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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1991-06-05, Page 5Arthur Black Sir Wilfrid laid it on a little thick Sir Wilfrid Laurier uttered that smug prediction, back at the turn of the last century. Sir Wilfrid was a tad premature. Here in the dying embers of the time period in question, one might argue that the twentieth century belonged to America, Russia, Europe, Japan — maybe even Korea, but not to the Great White North. The past 91 years lavished many blessings and rewards upon Canucks, but not, I think, custodianship of the century. Pity. Would have been so tidy, being able to tag a hundred years of turmoil as "The Canadian Century". Historians like to catalogue periods of time that way. Thus we have the Pleistocene epoch, the Edwardian Era and the Iron Age. Journalists are fond of subdividing it even further into decades -- the Roaring Twenties; the Dirty Thirties, the Swinging Sixties, the "Me" Decade of the 80s. I have no idea how the Nineties will go down in the history books, but I have a modest suggestion for the year we're in — 1991. Is war outdated? BY RAYMOND CANON "O wretched sons of men! Why do ye get you weapons and bring slaughter on one another? Cease therefrom, give o'er your toiling, and in mutual peace keep safe your cities. Short is the span of life ..." It isn't too often that I begin a column with a quote but this, I hope, is not just any column. I doubt very much that there are many readers who will be able to place this quote. However, other than its rather archaic language, it is something that easily could have been said in 1991 as a result of the short but vicious and devastating war in the Middle East. This is a translation and it comes not from some modem foreign writer but from "The Suppliants," written in 410 B.C. by that most famous of Greek dramatists, Euripides. My first observation, and Presume yours, might well be that things haven't changed too much in the past 2500 years or so. Even back in pre-biblical times there were influcncial people who deplored the use of war to find a solution to problems. What Euripides said has been repeated many times since and, in one way or another, has been said during the past year. Where, therefore, do we stand in our attitudes toward war? If Euripides shares the same attitude about war as do many people of this century, I think it is safe to say that mankind really hasn't changed loo much over the past 2500 years in his approach to solving national and international problems. My knowledge of history tells me that countries have gone on century after dreary century killing each other in droves in order to solve a problem that diplomacy and the like have failed to resolve. That being the case, the rather naive approach that some people took in thinking that war could be avoided in the Middle East is as unrealistic now as it was before the time of Christ. I have regretfully come to the conclusion that, until we change human How about The Year of the Veggie? These are volatile times for vegetables. Take the potato. Take, in fact, the only province in the Dominion that is known around the world for its potatoes — P.E.I. They don't call it Spud Island for nothing. It's received scant attention in the press, but the fact is, your average Prince Edward islander now faces criminal charges if he or she dares to grow potatoes in his vegetable garden. I am not making this up. The provincial government is trying to stomp out a virus — called PVYN -- which likes to cohabit with potato plants. To that end, the government has created a brand new law enforcement agency called The Prince Edward Island Potato Police. Officers of the PEIPP come armed with court orders, search warrants and bulldozers to plough under bootleg potato patches. Lawbreakers who flout the will of the Legislature and attempt to cultivate home grown french fries face a fine of up to $25,000. I swear I'm not making this up. What makes this story exceptionally loony is the fact that PVYN virus is utterly harmless to humans and potatoes. Officials want to stomp out the virus because it is lethal to tobacco plants. Which of course, kill Canadians by the tens of thousands every year. Would that the tubers of P.E. I. had a nature far more than we have so far, we are going to have to accept the fact that wars are going to take place. In short, somewhere down the line there will be another Hitler, another Saddam Hussein, who will be convinced that his goals can be reached only by the use of military force and that, as long as nobody stands up to him, he can pretty well do what he pleases. This does not mean for one instant that we should thereby assume that war is inevitable and that we can't do anything about it. War may not be inevitable on is planet of fallible humans but there is a great deal that can be done to cut down on the number of wars that actually happen. My first job of any significance was as an instructor with NATO. This military alliance of western European national plus Canada and the United States is, I am convinced, all that has stood between us and a Russian invasion since the late 1940's. Those of you who have been around for a while will remember that the Cold War got really frigid from time to time and, had we not been in a state of preparedness, the Soviet tanks would have come crashing across the border between East and West Germany. Keep in mind that Switzerland has one of the largest armies in Europe and when is the last time they had to fight? It was back in Napoleon's time! Another step is the development of such concepts as the United Nations. What this So much for saving money THE EDITOR, How ironic, Mike Harris and his Tories who claim to want to save Tax dollars, have tied up the Ontario Legislature for a month with points of order and other silly activities. That means tax paid members and their staff silting around unable to get on with the business of Government. How much do the Tories figure this juvenile attention getting waste of lime costs champion like Steven Acquafresca of Colorado. Earlier this year Mister Acquafresca quarterbacked a bill through the Colorado senate that promised to "protect fruits and vegetables from slander". As an apple grower, Acquafresca was incensed over reports that the chemical Alar, sprayed on apple trees, could cause cancer. Apple sales plummeted, even though the Alar data turned out to be inconclusive. Mr. Acquafresca contended that law abiding fruits and vegetables should be protected from such unsubstantiated rumours. Unhappily for Acquafresca, his bill amounted to so much applesauce. It was hooted down by Colorado legislators who complained that it would "prune the Constitution of the right of free speech" and "treat a lima like a human bean". That's the trouble with being a fruit or vegetable — no respect. Although now that I think of it, the PEI spud does have one Good Will Ambassador. This fella even wrote a song about them. One verse goes: It's Bud the Spud, from the big red mud, Rollin' down the highway smilin' The spuds are big, on the back of Bud's ng, They're from Prince Edward Island. That Stompin' Tom — he sure knows his onions. means is that we have to give up a bit of our national sovereignty and avoid conditions that can lead to war. One of our most meaningful contributions to the U.N. has been peace-keeping forces that we have sent off to hot spots; there are very few soldiers in the Canadian army that have not done some duty of this nature during his or her military career. Yet another step is to cut down on economic inequalities. Marx may have been wrong when he said that all wars had economic causes but there is no doubt that he was partially right. The more effort we make collectively to remove these causes, the fewer chances there will be for war to break out. Finally we have to attempt to change human nature a bit. Take a look at wars and you will see in them a number of our less desirable characteristics. A certain amount of what we know as human aggression will always be with us but somehow we have to learn how and when to curb it. I can close with something positive. We may still have wars but we may have learned a substantial amount about avoiding world wars. In the period 1914-45 we had no less than two colossal ones with millions of people needlessly slaughtered in both of them. Although we have come close on a couple of occasions, we have managed to avoid such a calamity since then. That in itself should make the sentiments expressed on Nov. 11 rise above the trite and mundane. the Taxpayers of Ontario. It's no wonder Canadians are cynical about politicians. Gel on with business. There are important issues to be dealt with. OS COLE ARNAL WALTON, ONTARIO. More letters on page 12 THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5,1991. PAGE 5. Letter from the editor Summer delights now lost forever With the great weather on the weekend I fell the urge, Saturday night, to pack up the family and go to the drive in movie...except there aren't any drive-ins left within driving range. Maybe it's just nostalgia for my youth but I miss the drive-in. I find it hard to believe that something that was such an integral part of our lives such a short while ago is now virtually extinct. There's a drive- in in Hanover now but that's about it locally. Once there were drive-ins all over the place: Clinton, Goderich, Grand Bend, Harriston, Kincardine. You were never far from a chance to sit in your car and watch a movie. The drive-in, when I was in high school had a kind of aura about it that made it exciting. There was, of course, a sort of illicit excitement about it, sort of like sneaking into the poolroom when you were younger. There was the reputation of the place. I mean everybody knew what went on there...usually even knew who was with whom when it supposedly went on. I mean, nobody went there to see the movie, right? If there was as much hanky-panky really went on as the rumours in the high school halls said, then it's a wonder the current teenage population isn't larger than it is. For all that kind of reputation, however, most of us went to the drive-in with others of our own sex, at least partly fantasizing that we might meet somebody there of the opposite sex. The drive-in was one of those place you went (like the beach) because you heard about other people who met girls there, or you saw all those teenage movies where people met girls there and you figured that one of these days it had to be your turn. Maybe if you were blond and bronzed and well-muscled and had a hot car it did but if you were tall and skinny and freckled and drove you dad’s old car it didn’t happen -1 speak from experience. It didn't work when I had my own first car either - a car of even more ancient vintage than my fathers. As a matter of fact it was after a night at the drive in that I lost my first car. We were proceeding home down a county highway in the black of night when we met a horse coming in the opposite direction. Neither car or horse survived the meeting. To tell the truth, though, I think I have more fond memories about taking our younger family to the drive-in than I do of my teenage years. There was something nice and private about it all. You didn't have to worry if the kids made too much noise. You could carry on a conversation and nobody was disturbed but each other. You could have a special night out with the kids and yet sort of be at home al the same time. Now, I guess, we get the same kind of experience by slaying al home with a rental movie in the VCR. Sort of. While I love having a wealth of movies available from the rental store, it still isn't quite the same as going out for the evening. Sure seeing a movie in the drive-in wasn't for connoisseur, what with bad sound and usually a screen that left lines or bumps or dots in the middle of the picture, but it was a special occasion. The trouble is, I guess, it wasn't special enough for enough of us often enough. I'm afraid if we're not careful, we may soon face the same problem with indoor movie theatres then we won't have any choice but slaying home with the VCR.