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8 THE RURAL VOICE
Keith Roulston
Rural bonds are breaking apart
If my great-grandfather were to
come back today, the thing he'd
notice most, once he got beyond the
incredible changes in technology, is
how much the rural way of life has
been eroded.
My great-grandfather w as one of
the original
pioneers of Bruce
County, clearing
his farm at age
18. His was a
time when people
had no choice but
to work together
to survive the
wilderness.
Even when I
was growing up
people still
depended on each
other. My father
and other
neighbours
served on the
local school board. We shared
equipment with a neighbour. Work
parties helped build or repair local
public facilities.
Now and then that kind of com-
munity spirit still prevails: when
there's a tragic fire or tornado people
resurrect that old community unity
and loyalty. The rest of the time
we've adopted a more urban attitude
— we'll look after ourselves and let
somebody else worry about the other
guy.
While talking to a young couple
recently, they complained that living
in a rural community, people often
asked about their jobs, their family,
their friends. They considered this,
not an indication of genuine interest
and therefore something flattering,
but an invasion of their privacy.
I've always felt that fads and fashions
come and go but human needs
remained the same, yet as we enter a
new century I begin to wonder if I've
made a fundamental error in
judgement or if we've reached a new
point in human evolution. People
have always needed the support of
others: a spouse, a family, a tribe, a
community, a nation. But today the
happiness of the individual seems to
run counter to those long -held needs.
First we rid ourselves of the extended
family: having grandparents or
parents exerting subtle (and
sometimes not so subtle) influences
on us became a burden.
Today even the nuclear family
often breaks down. The desires of the
individual often are hampered by the
need to' compromise to keep a
marriage togelher.
The community is endangered
too. When my wife's parents moved
to suburban Scarborough after World
War II, they established a
neighbourhood, like a little village
where people knew each other and
shared their lives. Today that kind of
neighbourhood doesn't exist in cities.
People live close together physically,
but isolated emotionally, seldom
even knowing their neighbours.
Growing up in the country the
highlight of the week for me was a
trip to town on Saturday night to do
the shopping. We met our neighbours
on the street corner and stopped to
chat. We children met kids from
other neighbourhoods. It was our
town. If money was short, we could
depend on the local grocer to let us
charge. We had the sense we were all
in this together.
Today the main street of a typical
town or village looks barren by com-
parison. Better transportation sends
many people to nearby towns or cities
to large stores where they shop in
anonymity. Price and greater
selection matter more than being
served by friends and neighbours.
Our.sense of being part of something
bigger is to shop in the same stores as
people in Toronto or Los Angeles and
wear Tommy Hilfiger clothes just
like them.
And the sense of needing to work
together to solve problems is also
gone. Many people think they're
smarter than their neighbours and can
get ahead more if they aren't dragged
down by them — thus the drive by
some to end collective marketing
agencies.
There's no doubt we are
materially richer than in my great-
grandfather's day, but somehow I feel
he'd feel we're poorer.0
Keith Roulston is editor and
publisher of The Rural Voice. He
lives near Blyth, ON.