Red Cedar

this morning there was a bus break-down or some such thing and so instead of taking the express bus from the ferry to work which travels mainly along the highway, i ended up on the 250 Horseshoe Bay bus which winds through the streets of West Vancouver. this route wends through the wealthiest municipalities in bc, block after block of waterfront mansions – testaments to consumption well beyond the limits of any perceived need rising out of the side of rock and perching on tiny islands in sheltered bays. i can’t help but stare at them, fascinated by the monstrousness of them, both in size and implication (for wealth this grossly displayed implies an assumed privilege over the needs of the majority of the world’s population). these are the people who honestly believe it is their birthright to own while others starve and thus destroy resources at a rate that should be considered criminal.

the rapt attention with which i watched these houses move by the bus windows reminded me of times during my upbringing when my parents would bundle us into the car to go for a drive which too often ended up on the streets of the uplands outside of victoria ogling the homes of the rich. the uplands, like west vancouver is full of old money mansions in all their colonial pomposity – and i was taught from a very young age, this was what all people aspired to – bombastic wealth without regard for others.

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