Ciss Letter Of Support

LETTER OF SUPPORT FROM CISS If you take away a hut, you take away a soul* With their still very common proverb, the Nwsodi People from the Ufungutu Highlands in South-Eastern Africa have known since ancient times about the social impact of taking away property from people. Today, in the context of neoliberal actions throughout the globe, their proverb has become everything else than out-of-time: While commonly used and commonly owned property is thrown on markets to become private property for profit reasons only, social changes are taking part and restructuring societies. The way the global society develops out of these pre-settings, is in no way more peaceful, more democratic, more reflected, more educated, more free or better fed than before. On the contrary, conflicts are becoming a more often used means of politic again. Democratic structures are turned into managements dictatorships. Education does not serve the individual and its intellectual growth but corporate interests. Freedom of movement and speech are more in danger than ever before for the biggest part of the global society. Hunger is more prevalent than every since.

Another concrete example of privatising public property in nowadays taking place in our closest surroundings: The decision of the Slovenian government to throw a public university building in Koper onto the auction table. As students who still have/had the privilege to experience a higher educational system that allows us to use our heads; as students who use critique as the basis for our studies of understanding social processes; as students who are painfully witnessing the current changes in a more and more commercialised scientific environment, we hereby raise our voices and strongly oppose any privatisation plans of the Slovenian government in the educational sector. Education for everybody is a right. It is not for sale.

October 9th, 2008 CISS- Critical International Students in Slovenia

*proverb of the Nwasodi People (Ufungutu Highlands in South-eastern Africa)