People in the GTA are angry.
No doubt about it.
Rob Ford's great support (whether you like or hate him) comes in large part from that anger. He has tapped into a rage in the community -- a rage I hear at doors across Toronto.
My question is why?
There are problems and real problems.
The TTC needs fixing, traffic is gridlocked, the streets aren't as clean as they ought to be. More broadly we need a new economic model for budgeting and a better business strategy to bring companies to the GTA from, say, Chicago or Beijing.
But most people have jobs, taxes are (relative to other local communities) moderate, crime is pretty well controlled and you can get around the city by car or transit. The economy can be improved but compared to, say, Detroit, Toronto is doing very well indeed.
Over all things are not that bad -- Toronto today is not Moscow twenty years ago.
So why the rage?
I do think the city needs a new direction -- I make no bones about supporting Rocco Rossi for mayor -- but the fury I sense doesn't make sense to me.
What am I missing?
7 comments:
I think there's been a series of local events that have just built up a background of general frustration and resentment: stuff like the garbage strike, the G20, the various scandals about the TTC, the vehicle-registration tax, and so on. Plus, I think there's a general feeling in a lot of parts of the city that the downtown is getting all of the attention at the expense of places like Etobicoke and North York. I'm not sure why that translates into support for Rob Ford, though.
Remember the garbage strike?
Quite symbolic. Remember ordinary citizens trying to do the right thing by dropping their garbage off at stations only to be prevented from doing so by well paid city employees?
Remember when the police or city officials did nothing to help them?
People are doing with less. They get it. But there is a certain culture of entitlement that exists within the place called Toronto that basically states that we in the civil service don't have to sacrifice our perks. The programs that clearly are not working get continued funding without even a voice of opposition.Except for one.
Ford is the only candidate that has a record of at least objecting to the status quo. The elite (Read;Star etc.)despise him for it.
Now you know.
It's not what you're missing but what you're not not missing; your prefrontal cortex. :-)
It's about those damned civil servants. Those damned lazy union workers. Those damned immigrants. Those damned elitists, etc, etc, etc. Conservatives spend a great deal of time trying to convince everyone that those damned people are responsible for all their ills and Ford quickly positioned himself as the guy who is against all those damned people everyone is conditioned to hate.
Robert M. is making a fatal error.
It is not about political affiliation.That is a lazy simplistic answer.
This has nothing to do with political messaging. If it did the race would be a lot tighter.
Part of the anger (if this is indeed about anger as Robert believes it is) would be directed at all the parties for their BS games.
The parties are irrelevant in this one.
See. Anonymous is so angry he couldn't even take the time to understand what I wrote before lashing out.
Robert; do you have a poster of Mallick in your closet?
Your don't know what you are talking about.
<< "What am I missing?" >>
Maybe your love for Rocco Rossi blinded the fact that he's nothing but a cheap politician and extremely vacuous...
One only has to look at RR's stint with the Liberals to see that he's out of touch with reality. Kayaking for a fundraiser? C'mon, it was a vanity trip. A bring your own BBQ, BBQ? Not really a deep thinker that RR...
I'm not surprised that he's doing so poorly - and I predicted when he decided to run for mayor.
RR is not a new direction, he's the same old...
I don't understand the popularity of Rob Ford given that the man is close to an idiot - but it just goes to show how poor RR and the rest are...
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