campaign to break ties btwn arms manufacturers + universities (Patreon)

last wk i drew the graphic above for the national union of students new campaign called 'books not bombs'. the main focus is highlighting and hopefully severing the chunky ties between arms manufacturers and universities. a lot of unis around australia have investments and research deals with arms manufacturers. the chancellors of sydney and adelaide uni even sit on the boards of major arms producers, barf

the campaign dont hav a budget to speak of so the patreon coin was helpful 4 this, thanku.  

u can read more about their organising below, and how to get involved if u want:

"The arms industry is booming across Australia. Billions are being poured into weapons manufacturers, tanks in Queensland, submarines in South Australia, and research and experimentation almost everywhere. Australia now has one of the 15 largest militaries in the world.

This arms build up is happening at the expense of higher education. In December 2017 the Liberals cut $2.2 billion from university funding. Barely a month later they announced a $3.6 billion investment fund for private arms manufacturers. This was quickly followed by $5 billion to be spent on tanks. The Integrated Investment Program, announced in 2016, will see $200 billion of public money spent on weapons production in the next decade.

Meanwhile Australia ranks 39 out of 40 OECD countries for education funding. Student welfare is now well under half of the poverty line, and campuses across the country are phasing out lectures, firing staff and cutting courses.

A fraction of the money spent on arms could fund free education in Australia. Every undergraduate degree could be made free for the next decade at a cost of just $27 billion - barely one tenth of the money going into the Integrated Investment program. 

So we’re fighting for the government to fund education, not machines of death and destruction.

But militarism increasingly shapes the education system as well. Arms manufacturers use universities to do free research for them. Universities invest in and profit from the war industry. In many cases, the same people who run the universities also sit on the boards of major weapons producers.

This is a travesty. Education should enrich society. Instead it is now profiting from the destruction of it. BAE Systems for instance supplies Saudi Arabia with the fighter jets it has used to bomb the Red Cross and Doctors without Borders hospitals in Yemen. This same company now has ties with Melbourne University, RMIT, every university in South Australia, and likely many others.

We’re campaigning to break those ties. On campuses across the country we’ll be organising to demand the administrations sever links with arms manufacturers. Check out the ‘about’ section on this page for links to the campus campaigns you can get involved with, or contact Con at education@nus.asn.au for more information.

The militarisation of society and especially our universities cannot go on unopposed. Join us to campaign for Books not Bombs!"

#booksnotbombs #disarmuniversities