Toronto the better

It's about time to make this blog about what blogs are about at their core - petty complaints about the mundane details of life.

With that in mind, I went to my weekly game in my multi-sport league the other day; this week it was rugby basketball. I joined as an individual member, so my team is a rag-tag bunch, some of whom rarely show. Tonight, in fact, we only had 3 people show up on our team, so it was 4 on 3 all game. Which was fine. Although it occurred to me, as the game was about mid way and we were down by countless baskets (which are hard to come by while using a football), that maybe I should suggest nicely and jokingly that maybe someone from their team join us, as they had about 8 people on their team, more than enough. But I ended up not saying anything, mostly because I was too tired and out of breath. But it did occur to me, especially at the end of the game, that it sure would have been nice of them to offer.

It seemed to me to say something about Toronto and its people. We play by the rules, sure. But we also don't stick our necks out very often and go that extra mile towards sportsmanship and putting out a little extra common decency to our fellow person. We passively sit by and let inequality happen - not just to others, but to ourselves. I include myself in this, as I didn't really say anything at the time and am now passive aggressively writing a blog post about it. But it's something that sort of stuck with me as I rode home on the subway.

Because that's kind of how our city government operates, too. It's how, perhaps, Rob Ford gets his support. He plays (maybe, just barely, depending on which judge you believe) by the rules, but never does he go the extra mile to say, hey, maybe I was wrong, and hey, maybe I'll give back some money that I raised for my football foundation or mayoral campaign. Maybe I don't even want the appearance of wrong doing, as it lowers people's opinion of this government and government in general. There's been an general lack of sportsmanship in city hall, and it's not just the mayor, but a disturbingly large number of council members.

Pushing at the edges of the rules and against the spirit of them is increasingly how all levels of government operate, where the rules are just something to be changed, and the spirit of the rules is forgotten or perverted in the name of power. That's increasingly how our society operates, where not just government but the business world, who is increasingly dismissive of and hostile towards scientists, artists, unionized and non-unionized workers, teachers, first nations, nature, animals, etc, etc, etc...instead of agreeing that we all have something to add to the economy, the society, and improving each others way of life. In Toronto at least, it's too often how we drive, bike, walk, and rush for the subway, streetcar, or bus.

It does, however, seem worse in government - maybe because they make the rules, they seem to have forgotten the spirit of it. It does seem to be worse among those who see the free market and greed as a virtue, where the rules of government are mostly resented and just get in the way.

I know there isn't necessarily a golden age of days gone by that really existed; if anything, maybe we're just laying bare more honestly the divisions we once papered over with lip service and platitudes. But it's worth committing to a level playing field, some common decency, and sportsmanship, in our lives and in our politics.