HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1999-07-07, Page 5Arthur Black
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 7, 1999. PAGE 5.
Read any good
books lately?
Summer is indisputably here and I’m blue,
because John D. Macdonald isn’t.
Here, I mean. Mister MacD heeded that
most imperative of nature’s calls - i.e. he
croaked - a few years back. Before he died,
though, he brightened my summer reading list
for more years than I can remember.
He did that by pumping out at least one
Travis McGee thriller every spring. Travis
McGee? He was the hero of a whole series of
John D. Macdonald books.
McGee was basically a beach bum. He lived
on a houseboat in Florida. McGee spent his
days reading books, drinking gin, smoking
Erinmore Flake pipe tobacco and romancing
the local lovelies.
But then - and here’s where every Travis
McGee novel takes off - someone would show
up with a problem involving money. It might
be a crooked uncle, a cheating business
partner, a theft, a burglary - some situation in
which somebody took something that didn’t
By Raymond Canon
A single currency
Earlier this year I commented on the fact
that 12 countries in Europe had opted for a
single currency, called the euro, and this was
to be phased in over the next three years
starting last Jan. 1.
If you happen to be over there this year, you
will still be using the normal currency, such as
the franc or mark, since paper currency etc. is
scheduled to be introduced only during the last
phase of the three-year period.
Hardly had the euro seen the light of day
when discussions started this side of the ocean
concerning the possibility of having a single
currency in North America. There has been
little in the way of official comment but I think
that we have to take the idea seriously since it
is, in the eyes of some economists and
politicians, a logical step in the process of
liberating trade and commerce.
What I would like to do is present arguments
both for and against so you will be able to
follow the arguments when they’d do crop up
in the news.
First of all, we would not have the problem
of changing the name; the word ‘dollar’ would
do quite nicely. Since we are using one
currency for both countries, it would be far
easier to compare prices in, say, San Diego and
Toronto.
Those in higher-priced areas would have to
belong to them.
Travis McGee would agree to try and get
That Something back - without benefit of
police assistance or the courts of the land.
In return the plaintiff agreed to give Travis
50 per cent of whatever he recovered.
That’s how McGee kept up payments on his
dockage fees.
McGee wasn’t exactly an outlaw, but he
didn’t always play by the Marquis of
Queensbury rules either. He “fixed situations”
with his brains when he could; with his fists
when necessary; and from time to time with a
commando knife, a Glock nine mil or a
grenade launcher.
And since he was a certified Good Guy, the
Bad Guys always got what they deserved.
It made for some very thrilling thrillers and
for a good 20 years I began my summer
reading list each year with the latest Travis
McGee.
Then John D. Macdonald up and died, the
beggar. Leaving me high and dry in the
Summer Light Trash reading department.
I’ve got a couple of pretty good subs.
Elmore Leonard writes wickedly well about
the Detroit underworld. When it comes to
American dialogue, Leonard has perfect pitch.
Reading a Leonard novel is like sitting in a
take steps to make their prices more
competitive; this would result over time of a
levelling of prices, not to mention other things
that are expressed in dollars and cents.
There is also the question of exchange rate
stability. A North American dollar would
likely be considerably more stable than the
Canadian dollar has been over the years. As it
stands the Canadian dollar has been
considerably below its purchasing power
parity for a number of years. That is, it has
been undervalued and, while this might be
great for some industries such as tourism and
export manufacturing, it encourages
corporations to be a bit lethargic in their
attitudes toward productivity, with the negative
effect it has on our standard of living.
Let’s take a look now on the other side of the
coin. Even with a single currency, the
Canadian economy, or at least sections of it,
will not be in harmony with its American
counterpart and Ottawa will have considerably
less power over its monetary policy than it
does now.
If inflationary pressures were higher north
of the 49th parallel than they were below it,
what could the Bank of Canada do to cool off
the pressures? Precious little!
Trade is also considerably more important to
Canada than it is to the U.S. In fact, about
three times more important. It could well be
that a small drop in the value of the Canadian
dollar might produce a short-term impetus to
our trade patterns but such a move would be
bar near the Joe Louis arena and
eavesdropping. Alas, Hollywood has
discovered Elmore and all that west coast
movie moolah seems to be going to his head.
His latest books take place in locales like
Cuba and Italy.
He’s still good, but I miss the Detroit twang.
Robert B Parker’s good, too - now and then.
His usual hero is a wisecracking Boston P.I.
named Spenser who quotes poetry, lifts
weights, dates a shrink and blows away bad
guys about every thirteen pages.
Unfortunately the quality of the Spenser
stories is uneven. A cracking good one can be
followed by a pathetic turkey of a tale. You just
never know with Robert B. Parker.
Which leaves me where? Precisely where I
was at the beginning of this whinge: with
summer here and nary a thing to read.
Unless ... It occurs to me that John D
Macdonald’s been gone for at least 10 years,
which means it’s been a decade since I read
my last Travis McGee - and probably three
decades since I read my first one.
Lord knows my memory isn’t what it was -
and it wasn’t much even then. I could probably
start the Travis McGee series all over again
and not recognize a thing.
Whoopee! Quick Red Fox, here I come.
totally impossible with a single currency.
Finally, one has to ask whether the decision
of the 12 countries in Europe to move to the
euro was more a political move than an
economic one. That is certainly the case in
Germany where there was no great pressure
from the populace to carry this out.
In fact, most Germans were strongly against
relinquishing their stable mark in favour of an
unknown currency.
Neither can the French be said to be that
much more excited about the whole matter.
On balance I would hope there is not any
great pressure right now to get us to meld our
dollar into the American one. There is an old
Italian proverb that he who leaves the known
road for the unknown one knows what he is
leaving but not what he is getting into.
We would be far better off, therefore, to have
a very good look at the fate of the euro before
we even think about joining monetary forces
with the Americans. Ten years down the line
the Europeans may regret their move and long
for the good old days of the mark and the
franc, not to mention the guilder, the peseta,
the escudo and the lira.
A Final Thought
In the end, the only people who fail are
those who do not try.
- David Viscott
The
By Bonnie Gropp
A cliched message
Graduations — new beginnings, another
step toward the future.
As many children this past week saw the
end of their elementary school years, it was a
time of congratulations, a time of reflection.
Mom and Dad, who only the day before were
certain their baby was still just a baby,
suddenly saw them anew. Not yet a grownup
but a budding potential had begun to bloom.
Heartfelt feelings were expressed, emotions,
bittersweet, ran high. Students thanked
parents and educators, friendships were
recalled and cliches were everywhere.
Any time sentiment underlines the story,
finding the right words often means reverting
to ones which have served the purpose well in
the past.
But while cliches may relate the tale best,
there are occasions when their homegrown
eloquence can be a tad hackneyed. Seeing
someone in pain, someone in need of
cheering, who needs their confidence boosted
or a little affirmation, there is a tendency to
rhyme off pat phrases, which while totally
apropos, may have become too trite for times
of trial.
This message was brought home to me
recently as I tried to find words to comfort a
family member who was experiencing a
difficult time. She was in pain, her confidence
shattered. I could hug, I could be there for her,
but I desperately wanted to offer some insight
that it would make it all seem brighter. Yet, as
I tried to find words which might have offered
some strength and consolation I was stymied.
Struggling to escape from my mouth were
comments like “This too shall pass” and “It’s
always darkest before the dawn.”
So I stuttered and stammered, looking for
some way to verbalize my empathy, as well as
the common sense reality of life. Frustrated by
the exercise, by the fact that I could dredge up
not one original wise saying to assuage the
hurt, I actually began to apologize. I was sorry
the only way I could express support was
through some well-wom cliches. Fortunately,
the reality of the banality, had a surprise
effect, prompting her to smile as we
considered the many applicable cliches.
In retrospect I realize what the problem was.
Someone, once upon a time, also needed to
summon the correct response for a crisis or
situation. What that person did was say
something so astute, so sincere, so profound,
that it worked and others copied. The problem
with cliches, once lyrical, now over-used and
time-wom, is that they are the absolute truth.
When something already says it best, how do
you perfect it?
It is darkest before the dawn. This too shall
pass. The sun will come up tomorrow.
Grandma wasn’t joking. It really is unwise
to put all your eggs in one basket or to look a
gift horse in the mouth. Don’t wallow in self-
pity or count your chickens before they’re
hatched, either.
Often words aren’t necessary. Being there
for someone is enough. But if ever the right
words are needed cliches could at least be a
good starting point. What they offer are
reminders of simple common sense wisdom,
that have on occasion had the.desired effect.
After all, cliches became cliched for a
reason.