Jun. 23rd, 2010
I wanna take a streetcar downtown ...
Jun. 23rd, 2010 03:49 pmI used to live in Toronto. It's not my home, anymore, but it's still my city.
sabotabby:
Downtown Toronto is a ghost town. I haven't been there myself, but I've seen the photos. I've been keeping up with the news of the wall, the surveillance cameras, the sonic cannons, the legions of cops, the private army of thugs, the school shutdowns, the work and transit closures, the prom and wedding cancellations, even the moronic fashion advice.
And it hurts. I have to say it. Mock Toronto all you like, but it's my city, and I love it with all the irrational enthusiasm of a flag-waving Yank. I live here and I work here; it's my haven and my playground and I find its vastness, its variety, even its cold-shouldered anonymity, a comfort and a joy. It's my home, and at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, these soulless bastards have turned it into a warzone for their little photo-op.
...
They have transformed a bustling, prosperous city into a microcosm of the world they wish to create. Governed by martial law, cordoned off, leaders isolated from the people they claim to represent. This is what democracy looks like, indeed. They used to accuse activists of hiding our faces behind black kerchiefs and balaclavas—now they're the ones hiding behind walls.
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Downtown Toronto is a ghost town. I haven't been there myself, but I've seen the photos. I've been keeping up with the news of the wall, the surveillance cameras, the sonic cannons, the legions of cops, the private army of thugs, the school shutdowns, the work and transit closures, the prom and wedding cancellations, even the moronic fashion advice.
And it hurts. I have to say it. Mock Toronto all you like, but it's my city, and I love it with all the irrational enthusiasm of a flag-waving Yank. I live here and I work here; it's my haven and my playground and I find its vastness, its variety, even its cold-shouldered anonymity, a comfort and a joy. It's my home, and at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, these soulless bastards have turned it into a warzone for their little photo-op.
...
They have transformed a bustling, prosperous city into a microcosm of the world they wish to create. Governed by martial law, cordoned off, leaders isolated from the people they claim to represent. This is what democracy looks like, indeed. They used to accuse activists of hiding our faces behind black kerchiefs and balaclavas—now they're the ones hiding behind walls.