Craigslist: a breeding ground of hate?
I've been visiting Craigslist Rants & Raves for the past few months to put a finger on the pulse of Lower Mainland. For the most part: it's horrific.
R & Rs appears to be a breeding ground for racism, intolerance and hatred. And frankly, it's disgusting. Currently the world is facing a host of problems which may be catastrophic. The list is long: rising gas/food prices, unrest in the Middle East, the growing thirst for consumption as the developing world becomes Westernized. 
Look more and we have: Climate Change, threats of terrorism, more intolerance, a looming water crisis, the eroding of the middle class, and our collapsing infrastructure.
Walk through the DTES and what do you see?
It used to be mostly despair, a place where hope had been erased and all that was left, the shattered pieces of the living dead.
Present day: the despair is still there, the last breaths of fleeting hope still resonate loudly; however, a different episode is playing on life's canvas. Shiny glass towers are rising from where overdose once lay. Opulence is replacing the gutter. Rich is mixing with and then replacing poor. Go today and visit again tomorrow --- the change is occurring in the flash of an eye. If you look close enough the tragedy of life is ever present… it's just being crushed by rebar and concrete. And frankly, I don't think we care. The Olympics are coming: we'll get back to the heartache in a few years.
Politicians sing the right words every now and then, but the words are ephemeral, as the voters are struggling to make ends meat and are thus distracted, feeding and clothing family is priority one, saving the world, let's just say: a tad bit overwhelming for the Lee's, Singh's, and Smith's.
Meanwhile Craigslist's Rants & Raves: is a place where some choose to propagate limited views for the whole world to see. Hatred is the main entrée on the menu. Blaming others seems to be part of the plot. Focusing on different shades replaces pressing realities.
These individuals seem to be too limited in their ways of thinking to understand the degrees of human separation may lead to the same place. There is no superior civilization; there is only superior individual ways of thinking. If we keep promoting division based on anything other than good & evil, we fail. If we continue walking the plank: collectively, the fall will annihilate hope --- fatal if those above you squash you with rebar and concrete.
Racism = paranoia.
We are all connected: the crack baby, produce worker, the Barista, and the CEO. If we can't grasp a hold of that concept it doesn't bode well for the generations to come.
