In
my previous blog I talked about the problems in Thailand, and how they were
representative of a divided society. Events are really still unfolding over
there, and it will be some time before Thai society approaches something that
we could call normality. But the problem of a divided society is not exclusive
to Thailand - in fact, I would argue
that it is becoming more and more prevalent around the world, and even in
seemingly peaceful places people are being convinced to fight among themselves
rather than working together in solidarity.
Of
course, we have seen other obvious examples over the past two months in places
like Ukraine, where there has been a clear division over whether to move closer
to the European Union or to Russia. But we can see the same thing on a less
dramatic scale even in a cosmopolitan, global city like Toronto. Toronto is
usually famous for nothing more than the CN Tower and that most people think
it's the capital of Canada. But over the last six months, Toronto has become
notorious for its Mayor Rob Ford.
Ford
is now famous for his use of crack cocaine and his admission that he is often
found in 'drunken stupors'. But while that's hardly behaviour you'd expect from
a mayor, it's his policies which bother me more. Ford was elected after a
campaign in which he constructed an interesting worldview which essentially set
the people of Toronto at war against each other. He regularly positions every
citizen of Toronto as being in one of two groups – motorists versus cyclists
and pedestrians; people who enjoy the Lake Ontario waterfront versus people who
want to see it developed for jobs; people who go to the famous Canadian company
Tim Horton's for their morning coffee versus people who stop off at an
independent coffee shop; and, most regularly, people who live downtown versus
people who live in the suburbs, where the majority of his voters come from.
Ford
continually plays off an idea of cultural difference. He tells his supporters:
the people who live downtown are different from you, they want different
things, they live different lives, and they want to take money away from you
and use it for themselves. This is, of course, ridiculous – the people who live
in the suburbs use the downtown area for their jobs, their transport, their
entertainment options, and so on. Essentially, everyone in Toronto uses the
downtown area in some way, and should see that the diversity of people who live
and work there is its great strength. But unfortunately, while Ford's claims
are incorrect, they are popular – even now, after all the cocaine scandals,
Ford has a popularity rating of 40% and may win re-election from the people he
has convinced.
In
reality, the people of Toronto, just like those of Thailand, need to realize
that they have more in common than they have in difference, and more that
brings them together than tears them apart. The people of Toronto all want the
same things that the rest of us want – safety, clean air, good schools, a good
health care system – and they need to work together as one to make that happen,
rather than buying into divisive myths. The same goes for the rest of us,
wherever we are – rather than focusing on the people around us who we perceive
as different, we should begin to work together to build a better life for all
of us – regardless of what the elite politicians are telling us.
Truly yours,
Ana Shell
[ Thai society, CN Tower, Mayor Rob Ford, Tim Horton, cultural difference, Ana Shell, crack cocaine, European Union ]
