The next round of bread and circus should leave behind more than a giant bag of money for the 1%. Angling for the Olympics to come to Boston should start with a commitment to share the wealth created by the games as widely as possible.
And we don’t mean a Reagan-ish shrug and a coy “a rising tide lifts all boats” license here-pushcart-there-increase-in-commerce-yeah-you’ll get a little bit sharing. We mean WEALTH. We mean PROPERTY REDISTRIBUTION.
Building temporary housing for the cream of the crop, while the hoi-polloi sleeps in the streets is insulting, inhumane and in the face of ongoing environmental collapse just plain insane. Consider instead:
A Modest Proposal:
1. Build permanent multi-unit housing and sell it at cost to the poor who can in turn become resident landlords. It was good enough for the Irish; it’s good enough for us.
2. Leave behind a horticultural academy to care for Franklin Park.
3. Create a real underground transit system that reaches neighborhoods of color.
4. Food by small local restaurants.
5. Cleaning by small local businesses.
And when all else fails:
6. EAT THE RICH.
For the Earth,
A.