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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-03-17, Page 5nternational Scene y Raymond Canon THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 1993. PAGE 5. Arthur Black The colour of the moment is ? All my life I've been trained to respond to colours. Black? Bad. Evil. Grim. White? Good. Pure. Innocent. Green? Clean. Unspoiled. Virgin. Red? Exciting. Vibrant. Alive. So what do I learn when I pick up my copy of Maclean's this week? I learn that the new colour, the NOW colour, the happening colour for this, the second half of 1993, is ... No damned colour at all. The colour of the moment is ... Transparent. Clear. Vanilla on Albino. I'm not making this up. Ask any marketing person. The hottest products of the day include: Crystal Pepsi Gillette Series Cleargel Deodorant Ivory Clear Dishwashing Detergent Amoco Ultimate Gasoline Zima Maltbrew Choice Mouthwash And what do all these wonky-sounding Produce less, serve more There is a little paperback book which, I am sure, must be on everyone's desk who likes to complain about the decline and fall of some industry, to prove Canada is doing much worse than all but the lowest of banana republics or that this planet is worse off than it has ever been before. This book is called "How to Lie with Statistics" and it shows how you can take a set of figures and, without too much difficulty, distort them so they give a picture which is diametrically opposed to what they were supposed to give. Mel Hurtig, who has just formed his own political party and who my colleagues assure me can get my blood boiling, faster than almost anybody else, was pontificating recently on T.V. telling anybody who would listen that, when it came to the manufacturing sector, only Turkey was worse off than Canada with respect to the number of jobs lost. I came close to experiencing another of those times when I wanted to throw a brick through my T.V. This, my rational self keeps telling me, can be very expensive and doesn't hurt the object of my wrath one little bit. As usual those deploring the decline of our manufacturing base make one common assumption. That is, that only a job in producing some commodity is a real job, one that forms the base of our economy. Any other job is not likely to be long-lasting, certainly not unless there is a strong manufacturing base to sustain it. This assumption about manufacturing has been around for a long time, but like a lot of similar comments, it fails the test of history. When the industrial revolution was at its height during the latter part of the 18th and all the 19th century, the cry was that the migration of workers from the farm to the city to take jobs on the production line, was the work of the devil. Statements like "men products have in common? Well sir, they are all ... Transparent. Without colour. Which is to say ... clear clean through. It all started last year with the Clearly Canadian Beverage Corporation, a gaggle of entrepreneurs who launched a non-alcoholic throat-quencher called Clearly Canadian. It is a sparkling, flavoured-water beverage that tastes remarkably similar to your run-of-the- cooler, carbonated, pop-the-top-and-pour-it- down-your-throat soda fizz ... except for one thing. No colour. Clearly Canadian is as transparent as a glass of water. So is Crystal Pepsi, Palmolive Sensitive Skin Dish- washing Liquid and the gasoline gurgles out of the Amoco Ultimate gas puinp. What's the point? Who cares if your deodorant is unclouded or pine-green? What difference does it make if the gas in your tank is clear as gin or black as roofing tar? Fewer additives, for one thing. I never knew it, but the reason Pepsi and Coke are brown is that the manufacturers stir in some caramel colouring to turn it that colour. Without the caramel, drinks like Pepsi would be, well ... clear like Crystal Pepsi. That's one reason marketers are pushing a whole new raft of transparent products at us. Another reason is even simpler. It gives them something new to sell. Let's face it: I don't just buy a drink of Pepsi any more. I have to decide whether I want it in tin, glass or family-size plastic bottles. Or do I want to buy it in cans, in shrink- .vrapped six-packs? After that, I get to choose from Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Caffeine-Free Pepsi, Sodium-Free Pepsi, Caffeine and Sodium Diet Pepsi or Wild Cherry Pepsi. Obviously the market was just crying out for the introduction of all new Crysial Pepsi (also available: Diet Crystal Pepsi). Reminds me of the old joke about a guy buying cigarettes. "Certainly sir. Will that be small, medium or large?" "Small." "And did you want regular or king-size?" "Regular." "Filter or plain end?" "Filter." "Menthol or standard?" "Standard." "Crushproof or flip-top?" "Flip-top." "Low-tart or Full-flavour?" "Forget it. I just quit smoking." For the record we can expect to see more manufacturing reductions in Canada, the U.S. and other industrial nations as low-tech factories move elsewhere to take advantage of lower production costs. Since few, if any readers, would be prepared to work for the same wages that the Mexicans, Indonesians or Chinese find acceptable, the alternative is obvious. The highest wages are to be found in those industries, service or otherwise, where there is the highest value component present. Those are the jobs we have to concentrate on and, if they are to be found in the services industries, so be it. There are some interesting trends in service industries. The fastest growing segment of the economies of the western world is in what we know as the "knowledge sector". This employs a greater percentage of workers than any other industry. The "white collar" workers, who have been let go in other of the manufacturing companies would do well to look to the knowledge sector for their next job. For those who still pine for the manufacturing sector, let me point out one thing. Frequently such industries decline when there are bad economic policies such as too high interest rates (caused by excessive government borrowing) or an unrealistic exchange rate. Yet, hands up all those in the above category who have played an active role in getting the governments, both federal and provincial, to make the necessary cuts in spending. Judging from what is currently going on in the U.S., they are having as hard a time as we are coming to grips with this problem. Got a beef? Write a letter to the editor At Lisa's Level By Lisa Boonstoppel-Pot Farm country truly interesting In the past two weeks, I've ridden through a snow-covered field in a tractor bucket, got inspected by a wild boar and been perfumed by a barn full of pigs—much to my complete enjoyment! It all started a few weeks ago when my editor announced it was Farm Issue time again. This annual supplement to The Citizen requires dozens of farm-related features, which we aspire to provide by visiting unique, progressive and interesting farm operations. Being a country girl, who was raised on a dairy farm, I was keen to get going to my first assignment at an Auburn-area farm where wild boars are raised. It was a crisp winter morning and accordingly, I wore boots, gloves and a headband. I arrived and left the cozy little haven of my car to learn I'd be in a much more spacious mode of transportation—a tractor—to get to the remote back field where the wild boars were fenced I can boast that I had a bucket seat in what could be described as a convertible which offered a scenic view of the surrounding countryside. And what a sight! As the tractor rumbled to a stop outside a shock-wire fence, a dark line appeared on the horizon as a herd of grunting and squealing wild boar came rushing within inches of where I was standing. They were hungry and as they swarmed on the grain that had been thrown in the field, flinging aside other boars in their gluttony, I was thankful I was on the other side of the fence. Yet it was thrilling to get a close-up look at these voracious beasts. Days later, I got an in-depth look at the life of a relative of the wild boar—swine. Though not as strikingly unusual, it was enthralling in another way. At this farm, I got to handle day-old piglets. As I petted the silky, pink skin of the comical creatures, it seemed unbelievable that something so cute can mature into an animal of such repulsiveness! Once I dragged myself away from the squirming piglets, I toured the rest of the modern facility and marvelled at the innovation and design that transformed this former dairy barn into a successful pork producing system. In the days following, I visited two progressive dairy operations; one to highlight a successful feeding program and the other to photograph the techniques used to produce top-quality milk. After visiting these local farms, I realized more than ever how knowledgeable and innovative our farming community is. To an outsider, the odours and appearance of farmers may be a source of amusement but truly, I don't think there is any other entrepreneur who can equal the achievements, progress and adaptability of farmers. When I say achievements, I see the dairy farmer who yearly wins awards for quality milk. When I think of progress, I recall the swine producer who uses computer technology to manage his herd and concerning adaptability, I reflect on the wild boar producer who saw a niche in the market and filled it. Read the farm issue. You'll see what I mean. could not eat machines" were prevalent; while there was undoubtedly a number of abuses in that revolution, (our word sabotage stems from efforts to destroy the machines), I doubt that few people today would deplore the presence of such firms as General Motors or the like. However, Canada is not the only country to experience the decline of its industrial base. Whenever I read reports on other countries, almost without exception, the same thing is going on. If you were to think of one exception, that might be Japan but, over the last 20 years the amount of manufacturing in that country as a percentage of total demand has dropped from 36 per cent to 29 per cent while the U.S. with a current percentage of 21 per cent, is slightly lower than ours. You can well imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth going on south of the border. In all honesty we could.save our time worrying and concentrate on something else. This change from manufacturing to servicing is quite normal. In fact they need each other. You should be able to think, without too much trouble, of any number of examples where a manufactured object is dependent on one or more services for its existence. Take the car to which so many of us are wedded. What would we do if there were no service stations, to service the vehicle when needed? What would happen to our houses as they get older if there were no plumbers, electricians and the like? The list is, in fact, endless. As Canada and other nations are discovering, there is real scope for service industries in the world of international trade and commerce. Last week I was reading an article on the number of multi-million dollar contracts Canadian architectural firms have negotiated in the last little while to oversee the building of hotels, factories and office blocks in China. Small computer software firms in this country are making real inroads into the United States where their services are superior to what the Americans and others have to offer. This creates jobs just as _ surely as Stelco or Ford.