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Tags: MIT

STILL WAITING FOR THE CAVALRY TO COME.

The idea that there is no cavalry first hit me in 2005 when I saw the news reports fromHurricane Katrina in New Orleans.

Tens of thousands of people took shelter in the Superdome, and waited…and waited…for help to come. It never did. What came was looting and violence and other trappings ofLord of the Flies. How could this happen? This was America, for heaven’s sake.

It turns out I was right about the country, and wrong about the direction it was headed.

But this social collapse is also happening in Britain where not only is the National Health Service breaking down, but so is garbage pickup and public transit and immigration, and the police. Of course it’s worse in the US where being a white, Christian male can be the only defence against the predations of its government.

Read on…

September 19, 2025 October 24, 2025

UNDERTOURISM.

This week thousands of Canary Islanders marched against the 18 million tourists who visit the tiny Spanish island chain each year.

One marcher said, “We’re not against tourism. But the current model is predatory.” The Spanish government also removed 60,000 Airbnb listings across the country and by 2028 Barcelona will ban Airbnb completely.

Oh…and Amsterdam has banned the construction of new hotels, except to replace closed ones, and Florence has banned key boxes and guides with loudspeakers. Athens has limited visits to the Acropolis to 20,000 a day.

Read on…

May 30, 2025 July 25, 2025

Arts Go Broke.

I fear the domino of much-loved arts groups gasping their last breath has just begun:

– Soulpepper and Factory Theatre Lab have had to pull shows from their schedules or cancel premieres.
– Hot Docs and its famed Festival could cease to exist.
– Artscape is in receivership.

The Ontario Arts Council and Toronto Arts Council predict that by the end of the year many more groups will turn out their lights.

The reasons are as real as they are clear: ticket prices are rising even faster than restaurant meals and airfares; government support is wobbly, and corporate sponsors are going ‘in a different direction.’ That trifecta of doom has hit  exactly when galleries, theatres and concert halls are coming out of rehab after COVID blew up their audiences and shredded their balance sheets.

March 30, 2024 May 18, 2024

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