Rob Ford's Toronto

[OSS 117]

I sometimes wonder what happened to those silly Mike Harris protesters from c.1997. I tend to believe they're all millionaires with offshore tax shelters living in the Annex, Rosedale and High Park.

A creative protest would be to bring a crack pipe and "light it up" in front of Rob Ford. Everyone smoking "crack" would be entertaining.

Btw, Rob Ford in person is actually a decent human being. (Sober.) Says someone I know who's met him.

I guess that single piece of anecdotal, second-hand positive commentary should clear up all the awful things I've heard from other people. Even the worst politician in the world has to be able to be pleasant on the surface for a few minutes at a time. That doesn't really say anything to me about their actual character.

 

[OSS 117]

no, no it doesn't.

how many years and decades have we been employing the same old "tactics" (again the use of the protest language by the in-crowd - tactics, direct action, the spectacle etc...). did it work against Harris? nope. his reign ran its usual course and the Liberals have basically carried on the tradition.
the average, middle class, middle aged, non-political people are those who vote (strangely). these forms of protest turn them off - IMMENSELY. you are not going to wake them out of their apathetic capitalist stupor by banging some pots and putting on a puppet show. you are only angering them and pleasuring yourselves.

I was in the G20 and slept in Occupy and with observation and time I learned that these methods do not work and will not work. it was fun, a hell of a lot of fun, but that doesn't get results. I realized it was a lot more about the buzz of the scene and a feeling of belonging to something than anything else.

new ideas are needed. new, adult ideas that aren't alienating.

do you ever wonder why with so much "momentum" the protest numbers never really crack 1,000? that's your base, it's not growing (replenished every school year - but not growing) and it's weak.

the true people getting stuff done, educating and changing minds are the journalists, writers, teachers and, a very few, politicians. and they don't like to touch these protests with a ten foot pole because they're chidish and self serving. they are too busy ACTUALLY doing something as opposed to getting their face out there and filling their egos for an afternoon.

and, educating children? come on. they and their parents are their for a fun family memory and some cotton candy. and you're going to take that away from them?
that's not how you get allies.

A well organized, well-attended protest gets on the news. That's where the value is. And with the Ford debacle, where every international news broadcast on the story ends with something like "and despite everything, many Torontonians still say they'd vote for him again", I think it's kind of important to get the message out that the people in this city actually DO care about this.

 

[newearthling]

All this talk about protesting in the street and I keep thinking about a couple of anti-Ford videos on YouTube that have gone viral over the past few weeks. One is "Rob Ford: The Movie" and the other is the "Rob Ford Crack Remix." Both have been viewed millions of times. Not bad for things created by individuals rather than large groups.

I think both effectively damage Ford's reputation by cleverly making the case point that he's a liar, an idiot and not someone worthy of being mayor of Toronto. They may not be political with a capital P, but they do a far better job making a case than a bunch of people booing, holding up signs, etc. They're also videos that have been covered by the media. Not that the media coverage was needed. People probably would've seen this stuff with or without the help of newspapers and supper hour news programs. FWIW, this is also stuff that made its way out of online echo chambers such as UT.

I think we now have tools and platforms at our disposal that can enable us to go well beyond the traditional models of protest. You know, the one where you try to get a bunch of people together on the street, hope for the best and then maybe make the evening news for 45 seconds during a heavily edited segment. It's a model that just leads to white noise after awhile.

If you want to help change things then learn how to do things like make a website, edit video, use social media and generate content for the average digital user's attention span. While it's fun to point to Gandhi, the Berlin Wall and Seattle in 1999 as points of inspiration, the place where one can be most effective these days isn't so much on the streets, it's online.

I agree with you that any/all online tools must be used. Viral videos and other cultural memes are great at spreading ideas and at shaping public opinion.
However, seeing things online or clicking on an online petition etc, still plays into the general societal apathy that is so pervasive.
We are not cyborgs (yet!). There is a real powerful sense of agency and camaraderie that happens when you are able to see your views mirrored in the faces of your fellow citizens as you gather together, united for a common cause. We are social creatures. We still need real, in person connections, not just online connections.

 

[dforthandbview]

Ford family on stage this evening. According to Goldsbie, he received "thunderous boos".

 

[ahm]

If you want to help change things then learn how to do things like make a website, edit video, use social media and generate content for the average digital user's attention span. While it's fun to point to Gandhi, the Berlin Wall and Seattle in 1999 as points of inspiration, the place where one can be most effective these days isn't so much on the streets, it's online.

good ideas, clear messages, sincere appeals, humour - these things are important whether you are editing a funny video together or planning a massive street demonstration. how many videos are there on youtube that parody rob ford that have views in the low tens or hundreds?

 

[TOperson]

What is "mainstream" and "normal" though?

I never used the word normal. By "mainstream", I mean the mainstream definition - general, common, widely accepted, not-fringe.

 

[TOperson]

You said they had to tone it down. That seemed like a restriction to me.
We all have to accept the consequences if they are the only ones who care enough to protest something that is wrong.
My point is we need more of those "non-pierced, non-tatooed, non-weird-hair people".
The freaks don't have to do anything differently, including not toning themselves down.
The so-called normal people need to start showing up.

It's not like I said there had to be appearance-monitors at protests.

But it's fact that most people will only join a group that they think they will fit into, including and especially appearance-wise.

 

[ThinkRicky]

A well organized, well-attended protest gets on the news.

Mainstream typically media goes out of it's way to ignore and marginalize any sort of protest against the status quo to the best of their ability, and most people are too oblivious to see how they're being led. The anti-war protests prior to the Iraq war were some of the largest ever and they were barely covered. There was weeks of "but what are they here for?" from every major network even as Occupy had massive banners and signs that made it pretty damn clear what the problem was when those protests happened; and the police brutality at our G20 was glossed over and most of the worst footage mysteriously never made it to broadcast. If the protests are large or inconvinient enough for the powers that be, then the police get sent it to abuse or kidnap everybody until it's over.

I honestly don't know what to suggest when it comes to dealing with Ford or any of the wider issues, except to say that peaceful protest has been succesfully rendered ineffectual. Nobody's going to make progress by calmly asking corrupt officials to get bent.

 

[SunriseChampion]

I never used the word normal. By "mainstream", I mean the mainstream definition - general, common, widely accepted, not-fringe.

Those terms are still hugely ambiguous.

Do you mean to say uninteresting, bland, boring, homogenous, etc?

OK, now I'm just being an asshole.

 

[TheTigerMaster]

Ford family on stage this evening. According to Goldsbie, he received "thunderous boos".

Excellent news. Do we have video?

 

[Grimace]

Ford family on stage this evening. According to Goldsbie, he received "thunderous boos".

Well I hope this wasnt' too traumatic for the aforementioned 4 year olds attending this festive event.

I don't take my 4 year old to events attended by Rob Ford, but if the tool insists on attending family events in my view no one is too young to learn that this idiot should get no respect from anyone.

 

[adma]

I'm not so much advocating booing; but if it happens, it happens--take it as a barometer.

 

[kbdid]

Well I hope this wasnt' too traumatic for the aforementioned 4 year olds attending this festive event.

I don't take my 4 year old to events attended by Rob Ford, but if the tool insists on attending family events in my view no one is too young to learn that this idiot should get no respect from anyone.

Ford wasn't traumatic for my 4 y/o (she has no idea who he is, and shouldn't), I was just afraid if there was a ruckus that I'd have to explain and that it would give fuel to the Fords ("look at the lefties trying to ruin Christmas!"). We arrived late and were more worried about not being trampled than we were of being exposed to a&&hole politicians etc. Nice to see he trotted out his wife, I'm sure she was pleased (but I do hope his kids had a good time, they deserve it).

Note to whoever planned the crowd control/access for this event - you suck.

 

[Grimace]

I'm sorry, but both my 6 and 4 year olds have a pretty good sense by now of who Ford is. Try going to Ross Petty's pantomine each Christmas -- the kids love booing the villain. This is no different.

The idea that a Christmas event is not spoiled when it is presided over by a chief magistrate that has become an international laughingstock, who has been stripped of his powers, who has admitted to doing hard drugs while in office (which appears to be the least of his offences) and who by the preponderance of the evidence has vast criminal associations, regularly drives drunk, has major domestic issues (that may involve abuse), and associates with escorts, just to scratch the surface, but the event IS spoiled if said chief magistrate is booed by a citizenry that considers it grossly inappropriate for such a man to preside over such an event, because then you might have to explain something to the kids, is a little hard to grasp.

 

[Johnny Au]

On Dufferin just south of Orfus (between Lawrence and Yorkdale), there is a makeshift school inside a person's house called CA Allen Primary School. The window has the Rob Ford Mayor poster.

I wonder if that school teach young children that smoking crack cocaine is acceptable.