Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Affordable Housing


Trudeau says home prices must remain high. It's not the right advice. In my point of view, before he became the Prime Minister of Canada, the price of a house was somewhat affordable. Anyone could buy a 4-bedroom detached house in the GTA for under $600k. Now, the price of a similar house is over $1.5 million. In ten years, it increased by around a million dollars. This is unaffordable. If he wants to make housing affordable again, the price of a similar house should be at least under $800k. Instead, he wants to keep home prices in an unaffordable range.

Why has this happened?

    Uncontrolled immigration (legal immigrants and international students)
    Keeping the record low interest rate for too long
    Home buyers' greed
    Not building enough rental units (including affordable ones)
    New technologies like Airbnb

Now, the young generation can't start their lives as their predecessors did. Their income is not enough to buy a house at the current high prices. Low-income workers will never be able to buy any house at these prices unless their income increases to over $140k.

Saturday, May 11, 2024

A Global Citizen's Concerns About the Polarized Current World


One thing I don't understand is why not only extremist Jewish people but also ordinary Jewish people, from billionaires to US congressmen, journalists, and ordinary citizens, don't see the loss of innocent Palestinian lives in the current Israel-Gaza conflict. I am not talking about progressive Jewish people of the world. I admire them. Many Jewish scientists, philosophers, writers, and artists have provided and continue to provide valuable contributions to the world. We are all grateful to them.

Whenever I watch a video on the net or read a news article, I notice they only talk about Hamas' killings of innocent Jewish people on October 7th, 2023. They always justify the killings of over 34,000 Palestinian people and the destruction of Gaza. They don't even acknowledge the suffering of millions of Palestinian people. Why?

What Hamas did was wrong. What the state of Israel and its settlers did to the Palestinian people for many years, including the ones in the current conflict, is wrong.

Jewish people and Palestinian people should coexist peacefully. That is the only solution which benefits both. The international community wants that. All peace-loving people of this tiny planet want that. Both of your groups are small parts of this world. Your antagonistic actions shouldn't disturb the harmony of the world.

Thursday, May 2, 2024

A Global Citizen's Concerns About the Current Israel-Palestine Conflict!


If you look at history, the struggles of oppressed people often prevail in the end, though at times it may seem otherwise. Sometimes, armed struggles are successfully suppressed, but in those circumstances, these suppressed armed struggles pave the way for achieving a political solution later on. Often, oppressors fail to understand the struggles of the oppressed and label freedom fighters as terrorists, while they themselves may commit state terrorism that entails much higher human rights violations than those committed by the so-called 'terrorists' engaged in armed struggles.

Sunday, April 28, 2024

An Everlasting Memorable Song: 'Oruththi Oruvanai Ninaiththu Vittaal


One of poet Kannadasan's best songs is featured in the Indian Tamil movie Saradha (1962). The actors S.S. Rajendran (known as S.S.R) and Vijaya Kumari became husband and wife in real life. The entire song consists of a question-and-answer exchange between lovers.

In the beginning of the song, she asks, 'If a woman thinks about a man, what is the name of that relationship?' He replies, 'Love.' Then she asks, 'If that man marries that woman, then what is the name of that right?' He replies, 'Family.' Then she asks, 'If the man who thinks about her forgets her, then what is the end of that situation?' He replies, 'Sadness.' Then she asks, 'If they, who are split, become united again, then what is the state of that womanhood?' He replies, 'Silence.' The song continues like this, making it very interesting, joyful, and memorable.

Thursday, April 25, 2024

Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea!


One of my favorite novels is Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. The protagonist, Santiago, is a memorable character. His yearning for a big catch and his imaginative conversations with the fish he captures demonstrate Hemingway's creativity. Like Robinson Crusoe and Moby Dick, The Old Man and the Sea is also a symbolic novel about human existence. In the end, when Santiago returns to shore with his prized catch, all that remains is the fish's skeleton. 

We, as humans, often pursue materialistic aspirations throughout our lives, but in the end, like Santiago, we may find that all we have left is just a skeleton.

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

What a wonderful sight for self-realization


Yesterday's solar eclipse reminds us that our existence is hanging in space. A fast-moving star (the Sun), Earth, and the Moon all come into alignment in such a way as to cause an eclipse. This shows that science is the right approach to understanding our existence in the universe. 

What a wonderful sight to realize how tiny we are in this vast space-time. 

If all the warring parties in the world could truly self-analyze, then the world would be a beautiful, peaceful place to live.


 

V. N. Giritharan's Song: "You Made Me Feel Love!"

V. N. Giritharan's Song: " You Made Me Feel Love! " - English translation of the Tamil song written by V.N.Giritharan.  Music ...