December 2010, No. 67
Absent & Present Voices on Developing Hamilton
Editor's note: What follows is a selection of comments posted on Mayday Magazine's website and reprinted within the cover spread of December's issue. To see these perspectives in their original context click here.
Monday, 22 November 2010 posted by Akshobhya
It seems there are several different streams of disconnect and dissonance here.
Firstly, perhaps we have a different perception of what constitutes 'gentrification.'...the idea of gentrification is an amalgamation of several concepts. Some of these concepts include privilege, poverty, capitalism, rights, community, etc.
Chemical Hiroshima
After 26 years, Bhopal leak still deadly
BY SUNIL ANGRISH
On December 3rd, 1984, a pesticide plant in the central Indian city of Bhopal leaked nearly 40 tonnes of lethal pesticide gas, methyl isocyanate (MIC) into the surrounding area. Over the course of the next week thousands were dead and more than 50,000 people suffered the painful effects of exposure to the gas.
Under the Boardwalk
A Look Beneath Comfortable Myths
BY KNOWING THE LAND IS RESISTANCE COLLECTIVE
Kitchener-Waterloo is a rapidly growing double city on the banks of the Grand River. After biking from downtown Kitchener, we stop to catch our breath at the intersection of Erb St. W. and Ira Needles Blvd. in the city's West end. With wide eyes, we take in the landscape of a newly developing shopping centre and its sprawling parking lots — all in the place of abandoned farmers fields and healing meadows here just last spring.
Santa's Top Ten List
As heard by PETER ORMOND
Citizens of the world. I've become concerned with the health of the planet, and all creatures, including humans like you. Therefore I've rewritten my list:1. Plant a tree. Does it make sense to chop down trees to function as three-week decorations!
2. Humbug to candy-canes. Refined sugar is called white poison, and candy-canes are an open invitation to diabetes. Skip anything loaded with refined sugar.
3. Less is more. Reduce consumption: thoughtful gifts are simply more durable.
4. Skip the Walmart-ish mega-franchises. Be it coffee, food or household products, adopt this philosophy whenever possible. Support local independent business.
Bill 68: Open for Business or an Open Call for Action?
On October 25, 2010 "Bill 68 Open for Business" was passed by the Ontario government, changing basic employment standards for workers. As the bill's title implies, it wasn't passed to give workers better protections against our bosses. Instead, it changes the law so that businesses are "open" to run however bosses please. We workers, on the other hand, face even more closed doors than before when trying defend ourselves by using the law.
A letter from the editors
BY SETH VEENSTRA AND SUNIL ANGRISH
We at Mayday Magazine believe it's important to acknowledge the controversy surrounding November's issue, "Developing Hamilton". Though dialogue and conflict are not exclusive processes, we were still surprised by the amount of conflict Daniel O'Rourke's article triggered.
The intention was to point to some of the dangers of gentrification with the hope of engaging the community in dialogue on how to address these dangers and avoid the outcomes of other cities.
Regardless of the intention, a number of alternative readings of the article have been voiced. Many community members felt personally attacked by O'Rourke and by Mayday Magazine.
In Defense of "Footsoldiers"
A response to Daniel O'Rourke's "To the Footsoldiers of Gentrification"
BY ROGER ABBISS
Partner, Mulberry Street Coffeehouse
Any serious discussion about alleviating poverty has to acknowledge the primary role that economic development plays in the solution. There is no city on this planet, no village, no town where poverty has been permanently alleviated without the benefit of sustained economic development.