Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-05-20, Page 5Arthur Black THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20,1992. PAGE 5. TheShort You've come a long way, tomodachi. Take a look at the Japanese. They have virtually no resources. All they have going for them are 90 million overachievers! Think what the Japanese would give for Canada's resources! President, Dow Chemical Company Yep, pretty impressive, the story of Japan. “One huge processing plant” someone called the country, “scouring the world for raw materials.” It's an amazing story when you think about it. Just a generation ago, Japan was prostrate. Slapped flat by the Allied Forces. Defenceless. Yenless. Forced to accept handouts from the rest of the world. And today? The Economist magazine recently did a study of Japanese real estate. Overall value: seventeen trillion Canadian dollars. In case you're wondering what that looks like its $ 17,000,000,000,000.00 Or, as The Economist explained it: “In theory, Japan can buy the whole of America International Scene Gambling - the ups and downs The news that the Ontario government is thinking about introducing legalized gambling in Ontario as a means of raising revenues fills me with a goodly amount of mixed feelings. I am sure that, by the time I finish writing this article, my feelings are going to be just as mixed but that would not be for the first time so here goes. I should point out that we already have some gambling here and it is undoubtedly going to be around for the forseeable future. I refer, of course, to the many lotteries which attract our attention and which all try to attract our attention by playing repeatedly the old theme that if you don't play, how can you win one of those “oh so fabulous” prizes. Although I admit that I would not object to being obscenely rich, I do not play the lotteries; I have, in fact, written a rather facetious article entitled, “Lotteries - A Tax on Idiots.” My point of view is based on the fact that the odds are nothing less than horrible. You are far more likely to be ahead of the game by investing your money wisely. However, the chance of getting something for nothing is pretty deeply rooted in our society, as in others, so my diatribe has not caused any dramatic drop in the level of gambling in Ontario. When I lived in Europe, there were and still are lotteries of all sorts, not to mention the sport pools. In short, gambling was a big thing there long before it ever caught on in Canada. I would be a hypocrite to claim that I have never indulged. I went with a friend to Monte Carlo one time (we won) while I periodically took lottery tickets (I lost). My most vivid recollection of the whole process was in Spain where lottery sales were made by selling off Metropolitan Tokyo, or all of Canada by hawking the grounds of the Imperial Palace.” How did the Japanese manage to accomplish all that in less than half a century? In a word - sweat. A Japanese school teacher would collapse in disbelief if he saw the soft ride Canadian school kids get. And it doesn't stop with the graduation ceremony. Your typical Japanese working stiff - white collar, blue collar and no collar at all - gives a helluva lot more than you or I would ever dream of putting out. An average Japanese office worker puts in about 2,250 hours at his or her desk every year. That's about six weeks more than the average North American office worker. As a spokesman by the name of Yukio Matsuyama explained: “The Japanese are addicted to tension as a welcome way of life, as a stimulating springboard for individual and collective advancement.” Mind you there is a price tag for all that workaholism. It's called karashi - literally, “death by overworking”. It's the second biggest killer in the country according to a recent Japanese Minister of Health report. There are other signs that all is not rosey in the Land of The Rising Sun. A new business has opened in Tokyo in which actors and actresses visit lonely old people By Raymond Canon by the blind standing on street corners shouting out their advertising. I felt really sorry for them and bought several times (Yes, I lost again). Maybe I should stick to blackjack at Monte Carlo. However, our friends to the south are wrestling with the same problem as the government of Ontario. To gamble or not to gamble, that is the question in any number of states which are facing the same horrible deficits as Mr. Rae and who have already pushed the taxpayers to the brink. Last year these states took in net over $9 billion with about half a billion of that being poured back into the system to find ways not to let the gamblers' attention wander too much. One of the latest methods of separating people from their money is video lottery terminals or slot machines which pay out prizes of rather low amounts ($1,000) but which are extremely accessible. About 12 states either have these in place already or plan to do so in the near future. So lucrative are these potentially that one state, South Dakota, claims it is the second biggest source of revenue; only the state sales tax exceeds it. If there is such a thing as flair in the gambling business, it has to be another concept - riverboat gambling. For openers it helps to have a river which four states have decided they do for riverboat purposes. Other states are looking at their rivers to determine if there is gold in them there waters. I can just see a boat leaving Toronto or Hamilton each day for a sail and give people the chance to play blackjack or roulette with the province taking a big cut. Peter Kormos would make a great croupier. Bob Rae could even play honky-tonk on the piano. Canadian Indians are probably looking at a venture some of their brethren have set up. In 1988 the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act was set up which permits Indians to carry out untaxable casinos on their territory and which can offer any games that are permitted in the state where the territory is located. If the Indians ever get the army base at and ‘pretend’ to be their sons and daughters. The actors feign contrition and shame while the old folks ‘scold’ them for not visiting more often. Price tag for this little fantasy play: $1,000 per therapy session. And there are indications that the next generation of Japanese might not be quite so dedicated. The Japanese who hauled themselves out of the rubble of World War Two have - as parents everywhere - made certain that their children didn't endure the same hardships. That's why, according to a recent study, more than half of Japanese children own televisions, radios and tape recorders. A third of them have their own telephones as well. And they're fat. Japanese kids scorn the traditional rice based diet of their parents. They want junk food. The kind they see on TV. Researchers asked them what their favourite game was. Most frequent answer: watching television. Japanese child psychologists say it's even worse when the kids hit their teens. “They have no interest in anything,” says one expert. “They live from day to day with no goal in life.” Hmmmm. Now where have I heard that before? To paraphrase a cigarette ad, you've come a long way, tomodachi. Ipperwash back, it may not be long until the buildings are humming with roulette wheels. Governments everywhere take the approach that gambling is a bad thing so they have to get into the act to set up strict rules and, like tobacco, restrict it by high taxes. In this way the government appears to be doing something positive and the less said about the high profits, the better. The tobacco farmers certainly do not buy this argument about their product. In addition, the advertising is somewhat less than honest. My students are well aware of my stand on the matter: I point out that they have a greater chance of being hit by a Mack truck when they cross the street than they have in winning a major prize in a lottery. Yet when is the last time you ever saw the odds printed on a lottery ticket or a reminder that gambling could become addictive and thus injurious to your financial health. Yet what do I hear? That lottery winnings go to help such worthy causes as Meals-on-Wheels. In short I am probably not the only person who has very ambivalent feelings about gambling no matter where it is carried out. If there is no point in trying to stamp it out, perhaps we should take a more careful look at the laws which govern it. Letters THE EDITOR, I would like to thank everyone who donated to the Cancer Society during the recent campaign in Blyth. A total of $1,627.50 was collected. Special thanks to all the canvassers who gave so generously of their time. Brenda J. Burkholder Co-ordinator for the Cancer Society Village of Blyth. More letters on page 7 of it By Bonnie Gropp Burn, baby, burn I admit my arrogance and beg forgiveness. I have used this space many times in the past to ask people when they are going to leam. When are they going to realize that they are not invincible, that they are not immortal? Practising safe sex, driving sober, wearing a seat belt and avoiding dangerous situations are all topics that I, and others in a position to mouth off, have touched on. Last week as balmy temperatures finally arrived I was struck by the realization that even someone who professes to be older and wiser doesn't like to give up something they enjoy, even though they know it is hazardous to their health. The danger is real, yet I knowingly lay before it. I willingly put myself out to fry. First, I must offer some defense, weak though it may be. For the past seven months I have been bundled in blankets to keep the chill away. My bones were creaking, my limbs perpetually frozen and my jaw sore from clenching my teeth to keep them from chattering. So when the balmy breezes and the comforting sun beckoned, I threw on my shorts and went outdoors to soak in its soothing rays. In the mid-70's we heard the first rumours about the destruction of the ozone layer and the possible repercussions. A decade later, NASA satellites confirmed the existence of a hole over Antarctica. In February it was discovered that a potential second hole over the Arctic is imminent due to high levels of chlorine monoxide. A recent magazine arcticle said this one could imperil millions of people in Canada, Russia, Europe and northern New England, by exposing them to dangerous levels of ultraviolet rays. The ozone layer, which everyone probably knows, has been a sunscreen for the Earth. Without it, the UV radiation harms plants, animals and humans. Increased amounts can cause cataracts in people and accelerate the risk of skin cancer. Though only malignant melanoma, a rare form, is fatal in about 20 per cent of the cases doctors do advise everyone to use sunscreen protection factors of 15 to 30. Which I did - the first hour I spent in the sun. For the next two I couldn't be bothered reapplying it. Nor did, I see any point the next day when I knew I would probably only be outside for a little more than an hour, this despite the fact that I had just heard the radio disc jockey warn that the sun factor that day was 18, meaning it would take just 18 minutes for skin to bum. Fortunately, my time for basking was cut short by my children, who kept me hopping in and out of the sun, keeping me from taking on a brilliant 'tomatoesque' hue. The colour of beauty has always been tanned in the eyes of many and despite promises that this will eventually be unacceptable, I think it's going to be a tough habit to change. For example, a friend of mine, who has been warned many limes by her doctor that her skin is showing pre- cancerous lesions, insists she looks washed out without a tan. Foolish perhaps, but she's not alone and there are worse scenarios. Last year two teens I spied lying on a tar roof, told me they would get burnt faster this way, so would get a better tan. Here's a scary, but true quote. "I know it's not a good idea to bum, but I have to the first time to get a good start on my tan." These people must be idiots, right? Wrong, they are all very bright people, who wouldn't take a chance on their health in any other way. But, when it comes to worshipping the sun, there seems to be a mental block. We have been led to believe that white is a fright and tan is alright. The irony is that what we consider a healthy glow, is actually prematurely aging our skin. Being in no hurry for that, I have made a deal with myself this year and plan to use at least some of those 10 bottles of sunscreen I bought last year with the best of intentions.