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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1993-09-01, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 1993. PAGE 5. The chair what you park the bum in Write me off as a singular bore if you want, but I am sublimely uninterested in "gender-neutral" language. It's all the rage, you know. Shepherds and shepherdesses are verboten. The term is `herdsperson'. You're not even supposed to say 'chairwoman' or 'chairman' any more. The officially laundered and approved phrase is 'chairperson' — or simply 'the chair'. Well, sorry Ms Grundy, but 'the chair' is what I park 'the bum' in. And as for gender fuzzification, I think it's just another ploy for lawyers and politicians and other paper spewing windbags who pay their mortgages by muddying up the water the rest of us have to swim through. The English language is a marvellous creation — a bottomless quiver full of razor- sharp adjectival arrows honed and edged for Unemployment plagues western world A recent cover of Maclean's magazine declared that about 1 1/2 million Canadians are out of work, a situation that was considered to be widespread in the western world. That goes without saying; given the economic policies that have been carried out over the past decade, it would be surprising if this were not the situation. I have had a number of people ask me how bad it is elsewhere and, more importantly, what can be done about it. Before I get into the nitty-gritty of what to do, let's take a look at unemployment as an economic phenomenon. Over the years there has been something of an inverse relationship between it and inflation. When one is high, the other is low and vice versa. We have come to develop what is called a "discomfort index." Add up the amount of inflation and unemployment and that will give you the index. Thus in Canada this would be about 14, in Germany it is 12, in Switzerland, eight and in Italy 15. A more recent proposal is to make the unemployment component double the one for inflation which would make the Canadian figure 24, the German one 21, the Swiss 12 and the Italian 27. If this relationship is a valid one, it is obvious that some of the things we do to cure inflation cause unemployment; when we fight unemployment, we cause inflation. When we measure inflation we treat it as one of two kinds. This is frictional or the normal kind that goes with the business cycle. If you have been laid off and have not yet found a job, you are likely to be experiencing the frictional kind. However, if you lose your job because your company is using outdated manufacturing processes and can no longer compete, this type is considered to be structural. Whatever the cause, losing one's job is not a pleasant experience for most people, regardless of every imaginable target. We have so many glorious words — masculine and feminine. Why would anyone want to neutralize them? The scary thing about these self-appointed language genders is that they just might win. If we don't use words we lose them. If you don't believe me, go ask your kids what a `throttle', a 'treadle', or 'Wellingtons' are. Sure, you know — but I bet they don't. There was a time when we cared a great deal more about words. Back in the 15th century a language maven by the name of Dame Juliana Berners published a tome called The Book of St. Albans. It was a small book — a manual really, consisting of 164 specific terms for groups of things. We can thank Dame Juliana for a 'pride' of lions and a 'litter' or puppies, for a 'swarm' of bees and a 'flock' of sheep. It was this book which first differentiated between geese on the ground (`gaggle') and geese in the air (`skein'). For the past 500 years, thanks to The Book of St. Albans, English speakers have referred to 'slates' of candidates and `herds' of elephants. We even kept the mistakes Dame Juliana made. She insisted that the correct term for a group of fish was 'school'. Actually, it was a 'SY RaVinon114:4000 any unemployment insurance benefits they might receive. For me the most disturbing aspect of the current round of unemployment is the amount of long-term unemployment to be found. This is said to occur when you are out of work for more than a year and, in spite of diligent searching, have not been able to find anything. The longer you are out of work, the less likely you are to find something. Just about all of the industrialized countries have experienced an increase of chronic unemployment and in some countries it is alarming. In Italy, for example, a good 60 per cent of people out of work have been in that state for over a year. Things are not much better in Belgium, Spain, Germany and Holland, all of which are experiencing 50 per cent or more of chronic unemployment. If there is any good news in all this, it is that Canada has one of the lowest rates of any country; such unemployment constitutes just slightly more than 10 per cent. The United States is at about the same level with the Swedes the lowest but, given the state of affairs in that country, this situation may change. I'm sure that most people have a favourite scapegoat; it is, after all, easy to point an accusing finger. Let's not dwell on the causes, real or imaginary; enough has been written already. Let's take a look at what the industrialized nations can do to reverse the situation. First of all, we have to make labour markets more flexible. In short, people should be able to move from one community to another in order to find work; not only able but willing. In small countries this is not too difficult, in one such as Canada or the United States, it is much harder. Harder but not impossible. Secondly, we have to do much more in retraining programs than we have to date. I routinely teach my students of labour economics that they must be prepared to do at least five different jobs during their lifetime and perhaps more. To date our governments, here and elsewhere, have been woefully deficient in retraining programs. to misspelling of 'shoal', but as nobody spelled very well in the 15th century, Dame Juliana's word was as good as anybody's and better than most. Some of her descriptions are pure poetry. How better to describe a mass of locusts than a plague? And birds — How about: A bouquet of pheasants? A murder of crows? A parliament of owls? A brood of hens? An exaltation of larks? Dame Juliana didn't deal exclusively in animal codification. She also gave us: A sentence of judges An impatience of wives A boast of soldiers An impertinence of peddlers A drift of fishermen An eloquence of lawyers Too bad Dame Juliana's not around today. We've got some brand new groups that just cry out for codification. How about: A sleaze of politicians? A rant of evangelists? An ooze of salesmen? An eternity of columnists — especially ones with (a swarm of) bees in their bonnets about words? shortcomings of the free trade agreement which I support in principle. We also have to make welfare less of a way of life than we have during the past decade. I am amazed at some of the excuses people find not to work; you may recall that I wrote recently that Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany felt it necessary to get after the Germans for their declining tendency to work. When even the Germans get into this state, we are in bad shape. Job creating, both here and elsewhere, is going to come in the development of small and medium-sized domestic businesses. This is another way of saying that we have to hone our entrepreneurial skills. Just look at the number of international conglomerates who are busy downsizing their labour force; there is hardly an exception. For countries such as Canada, Switzerland, Belgium and the like, with a small internal market, as many of these smaller companies as possible have to look to export markets to get the economies of scale necessary. Governments may talk good games when it comes to unemployment. When it comes to creating jobs, they are all something less than scintillating. We have to do the job creation ourselves and not depend on our elected officials to do it for us. Let them concentrate on giving us stable fiscal and monetary policies; that in itself will provide the atmosphere necessary for job creation. Paul's Perspective Continued from page 4 birth and death information. More than 1.5 million cards have been rendered invalid. An agreement has been signed with Immigration Canada to ensure accurate information about temporary residents. The government is working with the Ontario Medical Association. This will enable physicians to identify invalid cards and to develop an effective fraud reporting mechanism. There is a toll-free 1-800-268- 1154 to report on suspected abuse. In the future there will be a health card with a photograph and other enhanced security measures. Through the Ontario Drug Benefit Network there will be on-line verification in Ontario pharmacies of health cards. The Short of ►t By Bonnie Gropp Don't be shy! I have never made any secret that I am (or was, at least) an incredibly shy ,person. Now I'm just shy. Fortunately as I have gotten older I have been forced or have forced myself on various occasions to go where I had never gone before. This was not the case in earlier years let me tell you. Like many people intimidated by new people, places or situations, I missed many things I would like to have attended because of the dreaded unknown. That is why, just less than a decade ago, when a friend asked me if I had ever attended the Blyth Festival my answer was a slightly embarrassed "No". I had heard of the small summer theatre, of course, but without someone taking me, I would never attend on my own. (No, I wasn't three years old then; just a bit of a wimp) Anyway, my friend, who amazingly enough was never intimidated by my hearty reserve, very graciously ordered tickets for the two of us and drove me over. You won't be surprised to hear that, as I usually discovered when I tried something new, no one noticed, or cared, if I didn't precipitate a conversation. No one laughed at me, because I didn't know where I was going, but more importantly, it was a very pleasant surprise. I could never have imagined the quality of the work I was seeing in rural Huron. As I mentioned earlier things have changed; I have become a bit more adventurous since that time. After my first taste I returned every season for at least one Blyth experience. So, imagine my delight when I started my job at this paper, only to be told that part of my duties would be to review the Blyth season — every performance if I chose. Well, with a few exceptions when I was unable to attend, I did choose to attend them all and have seldom been disappointed. The entertainment that I have enjoyed is something that, like my friend, I have encouraged others to share with me. Most of my family would be disappointed if at least one Blyth production was not included in their repertoire of summer activities. There is a special feeling in Blyth, kind of like a wake up call, when things gear up for the season and the company moves into town. The new energy prevails until the curtain comes down on the final performance. With my job it has been my pleasure as well to have met some of the people who are part of this scene. Like the productions, this has been always interesting, usually entertaining and often surprising. With such a fascinating experience right under our noses, was it any wonder that I was surprised at the less than impressive turn out for the opening of Raymond Storey's The Glorious 12th on Friday night. With so much critical acclaim I had anticipated a full house. We are really fortunate to have the calibre of theatre that Blyth Festival brings us each year so close to home. I am really fortunate to have the chance to tell them how much enjoyment their work has brought me and my family. The season is nearly over, but if Blyth Festival is something you have yet to experience, (and I know there are some; I have talked to them in recent weeks) I wouldn't let another year go by. Don't be shy! Arthur Black International Scene