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The Rural Voice, 1982-12, Page 42Season's Greetings from Colleen Adams, Linda Edgar, Nelson Hill, Jim Mclnally, Ralph Morrison, Bill Searle, Jim Sutherland, Doug Tiffin and Fred Wedde. FOR TOTAL CROP SERVICE CALL CO-OP • Complete fertilizer services • Chemical headquarters • Seed varieties • Grain marketing • Co-ordinated programs • Hardware • Farm Supplies • Feeding Programs • Petroleum Programs LUCKNOW District Co-operative 529-7953 PG 42 THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1982 KEITH ROULSTON Protecting us from ourselves At the climax of Anne Chislett's hit play Quiet in the Land there's a very moving moment which rings true for all of us, no matter what we do in life, no matter what era it is. In the play, which takes part in an Amish community during World War 1, a rebellious, son comes home to tell his father that the father had been right after all. The son had rebelled against the community's stand that it should not take part in the war since it was not God's way. The boy argued that his community should not stand by while other Canadians went off to fight for them to protect them from the Germans. He called his elders hypocrites because they took the high farm prices the war brought but they wouldn't take part in the war. But in the end, after having run off to join the army and become a military hero, he returns disillusioned and tells his father that the father had been right. If, the boy says, everyone on both sides had had the courage to do what the Amish did, say no to war, there could have been no war. The point the boy, and the writer, are making is that even in the largest things like a world war, individual decisions still play a part. We're very big these days in claiming that government is interfering in our lives. We are loud in our complaints that individual rights are being taken over by government action. The point we must face, however, is if we want more individual rights, we must also be more ready for individual responsibilities. It is very convenient for us to have someone to blame things on often. At the Nuremberg war crimes trials, many of those tried for the mass murder of Jews, claimed that they weren't personally responsible because they were only following orders. The judges threw out that defence saying, in the end, that we are all responsible for our actions. Most of us would agree with that when it comes to massive war crimes but fail to see the same thing in our personal lives. For instance, pollution is a huge problem and most of us throw up our hands and say that there is so little we can do about it. If only the U.S. power plants wouldn't puff all that stuff up to make acid rain. If only the chemical companies wouldn't dump their waste into rivers and lakes. But how many people do you know who have sabatoged the pollution control equipment on their cars and trucks to save a few cents? How many people pollute the environment around them by blowing smoke onto other people? How many farmers are polluting through chemicals in the run off from their fields? How many faulty liquid waste disposal systems pollute because they cost too much to fix? And how many times do we ask government to step in and save us from ourselves, from our own weakness and greed? Now I'm concerned because of its importance for our children that the provincial government do more to protect farmland from urban encroachment and that something be done so that all our land isn't owned by speculators in cities or other countries but the problem arises because a lot of farmers don't live up to their own responsibilities to their fellow farmers. How many farmers have salved their consciences by saying, "well if that speculator doesn't buy from me he'll buy from somebody else so I might as well take the big bucks and run? To use an expression from the '60's, that's a cop-out. We each make our own decisions. If we believe in individual rights, then we must also take our individual responsibilities seriously. When we don't, then the community or the state has to step in and protect us from ourselves. You'd like less government? Then govern yourself accordingly.