Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-02-24, Page 5NEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1993. PAGE 5. Maharishi? Heal thyself? In the war on crime the bad guys are ahead. A criminologist by the name of Thomas Plate wrote the foregoing observation, 'way back in 1975. Today, nearly two decades later, one would have to conclude that Mister Plate was, unfortunately, bang on the money. Consider some statistics: On any given day, some 30,000 Canadians are behind bars somewhere in this country. Another 85,000 are on probation or parole. There are 2.5 million Canadians walking around with a criminal record. And the numbers are going up, not down. Canada sports the second highest rate of incarceration in the western world — only the Americans throw more citizens in the slammer than we do. So do you feel safer and more secure than you did, say 20 years ago? Of course not. Every day the headlines scream of armed robberies, child molestings, beatings, shootings, killings... Far away in darkest Africa Our attention has been focused on Somalia these past few months, all the more so because Canadian soldiers have made up part off the international peace-keeping force that is keeping warring factions apart as well as seeing that the starving Somalis get an adequate diet. What seems to have gone all but unnoticed is that a considerable cause of the turmoil taking place there, as well as in many of the other black nations in Africa, is to be found in the history of colonialism in that continent. Let me explain. If you want to get a map of African which depicted the situation up to World War II, you will see that just about the entire continent was part of the colonial empire of some European nation. First in line were the British with about half of the whole continent but not far behind were the French, followed by the Belgians, Portuguese and Spaniards. Even the Germans had been in there but they had been turfed out following their defeat at the hands of the other nations in World War I. The problem with the colonial powers was that borders were drawn without any consideration whatsoever for the tribes that lived there; the border between Angola, the Cango and Zambia was just where the British influence left off and the Portuguese or Belgian control began. Any tribal objections to such borders were put down by force and, if you got caught on the wrong side of any of these borders, tough! When the colonies were gradually given their independence in the aftermath of World War II, some but not very much attention was paid to tribal areas. Thus groups of people with little if any kindship to each So what should we do — throw more tax dollars into the black hole? Hey, we already spend nearly $2 billion a year just maintaining our prison and detention facilities across the land. So what's the solution to crime? Would you believe ... good vibrations? You would if you believed in the Maharishi. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi I'm talking about. The giggly, jiggly guru-in-a-bedsheet with the floor-mop hair and the Spanish Moss beard. The guy who became famous back in the 1960's by enticing the Beatles to join his transcendental flock. Time passes and so do fads. The Beatles have split but the Maharishi's still around, still preaching the gospel of Transcendental Meditation. As a matter of fact, the Maharishi thinks TM is the answer to crime'in the streets of North America. The Maharishi is offering to send TM Swat Teams into the urban ghettos to wipe out the corruption. And how would these clean up crews be armed for their confrontations with pimps, junkies, crack dealers and run of the mill thugs? Just with a fistful of good vibrations. "Our teams are to bring the light" explained the Maharishi recently. "The darkness of crime will naturally disappear." The Maharishi is not just idly whistling Ravi Shankar solos here. He's serious. His organization has bought quarter-page ads in other were found in the same country and, since none of them had anything but a modicum of democracy, the minute the colonial powers left, there were questions of likes and dislikes to be settled. In such a primitive society power is everything and so it was that the tribe or a person of that tribe who was able to seize power and hold it in effect ended up running the country to the detriment of everybody else. Let's go back to Somalia which, as I said, is constantly in the news. In the 1880's, the man in charge was Muhammad Siad Barre of the Darod clan or tribe. Guess who got the prize jobs in the government? Even today some of Barre's clan's strongmen are running in parts of the country with one controlling Bardera, the center of the famine area. Another runs the territory south of Mogadishu, the capital. This area includes the port of Kismayu, the second most important port after that of the capital. Meanwhile back in Mogadishu, the Darod are understandably nowhere to be seen. It is controlled, if that is the proper word now, by members of the Hawayi clan who were responsible for the expulsion of Barre and his gang. Even clans can, it seems, break down into smaller units and currently Mogadishu is controlled by two members of the same clan. If I have to give you one name that you can use the next time that you expound on Somalia, it has to be Muhammad Farrah Aideed, whose smiling face is often seen on T.V. It was he who got organized in neighbouring Ethiopia and who then invaded his homeland to drive out Bane. He is probably the most popular man in the country. For popular you should read — he controls more of the country than anybody else. You will note that nothing is ever said about the northern party of the country. That is because neither the Darod or the Hawayi clans are to be -found there. In fact that part, which used to be British Somalia, as opposed to Italian Somalia, where the newspapers of several vice-ridden American cities. The ads invite those cities to pick up the phone and order a team of TM Crime Crusaders. There's no muss, no fuss and no noisy press conferences either. The teams would stay in hotels, out of sight, quietly meditating like mad. The ads promise that crime in any given city can be eliminated in five years, merely by thinking good thoughts. Ah ... there is a slight fee, of course. It's a sliding scale that the Maharishi himself has worked out. A small burg like Buffalo can be Rinso White for a mere $12 million U.S. per year. Whereas a Sodom- and-Gomorrah cesspool like New York, he couldn't do for less than $266 mil. Sounds pricey, but it works out to about a dime a citizen — which is a better return than we're getting from our investment in Mounties and CSIS and Provincial police and local cops and FBI and Interpol not to mention the Justice League of America. But just a record. The Maharishi is from where? India, right? Where paramilitary troopers of the Border Security Force went on a rampage last month, slaughtering 53 civilians in Kashmir? Where Hindus and Moslems have been enthusiastically murdering each other in a religious pogrom? (Last count: 47 dead). Have you hear that old occidental mantra, Mahanshi? Physician, Heal Thyself? Mogadishu is, would like to cut itself off from the rest of Somalia. There is apparently little famine there; certainly the U.N. has not seen fit at all to enter. Older readers may recall the tribal wars which have broken out from time to time elsewhere in Africa. One of the most famous has to be that of -the Ibos in Nigeria who, being the most entreprenurial of the residents of that country as well as being of a different clan from the others, tried to gain their independence and called their state Biafra. Canadians took part in attempting to fly supplies into the makeshift airstrips but the Ibos' efforts came to nought; the Nigerian government was able to suppress by sheer weight of numbers and Biafra is a word which is now used only in history books. A similar story could be told about Ethiopia with one notable exception. It appears that, as a result of the recent overthrow of the leftist government, some of the tribes may be able to break away and form their government. Who knows? Fifty years from now the map of Africa may look quite different from what it is today. HAVE AN OPINION ? The Citizen welcomes letters to the editor. They must be signed and should be accompanied by a telephone number should we need to clarify any information. The Citizen reserves the right to edit or not print letters. The Short of it By Bonnie Gropp Finding greener pastures They say the other person's grass is always greener. The poor envy the rich for their material wealth, while the rich in turn often r envy the poor for their simpler life. The career minded may often reach a point where they wish they had given more time to family, while the stay-at-home mom sometimes finds herself at loose ends and feels unfulfilled. And of course, since long before Aesop wrote his first fable, the country mouse has covetted that which the city mouse has. Not this little mouse. I love small town life. There is a security and gentleness surpassing any of its supposed disadvantages which are con- stantly pointed out to me by the urbanites I'm related to. Having once been country mice themselves, you see, they believe they have found the greener pastures amidst the concrete and asphalt of the city. Hah! One of the favourite arguments they present, when they extend their sympathies to me for 'having' to live in the boonies, is how terrible it must be for me to live so far from the excitement. Aside from murders and mayhem, what excitement do they mean, I ask. They have a list prepared — movies, theatre, dancing, exercise, sports and fine dining. Why, within 20 minutes, they can experience any of these things in the city they say. Me too, I point out, without the traffic. In all honesty, I must admit to times when the slow paced rural life has been a tad...well, boring. But then, as was the case this weekend, I realize that there is always lots of fun things going on. When you work on a community newspaper part of the job is finding out what is happening on the weekend in our area and covering it. Many times there is too much to get it all. From card parties and shuffleboard games to dances and hockey games the adults can, if they choose, have a full social calendar. There is, however, a group with many members who do not share my views of life as a country mouse. The young people of our communities, who need more recreation, have not always enjoyed the same variety as the older generation. For many years I have felt that activities geared to them have been minimal. Thankfully, some organizations sponsor events, but generally if you didn't play hockey, or couldn't drive a car you didn't do anything. With parties and movies the major source of entertainment I strongly felt they needed more. Too bad I never had the gumption to come up with a solution. Fortunately someone may have and as a parent I am grateful for the hard work and commitment that this person has put into her dream. Though she has been given admirable support from many others, in taking up the challenge of founding a youth drop-in centre Sallianne Patch has answered a need. If its first day of operation is any indication, The Ark will not only be a recreational and social outlet for our kids, but will be an eye opening addition to the community. Having lived through the experience of raising a teen once, and almost twice, I know how much they have blessed my life. I look forward to the experience twice more. Too many times, the negative behaviour of young people catches our attention. Exposing ourselves to the many good ones enlightens us. No, maybe kids don't always share my view about life in the country, but let's hope we've given them something now so when they seek greener pastures they will look back fondly at the other side of the fence from time to time. Arthur Black International Scene By Raymond Canon