Rabid Thinking

One of the places I spent much of my childhood was in Vancouver BC. My mother worked as a research assistant for Anthropologist studying prostitutes in the Vancouver Redlight district. In my time in British Columbia, I was always astonished on how free the people there were. There was a segment of the population that choose restraint and longed for control, but they were minimal at best. The city wasn't perfect obviously the legends of drug related crime and gang conflicts were very much a reality when I had lived there, but it was as though the city embraced its flaws and imperfections, city art was found in these "bad areas" and they were also a draw to the city. Drugs became a tourist attraction, bring people across the global to the city. The cafes were live with discussion, I was exposed to philosophy for the first time when I was twelve living in the city. If I hadn't had that experience I would never have known my love for philosophy as my time in Ontario, Manitoba and New Brunswick, rarely involved an environment of open thinking and discussion.

I visited the city again this summer and Vancouver was different now. The cafe's i used to frequent are now clothing stores or Starbucks, the discussion is gone in favour of rushing, time driven enslavement. The redlight district is under surveillance, the freedom of the west coast has been replaced by gentrification, as the people who drew people to Vancouver originally are being pushed out of the city.

Don't know what I am trying to say here, other then I am sad, I lost a home this year.