I’d define democracy, like sustainability, not as a concept, but as a practice. I also see the Critical Mass ride as a democratic practice/act. This democratic practice has been called “illegal” and a “criminal act” by the monopoly capitalist media in Vancouver (see http://www.theprovince.com/travel/Editorial+Time+crack+down+Critical+Mass/1842637/story.html and http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/Vancouver+police+warn+Critical+Mass+bike+ride+Friday/1841292/story.html ) What researcher of social movements would miss the trend towards the criminalization of dissent? (And in the history of social movements tyranny hasn’t quieted democratic voices. Voices don’t cry out to be heard because some form of government allows it. And if it is grudgingly “allowed” today it is only because we cannot be stopped.)

Are you open to being convinced of your bias, or that we do not live in a democratic society? If you define democracy as rule by anyone or everyone, then the descriptions of our society by Morten and Victoria showing us (the mob) being ruled by the few should be enough to convince you that we are not ruled/governed democratically. What’s interesting is that both Morten and Victoria are opposed to Critical Mass in much the same way, but Morten clearly opposes democracy in favor of a rule by those in power (the entitled few) while Victoria sees the same thing, the same way and understands it as democracy.

I wonder if I could convince you of your bias… I also called it a false foundation. I could also call it a presupposition. If you desired a democratic society, that would be idealistic. Believing that we live in a democracy is false, not idealistic. A false belief, is paradigm shifting, and a bias is clearly expressed in your conclusion: “I asked online – “when is the tipping point? when does disruption become unruly social order?”. I think Critical Mass creators and their proponents should re-think this and their strategies. A democratic society is a collaborative society, not a confrontational one.” Raul, you show a bias toward social order, an order you falsely believe to be a democratic society. Our contemporary social order is heavily mediated by money and power. It is exclusive, unequal, and hierarchical. In our society where the titled expect compliance, the untitled voices/democratic voices can be nothing other than confrontational. If you re-think your foundational paradigm, that a collaborative society is a society of equals is a democratic society, not a confrontational one, you’ll hopefully recognize your error. We are not a society of equals and as such the political order of the day is confrontational. We must assert our voices, against an oligarchical regime of money and power who call us “illegal”. Our voices are untitled and deemed illegitimate. This regime must be confronted until every and any voice is legitimate, until democracy.

convinced?

I don’t think I have expressed any bias, quite frankly. Perhaps my idealistic notion that Canada is a democratic society may be wrong. Perhaps you’re right and we are only moving in the direction of democracy but we are not there yet. I’m open to being convinced.

I’m talking about the uncritical acceptance of a democratic society.

Raul starts with this statement: “One of the most powerful manifestations of a democratic society is the ability of citizens to raise their voices wanting to be heard on policy issues.”

Is this really one of a democratic society’s most powerful manifestations? That’s it? …the ability to raise your voice wanting to be heard? How do you define democracy? How do you define what is not? One problem with empirical research lies in its inability to discover the unrealized possible. I’d contend that democracy is a Utopian notion worth creating, and that the society in which we’ve found ourselves (selves created and socialized, prior to that discovery (I’m just saying..)) is not democratic.

It, that we don’t live democratically, comes through in what Victoria writes: “I’m fully for having mobility options versus vehicle usage, but when mobs like Critical Mass take to the streets it seems that far fewer influential ears are prepared to actually listen to our cry.” We live in a society where a larger number of bodies are classed ‘mobs’ and where a lesser number of bodies are classed ‘influential’. And it is through obedience to this smaller influential class that our cries will be answered. This is not democratic, but pastoral society.

The expression of desire by the multitude in a pastoral society will logically lead to conflict. but Victoria writes: “Critical Mass has no place in civilized, logical protest.” And in a confused society, one that names things what they are not, maybe protest can be civilized, whatever that means to you, but in our world, where civilization is an imposition, sometimes called colonization, and to be civilized is to be obedient, protest can never be that.

The society in which we’ve found ourselves and its institutions are not democratic. (Morten gives a good example to show this. And then he writes: “the utopian and unrealistic notion that the masses are better equipped to do the right thing than people in power. (sometimes called democracy!) It’s a nice thought but fundamentally flawed because most people are not equipped to actually make decisions that are for the betterment of everyone – in the end we are all pretty selfish!” Morten doesn’t believe in the possibility of democracy!!) That we believe society and it’s institutions to be democratic confuses our perception of nascent democratic (self-determining) practices like Critical Mass. Do you know what democracy looks like?

The problem with these movements is that they – almost by default – have an anarchistic (or as they would like to call it “decentralized” or “grassroots” organizational structure). For this reason there is no cohesive goal nor strategy and this leads to a messy approach with lots of noise and little impact. As the Secretary of Education in Norway told me some years ago: “Two well spoken people with a plan showing up at my office have far more impact than 10,000 angry students marching in the streets.”

The problem with this reality is that it goes against what the people involved in these organizations believe in. The very foundation of these movements is the decentralized and grassroots approach and without it few would join. As a result those who do join has a built in aversion toward any type of leadership based in the utopian and unrealistic notion that the masses are better equipped to do the right thing than people in power. It’s a nice thought but fundamentally flawed because most people are not equipped to actually make decisions that are for the betterment of everyone – in the end we are all pretty selfish!

Boiled down to the bones Critical Mass is actually a massive manifestation of collective selfishness: The thought that just because you feel your mode of transportation is better than another does not give you the right to shove it down the throats of everyone else. And it definitely does not give you the right to prevent other people from living their lives, even if it is just for a couple of hours. In reality what Critical Mass and movements like it are doing is no different from what they claim those they demonstrate against are doing, and it doesn’t work.

Imagine if all these people had come together to mount a proper campaign to make Granville and Robson streets pedestrians only – if they had come together to form a cohesive group with proper leadership, an agreed upon strategy, a marketing campaign and lobbyists. That would actually make an impact and would quite possibly lead to actual tangible results. But this type of strategy goes against the very nature of these movements because deep down it’s mostly about the protest and not really about the cause.

If it was safe, I would bike to work every day. But it’s not so I don’t. I take the SkyTrain. Even so I refuse to support Critical Mass simply because what they do is counter productive. If you want a better world for cyclists you need to use the established channels to get it, not try to force it with stupid stunts. Right now you reap nothing but contempt.

I can only hope that people read your article and realize that there are better ways of changing the world. Raul, you deserve a standing ovation!

1.) I did not say an emergency vehicle had been blocked during this ride. I posted a link to someone else – not me – who told their story about being blocked during their own medical emergency.

2.) Of course I would call 911 if there was an emergency. I never suggested I wouldn’t. I don’t know the circumstances behind why that person did not call 911. I don’t even know if they didn’t call ahead. Maybe they did. Who knows. They really should have, but I don’t know them personally and don’t know their whole story.

3.) This is not a discussion about how well emergency vehicles can or cannot navigate crowds at various events – at least not for me. I related my own personal experience of having witnessed with my own eyes the delay that a crowd can cause. It doesn’t really matter what type of crowd it is (pedestrians, motorists or cyclists) they all have the potential to cause these types of delays and they all do cause these types of delays. Critical Mass is no exception.

bobbie you obviously have a very strong opinion about Critical Mass and I respect that. Lots of people (many of my friends included and even me twice) have ridden in it. I disagree that it is a useful approach on a monthly basis to ride in this way as well as being really concerned about the few riders who chose to be overly antagonistic to both pedestrians and motorists and so I stopped participating. I do not believe it moves the “better conditions for cyclists” and “getting more people cycling” agendas forward. My personal experience with Critical Mass was that there is a small but very vocal and determined group of cyclists who antagonize and attack anyone who disagrees with their almost anarchistic approach Critical Mass approach here in Vancouver which gives the concept of critical Mass a black eye. Not all communities where Critical Mass occurs have the same problem. In Budapest they only hold the Critical Mass ride twice a year rather than monthly and they have had up to 80,000 people participate (although I think the average participation is around 30,000). They have a far greater impact because of this far higher rate of participation and there is a lot of speculation that the participation is so high simply because it is not a monthly event. They also have a predetermined route because their ride is so large and that allows people in the area to take the ride into account when planning their activities on ride days. I personally don’t think Critical Mass should be disbanded entirely in Vancouver, but rather it needs to be modified. It is effectively a victim of its own success. It now creates more antagonism toward cyclists than good will which sort of defeats the purpose and probably endangers cyclists more. My opinion is that there is a better way to promote cycling and a more car-free environment – it involves working together toward realistic goals to make our communities more bike and pedestrian friendly, educating all those involved (pedestrians, cyclists & motorists) and holding all of them all accountable when they cause problems by breaking traffic laws. Critical Mass does not bring all aspects of our communities together to create a good alternative – it seems to antagonize and alienate us from one another effectively disrupting and slowing down the solutions that we could potentially come to together.

Look at it this way. What would the person driving the other person to the hospital have done if the stung person started going into convulsions or started having severe difficulty breathing? Drove faster?
If this person was stuck on the other side of the fireworks or the pride parade then what?
This person would have done much better if the went to a ‘medical clinic’ as there is no gaurantee that St. Pauls would have been able to admit this person. They can only admit what they have room for. Only an ambulance would have had this info right from the start.
That’s why for some ambulance calls, some go to VGH and some even end up going out to UBC. Lucky the person driving the bee sting victim didn’t drive them to Mount St. Joesephs. That emerg closes at 19:00 every night.

And finally, you mentioned that there are police stationed at Nelson and Denman to help emergency vehicles through. Well, I just happened to be at Nelson and Denman filming cars forcing their way through the massive crowds when their green lights came on because they thoguht the crowd would stop for the red light on Denman. Not a single cop to be seen. And yes, I will be posting the videos shortly. One of the videos even features a fire truck start it lights flashing at Nelson and Guilford, but it was stuck because the cars infront of it had no where to go. The cars had doubled up on nelson. The fire truck eventually made it through, but then the jerks in the cars followed it through the intersection (completely illegal). Not a single cop to be seen for blocks.

If you want to observe the typical motorist’s sense of entitlement, come down to the fireworks tonight. I dare you.
As soon as the fireworks are over you’ll see the most shocking display of childness ever seen.
People who drove down to the fireworks and who have parked on the west side of Denman will actually try to force and bully their way through the crowd of 400,000 .
Can they turn their engines off and stay parked for an extra 20 to 30 minutes while the crowds dissapate?
Hell no, horns ar blaring, profanitites are hurled and they force their way through the crowds emboldened not only by their sense of right but with the sense of might that 2,000 lbs of metal conferes.

And talking about emergency vehicles. Yesterday firehall no. 7 had to send a couple of vehicles across Robson. Critical mass stopped and the emergency vehicles flowed. After CM I rode to the fire hall on Thurlow and asked the batallion chief if they have ever been stopped or delayed by a CM ride, he said “no” and he said when it came down to it, car traffic is far worse to get through as the car traffic can’t simply part the same way a crowd of cyclists or pedestrians can.

I had my Handycam rolling for much of the ridre and I’ll be posting the videos ASAP. It was really a festive event and very enjoyable.

Ta-ta for now