2013-11-13

Rob Ford's Impact On Life In Toronto

Readers of Stationary Waves will not find it particularly surprising that I think Rob Ford's having consumed illegal recreational drugs is morally reprehensible. Drug use is a topic upon which I have expounded at length, and so for now I will leave that aside.

What I would hope Torontonians would ask themselves at this point is how Rob Ford's illegal drug use has impacted their lives. Let us concede that every nasty allegation leveled at Ford is true. Let us assume the worst.

The question to ask oneself is, how might we expect these revelations to change our expectations for the future? In other words, knowing that Rob Ford is a crack-head, how should residents of Toronto expect tomorrow to unfold? I'm not talking about how things will/should unfold at city hall, I'm talking about how the average Torontonian's life is impacted.

I think it's safe to say that Toronto residents, by and large, are completely unaffected by their mayor's being or not-being a crack head.

And this is the important truth that I would like people to begin to understand. It's not that being a crack head is insignificant or that Rob Ford hasn't heaped embarrassment upon the city. Let us accept that it is significant and that he has embarrassed the city. Even so, life in Toronto continues to proceed pretty much as usual.

That's important because it highlights how truly irrelevant politicians are. It highlights how little politics really does impact anyone's life.

Granted, there are limits to how far I can take this point, but within those limits, politics is basically unimportant to most people. Think about that the next time you see a political scandal.

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