Life here in London Ontario, compared to the majority of places to live in the world, is pretty posh. Although many of us live well below the poverty line, and some of us deal with racial discrimination and other oppressive experiences, we do have access to a lot of things such as social services, clean water, parks, schools and libraries. So why, you might ask, does Iconoclast preach and bitch so much? I have 2 answers:

-Londoners have the ability to improve our own living conditions. Many of us have access to education, the internet, food and water. There are at least a few dozen bad apples spoiling the barrel at city hall, but it wouldn’t take more than a dozen progressive people who actually care to make London a healthier and a better place to live. We have the power to kick out Walmart, build affordable housing and to reclaim our city from corporations.
-Londoners have the ability to help those who do not have power to improve their living conditions. We do not wake up everyday to gunfire. Most of us have enough food to survive. Many of us have WAY TOO MUCH.

So here are a few suggestions. The time is now. We are headed for an economic crisis, so this is the time to get political and start caring.

1. Clean up the RIVER. The river is so low this year it appears as a thin band of brown slime spread across a rocky pathway. Imagine actually being able to swim, and for animals and fish to be healthy. Yes! You could go the river and get in. Life would be immediately better.

2. More affordable HOUSING. Get people in homes. Act like it is their right. Subsidize housing and allow for people to have a better quality of life, get the homeless off the street, and let people have spending money for food, clothing, vacation etc with out having to feel like they are in ‘survival mode’. Also, stop Farhi, Transglobe etc from having their oligopoly.

3. Make TRANSIT better. Allow for bikes and groceries to be put on the buses. Also, make them run longer, more frequently and on sustainable fuel. Or better yet bring back rail cars.

4. Create more BIKE lanes. Yes, there are other ways to travel without polluting, causing noise pollution and making everyday life threatening. Create a bike-sharing and repair program. Also, change existing streets such as Albert St, to pedestrian only.

5. Remove all of the ridiculous BYLAWS in this city that restrict people from enjoying the city such as those about lawn upkeep, hanging laundry outside, j-walking, 24-hour noise violation, restricted use of public parks, fire pits etc.

6. Stop using WALMART and make suburban development sustainable and reasonable.

7. Remove war MONUMENTS in Victoria Park (put them in a museum), yellow ribbons on public vehicles and parks dedicated to soldiers. Newsflash to City Hall: pro-war allegiance does not reflect your city’s beliefs.

8. Subsidize forms of micro-sustainable ENERGY such as solar, wind and thermal for homes and businesses, in place of giving large corporations tax breaks.

9. Have garbage-free festivals, ban bottled WATER, install more public water fountains, and actually recycle what is in the blue bins.

10. Cut the POLICE budget.

11. Make the downtown LIBRARY open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

12. Protect bogs, woodlands, forests and water from Tom Gosnell and other REAL ESTATE developers (especially the ones who run the city).

13. Alternative MEDIA is needed to reflect and promote the views of progressive and younger citizens.