Shameless Ideologues never learn

Vincent J. Curtis

6 Jan 21 

RE: The Pandemic and Fulfilling Hamilton’s Density.  Hamilton Spectator op-ed 6 Jan 21.

I was wondering when Shaker and Premi would put in an appearance.  You would think the pandemic would cause them to reconsider their theory of increasing population density.  You would think people would be less inclined to listen to stories of how much better society would be if we all lived closer together, unmasked.

Why is it that central planners all believe that 1970s Moscow is some kind of ideal to be aimed at?  This is Canada, and we love our space.  We love our own patch of green that belongs to no one else.  The most immediate folly in the densification that Shaker and Premi advocate is the lack of parking and road way for all the people crammed into tighter spaces.

Oh, cars are evil?  Sure, but I need mine to get to work.  Public transit?  Is that what this is about, more government control?  Here we go with more central planning needed to correct the mistakes of the first go-round of central planning.  The pandemic put paid to all sorts of mass transit, from planes to trains to buses.  It ought to put paid to the idea that living closer together is an obvious, unalloyed good for the masses, as Shaker and Premi believe.

Let the people decide what they want by way of housing.  The problem with central planning is that the planners lack the detailed information that only the free market has.

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