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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News Record, 2014-07-23, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, July 23, 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 TARA OSTNER Reporter clinton.reporter@sunmedia.ca DAWN JOHNSTON Sales Representative clinton.ads@sunmedia.ca CHRISTY MAIR Front Office clinton.classifieds@sunmedia.ca SUBSCRIPTION RATES 1 YEAR $50.00 (47.62+2.38 GST) 2 YEAR $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 Rem together with a reasonable allowance for signature, will not be charged but that balance of advertisement will be paid for at the applicable rate. In the event of a typographic error advertising goods or services at a wrong price, goods or services may not be sold. Ad- vertising is merely an offer to sell, and may be withdrawn at any time. The Clinton News -Record is not responsible for the loss or damage of unsolicited manuscripts, photos or other materials used for reproducing purposes. Publications Mail Agreement No.40064683 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESSES: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 53 Albert St., Clinton ON NOM 1L0 (519)482-3443 We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) for our publishing activities. Canada Alocna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association editorial Making sure the final years are golden QMI Agency Most of us want to live longer, but not enough of us are thinking about what kind of life we would be living if we reached our 80's or our 90's. Science and medical advancements, plus better nutrition and other factors, are allowing Canadians to live much longer than their grandparents. But most of us haven't quite nailed down the question of quality of life. It's one thing to live to the age of 90; it's quite another to live that life with- out the aches and pains and other ailments that usually dog the elderly. And, in recent years, another wrinkle has been added. Science and medicine may per- mit Canadians to age gracefully, but will these same Canadians have the financial means to live a life of comfortable dignity? To be sure, we are enjoying a greater life expectancy. A report from Statistics Canada on Thursday says the average Canadian, born today, can expect to live 81.7 years. That's substantially older than the 57 years a person born in 1921 was expected to enjoy. The reasons are varied, but the biggest factor appears to be the introduction many decades ago of penicillin and insulin, along with the pro- motion of childhood immunizations. More Canadians today survive their childhood. Gen- erations ago, it wasn't unusual for parents to have lost at least one child to illness. Other factors for longevity include a reduc- tion in the number of Canadians who smoke tobacco. Canadians also have better attitudes about healthy eating and exercise. Automobiles are safer. In fact, they have never been as safe... for both the driver and passen- gers, and - some would argue - for pedestrians. Workplace deaths have become fewer. There are still dangerous occupations, such as logging and agriculture, but the number of people engaged in those activities represents a much smaller percentage of the population. The threat of disease has also been narrowed. The challenge remains, however, for reaching an older age of quality and that benchmark has yet to be established. Science has helped. But a necessary ingredient is financial security -- and this might become the most difficult to provide. Governments are struggling with the ques- tion of pensions. Premier Kathleen Wynne has even suggested that an Ontario Pension Plan is needed. Our federal government says we shouldn't be worried, at least with the Canada Pension Plan. Yet there are scores of pensions, many of them private, that are underfunded, and this continues to be a worry in making sure those golden years are truly golden. column The ups and downs of democracy Tara Ostner The Clinton News Record Tomorrow night there is a candidate information session being held in Clinton. The night is geared towards those who are interested in becoming candidates in the upcoming 2014 municipal election and anyone who is interested in local govern- ment in general. These kinds of political information sessions are a prime example of democracy in action and are an essen- tial part of what it means to be democratic. The upcoming information session reminds me of the time when someone asked me whether I wanted to run as a can- didate for a local political parry in my home- town. After giving the idea some thought, I declined mainly for two main reasons, rea- sonswhich I still stand by today. A part of me is certainly interested in local government. After all, government is an institution that creates and enforces rules and laws for a society to follow. While any institution can create rules and laws, what makes government truly unique is that it doesn't simply create rules but, rather, it has both the power and authority to enforce these rules and can do so by compulsion or coercion. In this sense, therefore, I am completely interested in local government: I am, very naturally, interested in what government can com- pel and coerce me to do. Some people might also say that becom- ing involved in local government is every person's right and people should exercise this right because it gives them a voice to be heard. However, it is because I don't fully agree with these types of statements, and because of my reservations about democracy in general, that, when asked about running as a candidate, I declined. Of course, compared to the alternatives, democracy or, rule by the many, far out- weighs the alternatives. Tyrannies or, rule by the one, namely, dictators, have obvi- ous and disastrous effects. And aristocra- cies and oligarchies or, rule by the few, namely, the upper class and rich, can be equally terrible. Having said this, there are serious inconsistencies and contradictions within democratic theory that, ultimately, I have a difficult time accepting. Sure, someone's voice may be heard in a democracy but that's all that it may be: heard. At the end of the day, though, it may not be actually listened to and this is because democracy is ultimately driven by the majority, nothing else; indeed, major- ity rules is what defines this type of govern- ment. But what about the minority? If, in an election, the majority wins 51% of the vote, does this mean that the other 49% are simply out of luck? Does this essentially tell practically half of the population, sorry, your interests don't weigh as much as these other people's? The short answer is yes, and I think that this is one of the most serious problems that democracy faces. Because the majority will, by definition, always win in a democracy, the minority will, therefore, always lose. Furthermore, there are some minority groups in the world that continue to always lose. Take, for example, indigenous people within certain societies. Democratic societies will attempt to treat these sorts of minority groups well, for instance, according to their own conception of the good. However, the problem surfaces of course when the demo- cratic society's conception of the good is not the same as the minority group's conception of the good. Because democratic societies are so widely accepted as the norm today, people can assume that these societies know what is good for everyone. However, this is a mistaken assumption that can lead to very bad outcomes for minority groups, as well as individuals. Even if a majority wins 99% of the vote, the fact that 1% of the population's interests will be ignored still raises an issue forme. Might does not make right and we simply have to look back on history to see the truth of this. Nevertheless, democracy prevails in most civilized countries and it does so for good reason, namely, because there is no better alternative. Democracy allows individuals to come together, exchange ideas and have public information sessions such as the one tomorrow night in Clinton. And this, I think, is perhaps democracy's best quality, namely, it provides people with aforum by which they can discuss and debate. Even though not everyone's voice will be listened to, eve- ryone's voice at least has the potential to be heard and, in afar from perfect world this, I think, is the best that we can hope for at this point in time. Also, this is not to say that indi- viduals cannot continually strive to have their voice listened to. After all, sometimes the quest for something matters more than the results anyway. 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.