This is a bit of a disjointed post. I just finisehd reading teh very dense book Concrete Reveries by Mark Kingwell.
He's also the author chosen to write the Glenn Gould biography in the Extraordinary Canadians series. This is definitely a more accesible work, but still a challenging one. POrobably the least accessible of the series I have read so far. This may not be surprising given a) it's written by a philosopher and b) the subject, Gould who seems to be a difficult and inaccessible subject.
The book Concrete reveries got me thinking again about the nature of the "City" and urbanism more generally. It follows my reading of Jeb Brugmann's book Urban Revolution.
I also listened to an impressive mayor, Cory Booker on the podcast of On Point. I don't think I have heard such a positive elected official before. He was smart, (he's a Rhodes Scholar) and committed and charismatic, and relentlessly positive.
It was refreshing, and a reminder of what can be done by being positive regardless of the situation.
I wonder sometimes what could be done in Ottawa with some inspired leadership. Instead we get stupid "zero means zero" campaigns and a council dominated by developers and anti-transit suburban councilors.
It seems like any move to actually do something is whittled down and dimished, and ultimately becomes less ambitious through the debate at city hall.
I think it comes back to not having people who believe in government in power, and also not having a mayor who had any idea why he wanted to be there at all.
I was astonished recently to hear Stephen Harper's remarks about being against all taxes. What a crackpot statement. This goes back to something I really don't understand about a lot of modern conservatives and I think is at heart a contradiction. You have people funded by taxpayers decrying government. WHo do they think pays their bills?
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