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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2014-07-16, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, July 16, 2014 www.clintonnewsrecord.com Clinton News Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. Box 39 Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519) 482-3443 www.clintonnewsrecord.com SUN MEDIA A Quebecor Media Company NEIL CLIFFORD Publisher neil.clifford@sunmedia.ca MAX BICKFORD Advertising Manager max.bickford@sunmedia.ca DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative cl inton.ads@sunmed ia.ca CHRISTY MAIR Front Office dinton.classifieds@sunmedia.ca TARA OSTNER Reporter clinton reporter@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2YEAR $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) SENIORS 60 WEEKS $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 120 WEEKS $95.00 (90.48+4.52 GST) Advertising is accepted on the condition that in the event of a typographical error, the advertising space occupied by the erroneous item together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. 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Canada /ocna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association column Fire as a symbol of change Tara Ostner The Clinton News Record As I think about the fire that devastated the Queen's hotel in our neighboring town of Seaforth I think about the great loss that both the owner of the hotel and community members must be feeling. It was a historic building and we are affected when pieces of history are taken away from us never to be regained. Upon thinking about the fire, I also thought about how quickly one thing can at one minute exist and then, at the flash of a moment, not exist. My thoughts then turned to the ancient philosopher, Her- aclitus, who actually philoso- phized, quite systematically, about fire in particular. Heraclitus was a Greek phi- losopher who lived around 500 BCE. During his time, phi- losophers believed that one type of material turned into all other things, that is, they thought that all of the different things in the world are a prod- uct of one kind of material, or substance. The philosopher, Thales, for example, believed that everything came from water and the philosopher, Anaximenes, believed that everything came from air. Heraclitus followed this way of thinking and discussed the idea of everything in the world coming from fire. For exam- ple, he described the world as "everliving fire" and made comments like the "thunder- bolt steers all things." At first this, of course, seems like an odd belief to hold. It is strange to base the universe, something so con- stant, on fire, something so inherently inconstant. What could Heraclitus have meant, then, when he talked about fire as being the underpinning of reality? As is usually the case with philosophy, oftentimes there is debate regarding what philosophers really mean especially when it comes to philosophers who lived in antiquity and wrote in differ- ent languages. However, the dominate interpretation of Heraclitus's philosophy is that, really, he did not mean that fire was the origin of all things. After all, he himself would have likely seen the paradox of this statement. Instead, fire was, for Heracli- tus, ultimately a symbol of the power of change and by studying his philosophy closely one can see that he was actually advancing a very sophisticated view of the world. Central to Heraclitus's phi- losophy is the idea that things are constantly changing (for instance, there is universal flux in the world). Indeed, this is where the common expres- sion, "the only thing constant is change," comes from. More- over, he believed that some- thing always turns into some- thing else and this turning into was the important part, not the specific thing in itself. One thing is really no more special than another and he was actually opposed to the idea that the universe could be identified with one sub- stance in particular. Instead, Heraclitus believed that the universe should be identified as an ongoing pro- cess dictated, ultimately, by a law of change. Things that were at one point one thing are always changing and becoming a different thing and this ongo- ing cycle is always occurring in the universe and at every level. Therefore, according to Heracli- tus, change, broadly speaking, provides the underpinning of reality, not specifically fire. However, Heraclitus philoso- phized about fire so much because it illustrated change so perfectly. There is a constant law of transformation inherent in our world and fire was sim- ply the best way to exemplify this law. I also find it interesting that Heraclitus's ideas about the physical world were car- ried over to his ideas about ethics. For instance, he con- templated the idea that this physical law of change can apply to moral law as well and he was the first Western philosopher to make this large leap. To me, this leads to fascinating questions. Am I as a person constantly turning into something else? Am I the same person today as I was yesterday? Are humans, like fire and other elements, constantly gov- erned by a law of change? What Heraclitus says about change and his claim that reality is built upon an ongoing process are pro- found and every time that I read ancient philosophy, no matter how many times I've read it before, I am amazed by the precise relevancy and timeless nature of these views. More than two thou- sand years ago ingenious minds were able to articulate the very same truths that sci- ence, for instance, physics, is ultimately built upon today. Change is indeed the only constant in life - we never truly know what we are going to wake up to - and it is remarkable that Heraclitus not just recognized this but articulated it in such an advanced and systematic philosophy. Certainly the community of Seaforth didn't know that they would wake up to the destruc- tion of the Queen's hotel last Monday morning. And the fire that ignited that fateful morning is indeed a symbol of the power of change and that change is a certainty - per- haps the only certainty - that we can know exists. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The News Record welcomes letters to the editor. All letters must be signed and include a daytime phone number for verification purposes. Letters can be sent care of the Internet at clinton.news@sunmedia.ca, sent via fax at 519-482-7341 or through Canada Post care of The Editor, P.O. Box 39, Clinton, ON NOL 1LO. editorial One promise that shouldn't be kept QMI Agency Premier Kathleen Wynne will be fulfill- ing her first election promise on Monday when her newly - elected government re -introduces the budget it originally unveiled on May 1. But this is one promise that should be broken. Stuffed with spend- ing goodies, ostensibly to appeal to the Liber- als' progressive wing and to the New Demo- crats, who had since 2011 provided political support for the Liber- als when they were in a minority position, the budget also con- tains a $12.5 -billion deficit. This is the same budget that sparked the June 12 vote, and during her election campaign Wynne steadfastly assured the province she would stand by the budget and, if given the chance, re -introduce it. She has been given that chance, and with a majority now hers, the budget - complete with that monstrous deficit (which follows a $10.3 -billion deficit that was posted in the preceding fiscal year) - our provincial debt will only become deeper. Although Wynne found few political consequences at the polls because of the May 1 budget, the budget and its deficit will have long-term consequences. Credit agencies that rate governments like Ontario's have come down hard. Earlier this month, Moody's credit agency reaffirmed the province's Aa2 rating, but cited concern the government will be unable to eliminate its deficit by 2017-18 as scheduled. Indeed, Moody's Investors Service low- ered the province's outlook to negative, even though the budget had not yet been re -introduced. Reduced credit favour means Ontario's bor- rowing charges could be raised. "Failure to redress the fiscal challenges would add further pressures to a debt burden that has wors- ened in recent years," a Moody's vice-presi- dent said July 2. At issue is the pro- vincial debt, which is well over $250 billion. But a greater issue is the government's abil- ity to begin to retire that debt. As the folks at Moody's and other credit agencies have so carefully noted, the debt can hardly be tackled until the budget is balanced. And Ontario hasn't had a balanced budget in years. And it won't happen this year, either. On Monday, Wynne and her finance minis- ter, Charles Sousa, will have the political sup- port they so carefully sought on June 12 to re -introduce their original budget. But they and Ontar- io's citizens, including those who voted for the Liberals, can't escape the long-term consequences of a government that rou- tinely spends more than it takes in and refuses to live within its means. 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