Blog

Strategic voting won't help you

Strategic voting is a mirage. It's like gambling, or predicting the stock market -- there's a whole industry of people trying to figure out how to game the system, and most of them fail. Progressives have been hand-wringing for the last decade about how to unite the left (without actually, you …

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Solidarity is not a numbers game

Apparently, the University of Waterloo doesn't know what it means to be an ally -- but will gladly accept accolades and prestige for kind of thinking about it. Over the last few days, the UW administration has been trumpeting its partnership with HeForShe. It's a worthy cause and a necessary …

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Twenty-first century brutalism

Brutalist architecture is having a bit of a moment in the public consciousness. A surprisingly favourable one. I've long heard buildings like UW's Math & Computer building or U of T's Robarts Library described as oppressive, faceless, and institutional. I've always associated the style with a …

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Faith in the system

We want to believe that the systems and institutions that govern our lives are mostly good. We want to believe that if we just keep our noses clean, we have nothing to fear. It's a lie you tell yourself because it's easier to ignore systemic injustice than to do something about it -- that is, …

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