i encountered a jewish ‘academic trying to engage in academic and non-academic jewish cultural and religious history in order to try to answer the ‘question of how we, as.a people, separate ‘ourselves discursively and materially, from the state of israel’s hegemonic influence on ‘our nt, and future. i read the introduction and conclusion abd was fascinated, i also took the spirit of her academic work to an essay i wrote, butler is simply also a fantastic writer. itremains ‘unread in fall bt is at the top of my lst when i finally stop being depressed. gf0 Khalid does the important work of tracking the historical development of zionist settler-colonialsm and the oppression of the palestinian people from a specifically palestinian ve, he also uses his| town family history to offer a more well- rounded perspective of palestinian culture before the establishment of the state of israel and the ways in which it changes in the aftermath {read a fair amount of his book and found it to be incredibly rereshing, well-written, and researched. ‘well-regarded academic and often gives talks tocampus groups and clubs, i know he was recently (virtually) at ‘uot for one. 40/10 Zlibrarv~ Ranked. who doesn’t love pirates? ow yal ik to ‘Depp. HOWEVER, he's aot the Fa af ee ; Eat af “ Patchy the Pirate: 15/5 Hooks Blackbeard: 1/5 Hooks [just can't do this today. ‘Terrifying. He looks like he's been through enough, $0 [won't say much more about him, Jean LaFoote: 1/10 Hooks have beef with the French, crush on Peter Pan when I was 1d Hook was the villain,fuppet Treasure ‘our Favourite A Review of What My Nuclear Family and I Watched During Winter BreakA Personal Case for ‘Your Immediate Appreciation of Pirates of the Caribbean ‘madison johnstoneLetter From A Lonely Pirate Ollie Cadete You, Ocean waves are measurable in units of distance and time, This isthe only way I can conceive of a way to measure you. Like the ocean, your vastness and depth are unrelenting and the fact that you exit in such a large ca offer so lit of yourself to me is as chilling as that first hesitant and dreadful dip into the water atthe sho all you ever gave me, jus that first stretch of shore We used to play pirates together in the laneway between our two houses. Our ocean was the pavement that kissed ‘our knees when we were too afraid to find out what kissing each other would mean, Playing pirates was not exclusive wo the humid drenched days of an unrelenting summer, but also extended to winter. always wore snow pnts and you dida’t, you often had your jacket unzipped to reveal a t-shirt, and you Would insist you weren't cold, | ‘would watch as you maneuvered over the towering. toppling garbage bins to reach the icicles adorning the outdoor roof piping. As you strained with your let arm (your right arm had to remain at your side because the parrot was on your shoulder) I could sce the collection of ski tags dangle and bump into each other around your jacket’s zippers. Distance. My dad's new cat has light indicators on each of his side blindspot. My entire life, those light indicators in my mind have bee car battery and a sensitivity to your proximity. I know I shoulda’t defi ime this, but I ean never help it ivors that light up when cars are in his on for you, I was built with a never-exhaustive myself in relation to you, my therapist tells Even when we were litle I noticed how you sculpted distance, maneuvering life with a radius around you that made sure everyone was always a few steps away. Even me. I think what broke my heart the most, in the end, was that 1 wasn’t the exception, even though a small part of me always knew that. That distance existed even fo the brief period in high school when I was yours. I pretended it didn’t though. I pretended thatthe distance was incidental, just a consequence of being pirates on a tumultuous sea; the current was always bound to bump us away from each other That was stupid of me. We weren't seven and we weren't pirates. We were 17 and your dad was dead and my mom was gone and we were always half aslep, Time. We had the entirety of your life together and it still wasn't enough for me. think it's because my life is stil going on. You were born 6 months before me but now I'm 4 yeats older than you and it was never supposed to happen that way. So mow each year when the seasons go.on but you don’, time becomes something s0 scalding and "snot fair how the tees that line our childhood street come back to life in spring bu you don’t. You are so much more beautiful than those I.can measure you like the ocean because it felt like the moon changed the way you moved too. Your ebb and flow, my careful side steps, our unrelenting youth - it was supposed to be you, me, and the ocean forever. All 'm let with is waves of who you once were,Inhale and Exhale Uvina Persaud I plant my bare feet firmly in the grass. I close my eyes and face the sun I raise my arms Palms facing upwards I take a deep breath Inhale and exhale Asense of calm washes over me A feeling of connectedness with the elements. Earth; beneath my feet Air; all around us Water; the rain droplets dripping off the plants from the down pour the night before Fire; the blazing sun in the sky I take a deep breath Inhale and exhale I connect with nature and disconnect with the bustling sounds of the y. I drown out the sounds of the honking cars and the sirens in the distance And focus on the sound of my breathing, the sound of nature, the birds in the trees the wind I take a deep breath Inhale and exhale I let go the negativity and focus on the present. * Lenjoy the moment and the feelings I experience. I take a deep breath Inhale and exhale