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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes-Advocate, 1982-07-14, Page 41 10" ,Mitilkfi k*i.4,114d1A-T • TtmewAsivecote , July 14,1982 $ Imes Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 4 411,4a* • . 1 • V•411111114 . dvocate Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 , Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Limited IORN[ fEDY Pti bkher JIM BECKEUT Ad‘ermang Manager 1-1111.BAHEN ROSS HAUGH Editor Assistant Editor HARRN RIES (..ompration Manager DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario - Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $20.00 Per year: U.S.A. 155.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. CLASS IA' and 'ABC' An excellent choice In naming streets, parks or public buildings in recognition of individuals, either present or past, there is always the danger that the choice'may be contested in the view of those who may think that someone else is more deserving. However, there can be no argument with the re- narning of Riverview Park to MacNaughton Park in honor and recognition of the Hon. C.S. MacNaughton. His contribution to this community is probably on- ly over -shadowed by his contribution to the Province of Ontario as a Whole, so Exeter and area has ended up a double -winner through his long and remarkable public career. There are many testimonials to Charlie throughout the province and in this immediate area, although none bear his name, and perhaps the only criticism that could be made on the decision to honor him in perpetui- ty is the fact that it has taken the community so long to do so. The local park serves this community with beau- ty, grace and at thesame time color and vitality. It's a place that brings a wide array of benefits, from those who enjoy its quiet serenity to the kids who make it their adventure -land. In every way it embodies the attributes of the man whose name it will now carry. Worth the effort Exeter residents shouldn't have much to complain about council's request regarding garbage pickup, par- ticularly in view of the benefits outlined in having homeowners "centralize" their garbage along the streets. It's going to result in some extra steps for half the citizens to carry their garbage across to the west and north sides of the streets on which they reside, but as Participaction would probably point out, the exercise is cheaper than signing up for some costly health spa. The immediate benefit is that the time -saving fac- tor for the public works crew will enable them to in- stal more sidewalks this year. The long-range benefits include a continuation of that time -saving factor plus an extension on the life expectancy of the garbage packer through less stops along the routes followed. It should be noted that there is no hard and fast rule being established by council and the progarn should be initiated with some common sense andcon- sideration by citizens. For instance, if you happen to live on a street where there are a number of senior citizens or people for whom it may be a burden to carry garbage across the street, you could probably organize with your neighbours to use the, opposite side of the street to that suggested by council to ease the burden for others. The display of neighborliness will be appreciated and could result in some extra personal satisfaction in your consideration for others. It's a practical request from council aftl-one that few should find difficulty in accepting. , That other budget The horrendous proportions of the federal budget have all but eclipsed the more gruesome details of its Ontario counterpart. Treasurer Frank Miller's docu- ment was also full of nasty little surprises and a whole nest of ways to squeeze a few more cents here and there from the powerless taxpayer. Most annoying was the extension of seven per cent sales tax to all restaurant meals and all take-out foods, and applica- tion of the sales tax to hundreds of other items which had previously been exempt. - One rat hole down which a few more tax dollars disappeared came to light only a few days ago. The government threw a little party at the Albany Club in Welcome Orators, similar to editorial writers or columnists, face comparable problems in • their attempts to sway public opinion or correct what they see as wrongs in their society' or tornmunities.- The problem is two -fold. First it entails gaining support for the opinion and secondly, getting that support translated into the action that is necessary to correct a wrong or spear -head a movement to in- itiate the action they see fitting the need. , The latter is the more difficult of the two, given the penchant for apathy in our society. Along with 100 or so other people, the writer was entranced with the speech given at the South Huron Ilospital annual meeting last week by Father Joe Nelligan. His comments on the state -of the economy. and the reason for it being in that state, hit the target as far as I Was • concerned, and paralleled some of the opi- nions that have been expressed on this page in the past. There appeared to he general agree- ment from many of those in the audience with Father Nelligan's assessment of some of this nation's problems, and while he may have singled out governments for some of his harshest criticism. there was the message that each of us must take some responsibility for the mess in which we find ourselves. The work ethic is in serious trouble and there are too many people who get paid for merely putting in time. But Father .Joe's effort was, in many ways, a failure. That won't surprise him. Ministers don't have to look very far to see that their efforts end up in failures on many occasions. Only when they reach the point where none of their pa rishioners commits a sin can they honestly say they have attained success. He'd be the first to admit he still has a little way to go in that regard. Toronto, at which about 700 were in attendance. Bill for the evening was $6,425, paid for by you, me and the guy down the street. The provincial treasurer defended the little spree as a "traditional" after -budget function. Admittedly, six -thousand -odd dollars is a mere drop in the bucket and won't affect any one taxpayer very greatly. But, tradition or not, this would have been a good year to forget about celebrating anyway? The stupendous achievement of gouging another few millions from the people who can't fight back for another couple of years? Let us not forget! Wingham Advance -Times to the club, Editorial writers and columnists share the same type of failures when their words of "wisdom" go unheeded by those at whom they are aimed. Father Joe mayhave changed the at- titude of a few people with his comments at the hospital meeting, but from where Father Joe BATT'N AROUND with the editor I sit, he failed in getting any noticeable ac- tion in changing the whims of the govern- ments or individuals at whom his words were aimed. So, the question for Father Joe, as it -is for.this writer and all Others in this area who see the need for change in our socie- ty. is how are we going to go about mak- ing those changes. How are we going to get the movement rolling that could at- tempt to make those changes? It's an age-old question and unfor- tunately, history reveals on all too many occasions. that the action is usually taken too late to be effective. Perhaps the greatest example of that contention can he seen in the death and destruction foisted upon the world by Adolph Hitler. His dastardly exploits drew words . of criticism and warning from around the world, but by the time people got around to deciding they had to stop him, they were faced with the con- sequences of World War II. That example is not intended to reflect .:Ur -ret affairs, but is intended solely to point out that too often we are spurred to action when it is to late to effectively change a situation, or at least, after that situation has been permitted to boil into something that even When altered, has caused irreparable harm. * * * * Naturally, before a wrong can be cor- rected, there are two important issues to be settled. First and foremost is defining the wrong, secondly, the corrective measures have to be agreed upon by the majority. That's where the crux of our entire pro- blem rests, of course. Ask 100 Canadians what is wrong with this country as it per- tains to our economic situation, and you'll probably get 100 different answers. There will be those who suggest that governments should get out of the marketplace and probably just as many who think governments should get more involved. Some want make-work schemes curtailed and others want them increas- ed. The same goes with government aid to special interest groups. There will be divergent views on the role of organized labor, banks, interest rates, etc., etc. And, as there will be 100 different answers to the problem, there will be 100 different answers as to thesolution. Do we give up? No, we debate, negotiate and compromise until we get 51 prepared to accept one answer to the solution. If people aren't happy with the solutions being considered at the top, then the only alternative they have is to start a move- ment at the. grassroots level that will bring enough preSsure to bear on those at the top to make changes. All that is needed is some strong leader- ship to get the ball rolling, plus a convic- tion on the part of others that they still have some right to chart their own destiny. The question is whether that leader will emerge before it is too late? The talking and writing has to he translated into action! Let me know when you plan to call your first meeting to get the hall rolling. 1,"*P4P04110,1listrbetetwe-*.irvertyr_xx-. •,. ' iwu',446•*-0,11mewmeme Time to hunch shoulders You know what you do when you're out in a winter blizzard. You hunch your shoulders and try to make your entire body smaller so that the cold won't make you lose an appendage or two. Well, I think, and my wife disagrees with me, -so it's probably a good idea, that it's time for famibes to "hunch" against the bit- ter winds of a depression - inflation period. Now; I haven't developed this into a doc- toral thesis, and there are some rough edges to be polished, but I'll give you the general outline. Basically, by hunching, I mean a drawing - together of families, or any other units, pooling resources, putting their backs to the wind, and surviving. We have a number of friends our age, all of them living in big houses, burning tons of oil and millions of kilowatts. Our children are grown up and gone. But we keep these great barns going so that,. "The kids will have a place to come home to." Sentimental slob. We oldsters could hunch, board up the rambling barns for the winter, at least, and save thousands of dollars. We all have furnaces and electricstovr.-ilortv.ashers and dryers and tele% ision sets and cars. Most of us have room to put up four couples. Why keep four big houses going when we could all live in one, at least through the nine brutal months that Canadians must suffer? Most of us have some sort of gift or talent. A cou- ple are gourmet cooks. One or two are excellent sewers (as in to sew). • ty and Jane's 60 -minute monologues might be a bit hard on the nerves; that George's nose -picking and Mabel's sherry -sipping might wear a bit. And, of course, we'd have to have eight television sets, so • - (41$04 Sugar and Spice Dispensed By Smiley Vtz' Some are first-class mechanics or wood - crafters, or general han- dymen. Another couple are entertainers. Among us we have three or four languages, a knowledge of drafting and physics and typing and book-keeping, and various other useful odds and sods. Why not poor our talents and our TV sets? We could por- bably build an ark if we had to, and yours truly could write the news release about it, while en- couraging the hewers of wood and drawers of water. As I said, I sounded out my wife on the idea, quite enthusiastically. She merely commented that I'd go to jail for life for be- ing an accessory before the fact of murder. She didn't spell it out. I had. to admit that Jack's moroseness and Jill's ebullience would be hard to take seven days a week; that Jim's pomposi- • that each could watch his own. But, dart -unit, it could work. When she just sat there, gently shaking her head, fell . back to my second line, "What ' about families, then? Why can't we hunch? Your brother and his son-in-law are out of work, along with your son and your daughter, and your father is retired and fragile. I'm the only one in the family working. "Yet your daughter is paying $450 a month for an apartment, your son dear knows -what for another, and your Dad is clinging to a house that burns about $1,300 in oil, not to mention taxes and stuff. "Why don't we just hunch; the way families used to do back in the depression, with everyone kicking in what he can. and nobody going on the dole or missing a meal?" Why couldn't we hunch at our place, I pursued. t Our son could mow the lawn and shovel the walk, which cost me about $300 a year. My daughter could get a job as a waitress, steal food from the kit- chen, and she'd have no outlay for baby-sitters. We could all grow beards, except the women, and save on razor blades and shaving cream. We could dig up the backyardand put in a garden. We could buy a huge freezer, hi -jack a calf and a pig, shoot a deer and live on the fatta the lan'. The grandboys could grow up with a real sense of family: great-grandad, grandad, uncle, grannie; mother, instead of the nomad life they lead now. The women could ab- jure cosmetics and save a mint. She, my wife, a great seamstress, could "run up" clothes for everybody. We could put in wood stoves, cut down at the maples and oaks on the property and laugh at the oil companies and that latest leech, Consumers' Gas. We could build a still and save a thousand a year. The possibilities are endless. But she still sat shaking her head the way you do when listening to someone senile. Then I played my trump. "And we'd save about $1,500 a year on ong-distance phone calls." Hereyes lit up like a Christmas tree. - I think hunching is going o sweep the country. How about you? • Mind is tricky thing Most branches of medicine seem to fall in the areas of exact sciences. Surgery, for ex- ample has developed to a state of such fine precision that severed limbs can be rejoined with the aid of strong microscopes, a detached retina can ac- tually be 'welded' back on with a laser gun. There is one area of medicine though that is not quite as objective or scientific in nature - that is psychiatry. The human' mind is, without any dotibt, the most complex part of the body and psychiatrists would be the first to admit that there is far more they don't know about it than what they are sure of. Nothing illustrates this better than the recent case of John Hinckley, the young man who shot President Reagan and delusions and hallucina- tions, that the young man was influenced greatly by Perspectives By Syd Fletcher three other men. The prosecution had all kinds of 'expert' witnesses, who maintain- ed that Hinckley was merely a 'spoiled brat' seeking attention and lasting fame, something which he certainly achieved. The defence psychiatrists' theory was that Hinckley was full of his love for a movie star that he had never met but had seen in a movie which illustrated an assassina- tion attempt on a presi- dent, and that he was tru- ly mad. The jury agreed. Hin- ckley, was found to be in- capable of controlling his actions at the time of the shootings, and instead of being sent to jail for a crime of which he was ob- viously guilty, he was sent to a psychiatric hospital. In any given length of time, six months or a year, Hinckley could be lucky enough to meet up with a panel of psychiatrists from the first group who would in- terview him and decide he was indeed sane, release him, and let him start the same cycle again.", hope, for their sakes, and their families, that the next time he goes on a killing streak he isn't angry at psychiatrists in general Just because some of them saw fit to lock him up for a little while or because he saw the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" seventeen times and it made him think all psychiatrists are evil men. • 9.