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The Rural Voice, 2001-05, Page 10HRYSLER • DODGE • JEEP • CHRYSLER • DOD E • JEEP • HRYSLER • DODGE • JEEP • CHRYSLER • DODGE • JEEP • CHRYSLER • D• • CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP 1997 CHEV PICKUP . 3/4Ton diesel 4x4. red. 5 -speed trans.. running boards, box liner. sliding rear window. excellent shape, 104.000 kms. '22,995.00 2000 CHRYSLER CIRRUS LX Maroon matching interior, P.W., P.L., 4 cyl., cruise, tilt, 33,300 kms., like new condition. $17,495.00 "We only sell the best for less and wholesale the rest" CHRYSLER DODGE JEEP DODGE TRUCKS If you don't see what you want, ask us, we'll find it for you. Sunset Strip, Owen Sound Ontario, N4K 5W9 (519) 371 -JEEP (5337) 1-800-263-9579 Fax: (519) 371-5559 • 6 THE RURAL VOICE Keith Roulston So what's Whether it's government workers striking against penny-pinching finance ministers or farmers in tractor parades, somebody sooner or later is sure to say the words: "All we want is a decent living!" Of course what we define as a living is a slippery thing to nail down. I was thinking about that one recent morning as I finished the chores in my tiny barn. Spring was finally showing some sign of arriving. The sun was warm. The birds were singing. I thought about some relatives who had recently bought a huge house on a small lot in the city. The price and size of this house is the talk of the family but as I enjoyed the serenity of my backyard I knew that, from my standpoint, I wouldn't trade properties even up. How you define "a living" depends on what you want out of life. Too often we seem to set our personal goals in terms of attaining a good life seen on TV. Hollywood has always dangled a vision of life that was just beyond the grasp of the current generation of TV viewers. The two versions of the movie Miracle on 34th Street are a prime example. In the 1947 version the house the little girl dreams of was nice for that era, but almost tiny by today's standards. The house she dreams of in the 1990s version would be suitable for minor royalty. Today's shows always have larger houses and more gadgets than we have in real life — and we all think we'd be happy if only we had them. Farmers have been as guilty of this as the rest of society and it may be the reason a lot of people aren't farming today who set out to be farmers. In the long run, those images of the good life as seen on TV were too seductive and couldn't be met from the resources of the farm they were running. People tried to live 'a living'? "too well" or decided they had to work off the farm for the extras or finally decided it wasn't worth farming if they had to sacrifice their dreams of material possessions. But is there ever a limit to what we need for a good life? Those farmers who remain today, even many struggling with current disastrous prices, live a life of luxury compared to farmers of 50 years ago. Back then hardly any of my neigh- bours has a pick-up truck old or new. A new car in our family was any- thing Tess than 10 years old and we weren't that far behind most of our neighbours. People had to comp- romise by sharing major equipment. In our house we had one radio, no record player and television was the height of luxury. Compare that to today. But what's the result of our affluence? Despite our many time saving appliances, we have no time to spend with each other. On Canada AM recently, a family counsellor was urging people to make at least 10 minutes a day available for preparing, eating and cleaning up a meal as a family. People claim they have no time to cook. We spend more money buying quickly -prepared food that may have good nutrition but has none of the taste of the food cooked by our grandparents who had no choice but to make meals from scratch because they couldn't afford anything else. There has always been a debate whether farming is a business or a way of life. Obviously it must be a business if you want to remain farming, but for most people it's a business that makes a way of life possible. Too often we can get caught up in the business side and forget the way of life. Sometimes we can lose the way of life by worrying too much about money. If we want a decent living we must decide what a decent living is. For me, living in the country and sacrificing a few gadgets is more important than living like the wealthiest city dweller. What's a good living for you?0 Quality of life suffers from inflation Keith Roulston is editor and publisher of The Rural Voice. He lives near Blyth, ON.