HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1980-06-04, Page 6A SIGNAL
POSUCATION
.r •
Letter to the editor
tle governmeots can print money,
they". cottnotimoko .'01.
• CNA MEiNDkR
,Jerusalem still the key`
"The Sepoy Town"
On the Huron-Brace Deana*
Meeting Place Farm, North Pole. We have the pcior fortune to
R, 'R. # I, Lucknow, be in the middle of any ballistic missile
May 25, 1980. battle ground, The "arras race" has been
Business and Editorial Office Telephorie 528,2822
for over thirty years. What has it
Mailing ,Address P.0, pox 400, Lueknow,,N0G2H0 - To the Editor, accomplished. The war to end all wars" ,
'5:=01Tcl c'14-Tri'a-il retistratieirnom. el -084.7----.4---*,—........-----...-„,,,,.., /inaugurated . a century which becomes
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Now that the election is over and faded increasing-EY lik-eb-FIT:See our annihilation,
SHARON L DIETZ - Editoi
ANTHONY N. JOHNSTONE
EstabliShed 1873
Published' Wednesday
from most memories, I'd like 'to congrat-
ulate you and Our other weekly news-
papers for the excellent coverage of the
local . campaign.. As a participant, I was
impressed with the quantity and quality
of reporting on all three Canadiates and
local eventsduring the election. While we,
often take thern"for granted, the election
reporting illustrates how our local papers
provide less sensational, more detailed
information of local interest than we can
expect from larger urban papers. I feel
,- We are fortunate' to. have this service.
I would alsolike to share with you-some
of hi)/ pereeptions as a result of the
election campaign. Daring the campaign
the economy, inflation. and government
spending were issues. I believe these are
problems which we must face as a nation
and which will plague the whole world in
the 1980s, The problem is that while
governments can print money, they can°
not make oil. Government deficits are a
symptom' of other deficits which we are
incurring. Moeey after all is simply a
medium -of exchange. It is food, Oil,
copper, labour, timber and other real
materials and services that have value.
While my illustration will be in the area of
energy; it can apply to any non-renewable,'
resource and the over. consumption of
renewable ones (such as food, fisheries,
and forestry),' „
Oil; coal, gas, and Cranium are a fixed
savings account that does not earn
interest. When we' withdraw from this
account, we must invest this value wisely.
The More we use the less we have. Our
"economies" have recently felt the
impact of this classic example of "supply
and demand".' Today our society, is
heavily dependent on this energy savings
account. Someday it will be empty. If that
day finds us bankrupt, it will be our own
failure. As we see this account being
drained, now is the time to develop '
alternatives winch- will-allow' us` to On-
our "energy income". On the global
scale this is the vast account which the
-surr-repl enis hes -ea eh-ye ar..-Loettlly-it7ean
involve sun, wind, water, wood,' crops,
wastes and conservation.
To live on our "energy income" will
involve some changes in our assumptions
about economic "goals". In a world of
limited resources and fixed energy
income, ever increasing consumption
(growth) is daegerous riot beneficial. A
"dynamic equilibrium" and recycling of
resources will need to replace growth and
Wars do not end wars,' They • kill .and
maim people, destroy buildings and
property and in the process 'create .a
fertile soil for hate and future wars; If we '
want 'peace and, security, we will have ,to
try a different path than the 'well worn
one of ever increasing military spending,
An interesting statistic I saw recently
indicated, that it would take $18 billion a
year to provide eVeryone who lacks them
with clean water and sufficient food,
consumption as our goals. This also
raises a sticky social question because as
gove-nment's, individuals and nations
learn to "live within their means" there
will not' automatically be more material
goods for everyone. The question of who
gets what? - how should our limited
resources get distributed? become more
pressing._ If as individuals_ as., provinces
and.as nations we try to get and hold the
most for ourselves we may well end up
with nothing. Equity, justice, in short a
fair distribution of resources must be our
long term goals. Greed and selfishness
are dangerous principles by' which to
guide our lives and countries.
This brings me to a second question.
How do we defend the' institutions,. the
ality of life and ihe land by which we,,_
are Canadians? During the election I put
forward the concept of Non-Violent
Civilian National Defence, as an alterna-
tive to, increased military spending for
defence against invasion by another
nation. While such an approach cannot
guarantee that our homes and loved ones
will never bear the brunt of an attack, I
think we must consider it in the light of
the alternative-increasing dependence on
weapons of destruction and' playing the
military "defence" game.
We currently have two super powers on
this glebe rapidly depleting their own
resource savings accounts and preparing
• to buy and/or steal other countries
resources. -One is our neighbor to the
south, the other, our neighbor across the,
fiesident Anwar Sadat of Egypt haS,
......7(Wer the past couple of years, proven his
,r • willingness to attempt a softening of
selaticins between East and West. First
'leader of the Moslem aeuntries to diseitss
any easing of tensions between ISrael and
her "neighbeurs, Sadat has visited Israel
and Israeli leaders have gone to Egypt.
During the past week, however, the
Egyptian president has cooled noticeably
toward Egypt's former enemies, the
Israelis. Reason for the apparent change
of heart is Israel's insistence that
JeruSalem is their capital city. Canad
'tans. particularly former Prime Minister
Joe. Clark, should be quite familiar with
the extreme touchiness of the Jerusalem
'questio'n.
Steeped, as most Christians ,ate, in
Biblical history, we tend to believe that
the Jewish people of Israel have every
right to reclaim their ancient•eity. All
Jewish history revolves around Zion, as'
Jerusalem was often referred to. That city
contained their temple, the focal point of
their faith and the symbol of their
freedom over the centuries in which
Hebrews and Jews were outcasts from
their own land:
The international Jewish organization
which dedic-Iffed-itself to a--rettfrir-te
Palestine was named for the 'city which
centred on Mount Zion. Without full
possession the Israelis will never feel that
they have really achieved the goals. of
Zionism.
What most people in the Western
world fail to realize is that Moslems also
regard Jerusalem as one of their most
holy cities. They see the Jews' claims to
that city as being so far outdated by
history that they are no longer valid. The
Jews were expelled from Jerusalem 1910
years ago when, in the year 70 A.D. the
Roman Emperor Titus razed: the Temple
of Solomon and much of the surrounding
city. About the only, vestige of Jewish
power which remained standing was a
piece of the temple's wall. knowri ever
since as the Wailing Wall.
For untold centuries men and nations
have shed. One another's blood over one
piece of territory or another. In most
cases, however, the land or the city in
contention was of some practical or
strategic value. A city-fortress may have
blocked the advance of an invading force.
In some cases, as with Vienna; a city
stood at some vital point on a trade route,:
But Jerusalem holds a much more far.
teaching signifiaance. It is not important
either strategically or commercially.
Rather it represents to both• Jews and
Moslems a religious ideal...and a war of
ideals is always fought with a: bitterness
and tenacity which the practical aims of
commercialism have never evoked in the
human breast.
Perhaps it is because Westerners, and
North Americans in particular have SO";
few ideals that we fail to understand why
a hot and dusty city, set in an
inhoSpitable eOuntryside, shOuktbeceme
the key to peace or war in the Middle
East. We Canadians became very pertur-
bed about the possible separation of
Quebec from the Canadian federation..
chiefly because we could clearly foresee
the economic disadvantage in which the
whole nation would be, placed. Neither
Quebec .City nor Montreal or their
possible loss would have stirred us
deeplY 7 If Ottawa had been the priZe most
of us would have said, "Let the place go.
We'll set the gOvernment up in Toronto,
or Winnipeg:"
Another fact about Israeli-Moslem
elations'is the location not of Jersnalem
an. the area now occupied by Israel. In
cry ancient times that narrow strip of
land was a vital overland communications
route. As a conseqtience nation after
nation invaded the land of the Ifarews in
order to control this vital trade artery.
With the advent of power-driven ShipS
and swift airplanes the significance of the
Israel route was lOst for a few decades.
Now, however, as the oil shortage
emerges, it is once again the supreme.
importance who Should control those
ancient roads. -
Nor is it beyond reason that if and
when a great battle for control is fought,
the lands of the Isaelis will be the battle-
gound. It is piecisely on this same site
that Biblial".prOpliecy foretells the last
battle of all time.:.the Battle of Armaged-
,lon. Worth thinking about?
The
Hometown class
NHL hockey star. Dave Farrish returnedto
his roots last week to address a minor hockey
banquet in Kincardine Friday night. Raised
on a farm near Lochalsh, he played his minor
hockey in Lucknow, befere playing for the
Sudbury Wolves and being drafted by the
New York Rangers.
Farrish has come a long way from the farm
and his achievement is one every young
hockey player dreams about.
But success hasn't changed Dave. He told
the banquet organizers that he would remain
following the banquet until they kicked him
out. -He signed _autographs, before and after
the banquet and even posed for pictures with
the young hockey players on ' his knee.
Dave's attitude is a bit unlike that of some
big name hockey stars who have spoken at
the banquet other years. They came, ate,
spoke, collected their money and left,
refusing to sign autographs or meet the
youngsters.
Dave hasn't forgotten his childhood days
growing up on the farm and -he reminisced:
with the boys, about hiding under the stairs
to watch the Leafs play on television, after
he had been sent to bed. Dave had some
funny stories to tell about his hockey career
and his wit was a real charmer that won him
many new fans in the-crowded banquet hall,
parents and children alike.
Dave had some food for thought for
tomorrow's hockey stars, Anybody can make
it to the NHL, he said. Not everybody does,
but anybody can. You have to be dedicated
And prepared to work hard., Wise words for
young people who areseeking to,attain any
career or goal in life.
Becoming a successful NHL hockey player
hasn't changed the farin boy who played
minor hockey in Lucknow. Dave still has his
hometown class.
shelter and clothing. While millions lack
„these necessities` which most' of us in
Canada take ,for granted; the govern-
ments of our world speed this much
money every' two weeks for 'weapons and
warfare. In a world of limited 'resources.,
it is • a choice between' swerds . or
ploughshares. I would choose plough-
shares. I believe we Would be Wiser to
make a Serious commitment' to a fair
sharing of the worlds resources' Within
Canada and between nations than to
Continue supporting the strategy of
"Muttially Assured Destruction"! .which
is supposed to keep the Russians and the
States from trying to blow each other (and'
everyone else) to bits.'
As you can see vve face Some very
serious problems. Unfertunately they
won't go away if we ignore their' and their
solutions will not.ctome easily. Fortunate-
ly as Canadian's we have tbanyopportun-
ities to-work for solutions. Living under
representative democray, we have not
only opportunities but responsibilities.
through the process of elections,. we shift
a lot of that responsibility onto the‘
shoulders, of Our local MPs and the
elected government. It is important to
know what we are getting when we vote.
During the election I heard people '
saying that "you are throwing your'vote
away if you vote NDP -. I was even asked
why I bothered to run since I "couldn't'
win. Personally, I'm inclined to let the
voters decide who - will ?min tl--vvith Ateir
ballots on election day. No candidate can
be certain Of victory until the.ballots 'are
counted,l-feet-the-candiciatels--,jobls-to--
offer the electorate clear statements on
personal and party positions, so that the
voters can have a good. Understanding of
what their candidates stand for and what
their choices are.
As for throwing your vote away - if .you
voted Liberal to get rid of. Clark it didn't
work - your vote did not help trtideau get
his majority. If you voted Conservative to
keep Triideau out it was even less
successful though a Conservative MP.was
elected. If you voted. NDP to make
Broadbent Prime Minister you weren't
successful either. In fact your personal
vote means very little in terms of who will
become ' Prime Minister. Your vote
however, is extremely important as a
statement by you of the kind of policies
you favour and the people you want as
your 'representatives. Voting is not a
sweepstakes where you "win" by picking
the "winner", In a democracy, voting is
one of our opportunities to indicate the
type of government we would like.
As a candidate I can also say that your
vote was important to me. It helped tell
'me that the time spent away .'from farm
- and family was not lost, I presentedAdeas
and.concerns which I believe are import-
ant and some of you shared those
concerns.
Now that the election is over we all
' have a responsibility to sharefthe load ,
which the. electien results asked tylurray
Cardiff to assume. We.should not
abandon him to Ottawa (it is really not a
very congenial plate for a farmer in the
. spring). If we share, with him out Views
and concerns, we can help him to do 'a
• good job of representing -our siding and
dealing with -the complex questions which
will be debated in the House,
YourS sincerely,
Tony McQuall,
NDP Huron-Bruce,