Vancouver ruined by global capital

Re: Politicians to blame for housing price crisis, Column, March 21

The study pretty well nails the Vancouver disaster: “Affordability crunch is ‘collateral damage’ of economic stimulus measures, UBC study says.”

As the article notes, “The city is undergoing massive change, (UBC geographer David) Ley says, because Canada’s federal, provincial and municipal governments increasingly embrace the principles of globalized freemarket capitalism to welcome wealth from the Asia-Pacific region.”

We see growth for growth’s sake, the word “citizen” replaced by “consumer,” the demise of protected local communities in favour of a rich-take-all world, the wonder of free markets and deregulated globalized capitalism.

Vancouver is now just a parking lot for money, opulence and conspicuous high-end consumption. Like most extremist ideologies embraced by those in power, it has gone way too far at tremendous social cost.

- ROBERT (BOB) BROWN Vancouver