The Antisocial Socialist

I had brunch with a friend I hadn't seen in a long time, and we were talking (of course) politics and the pervasiveness of the "but how we will pay for it???" ideology. (I agree that it's a question worth asking—it's just usually asked as a rhetorical question to shut down debate, when it is actually a question that has an answer.) Basically, the idea that one invests in social good and infrastructure has been in rapid decline since the 80s. You couldn't build a subway system now—witness the Scarborough One Stop Wonder. People would get deadlocked wondering how to pay for it, rather than considering it an essential civic investment and just getting the thing done.

I compared it to when you see white people talking about the pyramids. Like, how did they have the technology back then? How did they figure it out? What a mystery! Must have been aliens!

Now we're existing in the ruins of a mightier civilization. Waiting for the subway (well, haha, not this weekend). Wondering, I can only suppose: How did they build this wonder? What kind of marvellous technology did the ancients of the 1960s have? How did they pay for it???

So a funny thing happened in Toronto.

Our sensible, centrist mayor, committed to balancing the budget and reducing traffic congestion and being oh-so-different from his crack-smoking predecessor, declared that all city agencies and departments shall cutteth exactly 2.6% from their budget, regardless of how cash-strapped and desperate they are or how much people rely on their service. This is all part and parcel of the magical thinking of the Austerity Acolytes, wherein politicians and their media lapdogs expect public services to wave some kind of wand and miraculously find "efficiencies," just lying around to be cut. As if the cuts aren't into the human flesh and bone of the city's most vulnerable.

(Don't blame me, I voted for Chow.)

Among these agencies is, of course, the TTC, which already sucks. Most of the time when I took the subway this summer, it was shut down between where I was and where I needed to go. Almost every subway car on the east-west line is without air conditioning, and I quickly learned the lifehack of getting on the first or last car, which tend to be air-conditioning. Inside the cars, it could hit 40°C. I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of rides I took without some sort of ridiculous delay. And it's not like our archaic subway system, already suffering the Death of a Thousand Cuts under the Honourable Wife-Beater, was all that great to begin with.

Still. 2.6%. Find efficiencies.

Amidst all of this, a local heroine named Bianca Spence challenged Mr. Tory to a subway ride across the Bloor-Danforth line in an air conditioning-free car. On Wednesday, he did it. He arrived late for work, sweaty, and dishevelled, and described "considerable discomfort."

Poor baby. That must be so hard. As one of my friends pointed out elsewhere, the lack of professional consequences he received for showing up late and rumpled are radically different from those faced by you or I. Weirdly, he has still managed to stay employed, and is still demanding that the TTC cut its budget, although he's not sure if he's going to actually make them. As the article linked suggests, this may be showmanship to prove that nothing more can be cut, but even if it is, it's acting like the various bureaucrats and bean-counters at the TTC have nothing better to do than to indulge his whims to make a political point. The budget needs to be increased.

By complete coincidence, the Toronto Police budget is $1 billion despite dropping crime rates, so maybe their $260 million in efficiencies can be used to fix up the TTC a bit.

Also, WTF is happening with the Scarborough Stubway? That still on? Remember when we had a fully funded LRT plan that Ford scrapped on his first day in office and Tory refused to revive? Don't worry, me neither. Toronto's memory is just an election cycle.

Transit, speaking from a purely utilitarian perspective, has to be the strangest possible public service to politicize. In Toronto, we've had massive debates about transit for years; the system was designed and mostly built in the 60s and 70s and has been underfunded since. At the moment, the municipal race being in full swing, the debate is between building an expensive subway with a few stops that is impossible to finish in most of our working lifetimes, and an LRT, which is cheaper and can serve a larger geographic area. Even people in wards already served by the existing subway, like the one in which I've been canvassing, frame candidates' positions as "subway or LRT?" with "subway" being code for Ford's far-right lunatics and "LRT" code for Chow's centre-left.*

Some friends of mine who aren't from Toronto expressed disbelief that subways are even a political issue, and they are absolutely right to find it bizarre. But it speaks to a theory I've developed about the Canadian right.

Other countries have a right wing that is unified by something. In the UK, it's class; in America, it's racial hatred and the legacy of slavery plus religious zealotry and a fear of communism. In Canada, it's not like we don't have class stratification or racism or religion or anti-communism (we have considerable and comparable amounts of the former two and some of the latter two) but for various historical reasons, none can function as a unifying current. Instead, we must resort to the basest, most rudimentary form of conservatism: I don't wanna pay for stuff. It is the politics of a cranky toddler, so it's not surprising that in Toronto, we're currently at least nominally governed by one.

The thing is, one can argue with, say, health care (something else that ought not to be politicized), that there is someone who benefits by keeping their money out of the system. In America, the insurance companies are the biggest winners, but conceivably rich people get something out of it too. From their perspective, it's fine if poor people die, and they can afford private health care. It's an inefficient system, which is why rich people ought to also support universal health care (after all, it's not like they overall get better care than rich people in the civilized world), but the upper class benefits from lower taxes and is able to mitigate the crueller implications of privatization. Same with schools; it's inefficient as all hell, but the rich can elect to have their children privately educated.

There is no such escape valve with transit, though. I was in Seattle last week, after not having visited for a few years, and was shocked at the traffic. It took at least twice as long to get anywhere. Otherwise, the city was thriving in a way that I haven't seen in any North American city since the economy tanked; everywhere was booming, everyone was high on legal weed, it was great. But apparently the booming economy led to a massive influx of people, and it was unexpected, and the transit infrastructure can't support it. Of civic problems to have, it's not the worst one, and certainly the gridlock was better than Toronto's. But it was still quite dramatic.

The North American conservative's alternative to the public welfare is private everything. The mass of humanity gets sub-par hospitals and schools; the elite get nice clean ones. So it makes sense, by conservative logic, to not pay for mass transit.

Except! What happens when there's no transit infrastructure? The roads get jammed up, and rich people use those roads and get stuck in traffic like the plebes. So it benefits the rich, even Rob Ford, who does not live in drunken-stumbling distance from his place of work, to invest in transit. Building more roads isn't even an option, because that's expensive, and people amazingly enough do not love privatized roads. Transit is a question for which the conservative has no answer, for which there is no answer beyond the collectivist one. You can, in theory, argue about whether a subway or an LRT is better**, but one is necessary no matter how much you loathe the smelly sheeple who commute to work without their own cars, and neither can fit easily within the austerity logic of the North American right.


* It's important to note that the Honourable Wife-Beater is not in any way in favour of building an actual subway. His famous refrain of "subways, subways, subways," is an attempt to stall so that nothing at all ever gets built. It is easier to stall on a subway than on an LRT.

** The LRT. Everyone knows this.

Two big decisions about what Toronto will look like are happening at the moment, and in both cases, the people in charge—who are not the people affected—chose wrong.

The first, and biggest, is the ongoing transit debate. The issue is the expansion of transit out to Scarborough, which is hugely underserved and car-dependant. The most sensible thing, most agreed, is to replace and expand the decaying RT line with an LRT line. This solution was extensively researched, mostly funded, and indeed was under development, when the Honourable Wife-Beater once again stepped in to fuck it up.

The HWB's other mantra (besides "gravy train" and "I am not currently smoking crack right at this moment") is the vastly creative "subways, subways, subways," which he constantly repeats in the absence of any tangible plan to actually fund a subway line in Scarborough. While you can see him celebrating "Scarborough getting a subway" in that link above, the fact is that he stopped an actual plan that was going to have rapid transit operational in 18 months for one that has no funding and will never happen. In other words, he's replaced an LRT that was funded and under development with something presumably better: an imaginary, invisible subway made out of unicorn farts. He presumably thinks that people in Scarborough are stupid enough to go for this.

While I do entertain fantasies of getting on the Bloor line and having one subway drop me at work in half an hour, this isn't going to happen. The unicorn-fart subway would cost $1 billion more than the LRT (which is why it will never get built), and even if it were built, it would have fewer stops, go a shorter distance, and take approximately forever to build. But none of that matters, because Ford's agenda was shamelessly transparent: Insist on an impossible subway plan, secure votes, throw his hands up after the next election when it's obvious the thing won't get built, and blame someone else. And it may have even saved his chances for re-election.

And this is why he's an awful mayor as well as being a crackhead.

Meanwhile, there are a bunch of interesting transit ideas that no one's paying attention to.

The other big story is the sale of Mirvish Village, which will not only replace the iconic Honest Ed's with something far less interesting, but wipe out much of the local small businesses that make the neighbourhood so vibrant. At risk are the Victory Café, where I have spent many a fine evening drinking while watching local theatre and music, Beit Zeitoun, the fabulous Palestinian art gallery and community activist space, Southern Accent, an excellent restaurant, Suspect Video, an indie video store, and the Beguiling, one of the city's best comic shops and one of the few places where you can find exciting new indie comics, as well as a bunch of other neat places. Even the Honest Ed's sign, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city, is apparently doomed. It's almost a given that these independent shops in quaint Victorian houses will be replaced by either a big box store, or faceless condos, or both. That's the way of development in Toronto.

The thing that these two stories have in common is that the monumental, city-altering decisions are not being made by those affected. Ford doesn't take transit other than for a photo-op every few years, and neither do the councillors who voted with him. He sure as fuck doesn't live or work in Scarborough. David Mirvish, who owns Mirvish Village, lives in New York; the Ontario Municipal Board is a faceless entity that seems to be some sort of robot existing only to approve the construction of yet another glass tower.

Ask anyone who actually lives, works, or uses this city, and they'll say that they don't want this. People who live here want walkable neighbourhoods, favourite cafés and bars, local unique shops, the spaces where memory and experience accumulate. There are corners of any Western city, Toronto included, that look the same as any other Western city, and we have enough of those already.

But people who live here are seldom seriously consulted, and this is the limit of liberal democracy. There is zero recourse for the community to reject being utterly re-written or for decisions on transit to be made by transit users. The market is the market, untouchable and inviolate, our only option to cast a vote every four years for politicians that will either be owned by the OMB or overruled by them. We have no say in what our city will look like, its increasing banality and provincialism. We are expected simply to sit back and accept what is decided for us, and if everyone hates big box stores and glass towers, so what? It's not like we can do anything about it, right?

It's dumb enough to do it, but it's even dumber to lie about it.

Did it take Brother Doug all weekend to come up with that excuse?

Would you like to hear about awkward times on public transit? Of course you would.

See, the thing is, when you have hair like mine, complete strangers frequently want to strike up a conversation. I mean, if you're a reasonably presentable lass, complete strangers will strike up conversations anyway, but both the quantity and diversity of these random conversations has increased since my hair became a decidedly unnatural colour. There are more guys who try to pick me up, but there are also weird old ladies who want to talk to me about municipal politics, and little kids who point me out to their parents, and so on.

Anyway, while there was a weird old lady who saw my unconventional hair colour as an invitation to strike up a conversation about municipal politics and the entitlement complex endemic in Toronto, this is mostly a post about a dudebro who tried to pick me up on the subway.

( my life is an indie movie with a Regina Spektor soundtrack )

Have you missed my Honourable Wife-Beating, Drunk-Driving Mayor posts?

This one's actually about Brother Doug (thank you, Toronto Star, both for your commendable journalism as of late and also for nicknaming the buffoons on City Council so that I don't have to), and his waterfront plan. It's...interesting.

For those of you who don't live in Toronto, we do have a waterfront. It sucks a lot compared to other cities with waterfronts. There's all kinds of urban myths about why it sucks, my favourite being that there was a fear back in the day that Fenians would invade from the other side of the lake, and thus the city had to be built away from the water, unlike practically every other city anywhere.

So there is all this land, and the questions of development and waterfront accessibility have always been a big deal. There has, for years, been a pretty good plan to develop it, and the environmental assessment has been done, so everyone just assumed it would happen eventually.

But despite years of planning and consultation, Doug Ford thinks he can do one better. His plan is not to build a waterfront for Torontonians to enjoy, but a tourist destination for people with no taste.

The most mock-worthy features? A shopping mall, a hotel, a GIANT FERRIS WHEEL, and a monorail.

Here's a map of the planned monstrosity:



For comparison, Waterfront Toronto's page, including community housing, and one of the original plans*:



The glaring difference to me is that Doug Ford doesn't understand what a city is or the sorts of people who live in it. I think he sees it as an extension of suburbia, instead of viewing suburbia as a tumour on cities. There are malls in Toronto, of course, and many people like to shop at them, but I don't think a single person who actually lives here feels that what the city is lacking is more malls. Especially not when there are local, independent businesses that we can support. People in the suburbs go to malls all the time because there's nothing else to do. People in the city have a plethora of entertainment opportunities. Malls are private space, though in suburban areas, they serve as a substitute public space because there's nowhere else for young people to congregate.

The Waterfront Toronto plan has urban residents, not tourists, in mind. People who live downtown do so because we want to live in a community, not a commuter town. We ride bikes and take transit (transit that goes somewhere, not transit-as-entertainment), we prefer mixed-use neighbourhoods, we crave green space, not strip malls. We are pretty much fine with the amount of sports crap in the city and don't need more stadiums. We all kind of just laughed at the Ferris wheel thing.

Not to mention the cost. The initial environmental assessment cost $19 million. If Dougie changes the plan now, that money is wasted and we're going to have to spend even more money. Because the Ford Bros are all about respect for the taxpayer, don't ya know? Why is it that supposed conservative austerity measures always seem to end up costing more money?

But, of course, this isn't about money. This is all about a grudge that the Fords and their suburban base hold against a perceived snobby urban elite, with our effete ways and our sushi and champagne, and conversely, a perceived dangerous mob of the poor, immigrants, and other undesirables. It's about building a playground for the 905, rubbing a bloody monorail in our faces while Scarborough and Don Mills go without desperately needed light-rail transit. It's about building a culture of atomization and isolation, a policy of physical, literal divide-and-conquer.

On the plus side, I do think Toronto has woken up from its moment of madness, and even the people who voted for the Honourable Wife-Beater think this is stupid. We're pretty much due for a left-wing swing of the pendulum (the latest provincial election polls look promising, with Hudak's support slipping) and I have substantial faith in the community-based resistance that's emerging. Also, Mammoliti is headed for a nervous breakdown. We saw the first cracks in the Ford Bloc this summer during Pride, when even his loyalists agreed that he was being a moron, and this plan is likely to drive another wedge in the Wacko Consensus.

Incidentally, Mexico City, located in a Third World country with a corrupt government, managed to build 16 new metro stations in two years. Necessity is a powerful motivator.

* If anyone can find a more detailed one, please let me know. I'm quite sure it exists but I can't find it.

A few things that didn't go in the last post but I wanted to mention before packing it in for the night:

Via upstart_crow: The criminalization of walking.

Some of you may have heard of the story from Atlanta about a mother with three kids who, after getting off at a bus stop, attempted to cross a street when one of the kids broke away. He was hit and killed by a drunk driver on painkillers with a history of hit and runs. The bastard who killed a 4-year-old child was allowed to plead out, whereas the mom who lost her son was convicted of vehicular homicide and faces three years in jail. She was judged, not by a jury of her peers, but by a jury of middle-class white people who'd never even had to ride a bus.

I post this in part because it's a horrific story that needs to be told, in part because the article is a well-written analysis of city planning flaws, and mostly because this the logical conclusion of the Ford Nation worldview, wherein drivers are citizens—sorry, taxpayers—and those who rely on transit, bikes, or their own feet to get around are criminalized by virtue of not being able to afford a car.

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The next thing is sillier but I thought you folks might appreciate it: Molson Coors is making a beer for the ladies! It has all kinds of weird crap in it besides the usual watery swill, and—get this—it is pink. Because ladies like pink things.

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If you live in Canada, you already know that Jack Layton has temporarily stepped down as leader of the NDP, having been diagnosed with cancer. It's a pretty awful situation and I sincerely hope that he'll be able to fight it and win. Should you want to send a get-well message, you can do so here.

I got to see the naked bike ride today! That was very—not the sort of thing that you want to see while having lunch, believe it or not. But I was done my mango mock chicken and it stayed down so that was good.

I tried to snap a picture with the Infernal Device but it didn't save properly. Consider your eyeballs spared. The Infernal Device is kinder than I would have been.

Anyway, I say this as someone quite supportive of Critical Mass and its variants—how does one actually ride a bike naked? It sounds like a recipe for pure pain.

In lieu of that brain-scarring image, I offer another: ( How to succeed as an Ayn Rand character )

On an unrelated note: Bear lost — and now "kidnappers" want $10,000 in cupcakes. This is one of those rare headlines where reading the whole article actually makes it funnier. Because the cupcakes have to be gluten-free.

Eight o' clock on the subway, heading westbound on the Bloor line to Ossington. It's a Saturday night, so the subway's a bit crowded—I still manage to get an almost-ideal seat. A few seats away, an ungainly and mildly thuggish-looking boy of about sixteen or seventeen listens to his iPod. Next to me, a girl who looks and dresses rather like Billie Piper listens to her iPod. Several people stare straight ahead in that practiced TTC-rider way where you stare at nothing to avoid people's eyes.

The boy abruptly stands and walks to towards the subway door. Seemingly oblivious to everyone around him, he starts to dance. He's the opposite of ungainly. He executes a near-perfect two-step, presumably to the unheard soundtrack on his iPod, critically watching his reflection in the Plexiglass door.

Unsure of what I'm seeing—the beginning of a flash mob? The results of not enough sleep? Are we all supposed to join in?—I glance over at Billie Piper. She shoots me a quick, puzzled glance. The middle-aged black lady halfway down the car also sees the dancing, and offers an amused grin. I grin back. No one but the three of us is at all aware of the dancing.

...which just gets better and more interesting, as he starts to throw in some hip-hop moves into his routine. Billie bops along, apparently—as I'm also doing with my iPod—adjusting her soundtrack to fit the boy's rhythm. The middle-aged lady—I kid you not—appears to have popcorn and starts eating it as she watches intensely. We're all beaming now. The kid just keeps dancing, pausing only to swing aside when the doors open to let more people onto the subway car, all the way until Yonge. We wave a little sadly when he gets off.

I lose my two fellow witnesses at St. George, but they both exchange friendly smiles with me as they leave, the shared memory still lingering in the cold, muddy subway car.