A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

On Voting For Babies and Picking Fights With People Who Drink Juice

Then there were 499 7: Vision Vancouver’s mayoral candidate has dropped out of the race. I’d like to think he recognized his role in splitting the progressive vote but he probably just got a horrifying glimpse into the shitshow that is our local politics.

Of course, not content to let the toxic brand that is Vision just die (after they said they wouldn’t even run a mayoral candidate)… Andrea Reimer reconsiders retirement, could become Vision Vancouver’s mayoral.

Stop! It’s already dead! Remember, this is just more Gregor. Here she is at Vision Vancouver’s 2008 nomination meeting:

“There was a time in Vancouver where we had a surplus of housing and maybe developers were evil in that environment, I don’t know. But they sure aren’t now. There’s a spectrum of developers who range from the amazing to maybe not amazing, but we need them.”

I think it’s safe to assume that by “we” she means Vision.

And then there’s Wai Young’s weird populist angle: Wai Young’s Plan to Punish ‘Elite’ Cyclists and ‘Lawless’ Pedestrians. This approach might have worked in an amalgamated Toronto, where the suburbs harbour resentment towards urban infrastructure (and therefore users of that infrastructure), but not in Vancouver. You may as well pick a fight with people who drink juice.

There are so many independents running that my friend Rory thought she would throw her daughter’s name into the ring: Would you vote for this baby to become Vancouver’s new mayor? I dunno, she sort of just looks like another Visionista, all wide-eyed and optimistic. She’s probably a supplyist YIMBY. I vote no.

Speaking of supplyists, the Abundant Housing people are doing a sort of interesting walking tour: Vancouver’s Worst Zoning: The Walking Tour.

Because building supply is meaningless if nobody can afford to buy: What you need to earn to afford a house or condo in Metro Vancouver. A pitchfork and an angry mob?

“There is not a single market in Metro Vancouver in which a median income is enough to afford a detached house, according to data compiled by a home search website.”

Oh, it’s ok…we will let you go into endless, unrecoverable debt while you pray that the bubble doesn’t burst as soon as you buy.

And yet, these people are probably the same ones who defend the market to the death: Does America Have Capitalist Stockholm Syndrome?

And that to me is one of the great tragedies of capitalism. Marx was right. Capitalism does produce a false consciousness. Those who’ll never be capitalists are exactly those who defend it most. The imploded middle classes?—?in Marxist terms, the upper proletariat and the petite bourgeoisie?—?these days, are capitalist’s staunchest and truest defenders. Not just because they “hope to be capitalists one day”?—?a cognitive cause. But because capitalism replaced their sense of self. They seem to be pushed to the edge of breakdown without it, unable to function at all as confident, optimistic, integral, empathic human beings with inherent self-worth, self-directedness, and self-knowledge.

Related: Americans Want to Believe Jobs Are the Solution to Poverty. They’re Not.

We might think that the existence of millions of working poor Americans would cause us to question the notion that indolence and poverty go hand in hand. But no. While other inequality-justifying myths have withered under the force of collective rebuke, we cling to this devastatingly effective formula. Most of us lack a confident account for increasing political polarization, rising prescription drug costs, urban sprawl or any number of social ills. But ask us why the poor are poor, and we have a response quick at the ready, grasping for this palliative of explanation.

Date night: Fundraiser against deportation.

From Garth Mullins: “RiP Harold Lavender. As long as I’ve lived in Vancouver, he was at everything – a socialist fighting against poverty, displacement and the criminalization of marginalized communities.”

Bonus: The Absurdity of America’s Front Lawns.

There are 3 comments

  1. Hehehe. Socialism. Marxism!
    I remember my first year of college.

    Then we all discovered that shit doesn’t even work, in theory.

On Ken Sim’s So-Called “Swagger” and ABC’S Class War

Sean Orr is back from his hiatus with a rundown of the local headlines that have been running on a ticker tape through his mind over the past six months...

On Post-Election Recuperation, Platform Paradoxes and Refund Communities

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds irony in "safety, affordability, and sustainability", and shouts out a bunch of amazing local organizations working on the frontlines.

On Running for City Council, Playing Whack-a-Mole with Homelessness, and the Public Washroom Deficit

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr finds a park ranger with a grudge, a gross misuse of air quotes and Tripadvisor slander.

On Living in a City Preoccupied with Street Cleaning, Chandeliers, and Campaigns Against the Homeless

In his latest read of the local news headlines, Sean Orr hones in on the recent Langley shootings, and the ongoing criminalizing and dehumanizing of the homeless population.