Where did San Francisco’s environmental movement go? This seems a rather naive question since concern for the climate is everywhere in the city’s political language. But that saturation conceals a troubling shift. Environmentalism in San Francisco has not been defeated in public debate. Rather, despite the indisputable reality
Now that we are removed from the despotism of the last century, there is a tendency to deny the signs that signal the beginning of fascistic policy. The notion that the technocrats who influence and run our city are essentially benign is the result of careful branding, one that allows
When Salesforce’s chief executive Marc Benioff publicly called for the National Guard to be deployed in San Francisco, many residents expressed disbelief that a billionaire who claims the city as home would invite military force against it. Yet such incredulity only reveals our distance from reality. Their instinct toward
For more than half a century, San Francisco has been mythologized: For Democrats, a shining city on 48 hills; for Republicans, a parable of decay. This aesthetic quarrel in interpretation over the pre-supposed notion of San Francisco’s true nature functions however to mask almost perfectly what should ashamedly be
San Franciscans are being told they’re stepping into a classroom. What they’re actually entering is a political pipeline. The ConnectedSF Institute promises “balanced viewpoints” and “non-partisan education,” but delivers direction. Flagship sessions such as “Helping Shape SF’s Next Police Chief” and “The Family Zoning Plan” are presented
There is something deeply telling about the choice to call it a “blueprint.” A blueprint is a map drawn up in private, a set of instructions for others to follow. It doesn’t act, it orchestrates. That’s the clearest sign yet that Blueprint for a Better San Francisco is