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Times-Advocate, 1983-02-23, Page 4• Page 4 Times:Advocate, February 23, 1983 imes Times Established 1873 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 mmmmmmMalimnimmiullagIMNNNBINOVAMVFZ:. dvocate cn �aJ Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by J.W. Eedy Publications Umited LORNE EEDY - Publisher JIM BECKETT Advertising Manager BILL BATTEN Editor HARRY DEVRIES Composition. Manager ROSS HAUGH Assistant Editor DICK JONGKIND Business Manager Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 235-1331 SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada $21.00 Per year; U.S.A. $56.00 C.W.N.A., O.C.N.A. -CLASS 'A' and 'ABC' Doing your part? Most Canadians may be too concerned 'with the present and their future to consider the past. That perhaps explains in part why Heritage Days was mark- ed with hardly a -passing thought on Monday. Last year, Exeter council showed considerable leadership and enthusiasm in marking the occasion, but that leadership failed to stir much interest from others, this year. Perhaps the concern with the present and future is appropriate, but neither may improvewithoutfear- . ning some of the lessons of the past. One of the most important factors to consider is that this community, similar to -all others,was built on the foundation of dedication and cooperation, It is of interest to consider the fact that the first *CNA settler was unemployed and basically destitute. Sole- ly through -his efforts he eked out an existence; total- ly harsh in comparison with today's standards. Others followed and a community ,was born, each member basically depending on the others through the good times and the bad. They cleared farms, builthomes, erected chur- ches, schools, stores, factories, recreation facilities, health facilities and everything that. was needed for people to be happy: One generation"gave way to the next, passing along the legacy accomplished through dedication and cooperation. Now it is your turn to enjoy, protect and embellish. Are you doing your part? Evidence is mounting Evidence of how federal government spending is out of control. is clearly indicated in the report given to the nation last week by Finance Minister Marc Lalonde. At' the beginning of the current fiscal year, the federal government predicted a deficit in the range of $12 billion. Now Lalonde envisions that deficit hitting the $27.2 billion mark, although with over a month to go, the record suggests it could even go higher. The Trudeau government- has lost control of spen- ding. It's only guessing on the amount that will be spent in the next month, the month after that, and the month after that. Whatisknown,apparently by everyone except the government, is that some day Canadian taxpayers are going to have to pay for that debt, and that day of reckoning could bemore a day of wrecking. The government's spending and policies have seriously eroded consumer and investor confidence, and while the six and five plan to curtailinflationwas• reluctantly accepted by most Canadians, they must be in, total disbelief to -learn now that the government's own spending will increase by 9.6 percent next year: Of course, that's only Lalonde's prediction, and there is every reason to, believe that estimatee a about as accurate as others he and his pre c -have made. ' Surely the government will learn that it is impossi- ble to spend its way out of the recession! Future planning Speaking earlier this month in Toronto, Alvin Tof- fler, the author of Future Shock, suggested that the world's current economic crisis should be seen as a sign of the complete breakdown of the industrial system and not as the result of foreign competition or the end of the work ethic. In Mr. Toffler's scenario of what he refers to as "The Third Wave" we are witnessing the passing of the era of mass production and mass distribution bas- ed on the application of human muscle power and the use of fossel fuels. In its place he sees the emergence of regional rather than national economics which will support a greater diversification of products and of in- terests and the emergence of a new way -of life. The computer-based scenario presented by Mr. Toffler is in fact, one of the few positive, futuristic views which have eome to light in recent years. Instead of lamenting the problems with our current economic system, Mr. Toffler sees hope in what is replacing it. Its implications for government policies, for labour relations and for the way in which we think about work and leisure are staggering. We hope that some people are listening. 0 Need cooperation, not confrontation. The recent act ion by the Farm Survival Association in staging a "penny auction" on a Perth farm will no doubt have to be settled by the courts, but the ramifica- tions of the militancy shown by the organization could prove detrimental to all farmers. Financing is a necessity for most farmers and bankers unfortunately could be re -assessing their position in the wake of the action by the survival group which took over the acution and quickly sold an estimated $50,000 worth of farm machinery for slightly over $20. Some may perceive that to be a victory, but they're obviously whistling past the graveyard if they think the hanks are go- ing to sit idly by and allow that to happen. Regardless of the final outcome of the Perth fiasco, there is little doubt that all farmers will experience considerably more difficulty :n arranging their re- quired financing with their hank manager. Ironically, while the militant group fights for the survival of farmers, they.are actually placing in jeopardy that survival. Anyone has the right to be a farmer, as people have the right to pursue any other vocation.But once they assume financial assistance from a second party, they are surely bound to the obligations set by that party. Banks don't make gifts, they make loans. The terms of those loans set forth certain action that can be taken to recover them. When that action is circumvented, the whole system is eroded to the detri- ment of those who rely on it. • • • • • It is not difficult to generate sympathy 0 for anyone who is adversely affected by the current economic conditions, but farmers can not expect to be immune from the problems anymore than other businesses or individuals. It must also be . considered that some farmers, similar to BATT'N .AROUND with the editor av other businesses and individuals, have brought about some of their own problems through mismanagement. . Even during more favorable economic times, there have been farmers and businesses which could not survive, and it is only natural that the numbers should increase when the going gets tougher. That is not to say that farmers in trou- ble have arrivedthere solely through. their mismanagement. There is no doubt that even the most experienced and skillful are having problems with today's economy. It is even correct to suggest that *the hankers have led to some of those problems. At a recent farm meeting, one producer noted that bankers expected the farmer to know everything about the state of his business and even the foibles of . the market, while those same bankers ob- viously failedto have a grasp of their own business when interest rates started to escalate at an unbelievable pace. It was a point well taken. • • • • However, assuming an adversary posi- tion. even to the point of bordering on anarchy or illegal tactics, is not in the best interest of those involved. It is (bviously a time for cooperation, not confrontation. Some short-term gains may be garnered through the latter, but in the long run it does more harm than good. The Farm Association has certainly done some good, particularly in drawing attention to the plight of some farmers and in banding together to provide assistance for members. There's little doubt that some head of- fice bank personnel have been prompted to look at their clients as more than nameless numbers on a file, and branch managers have probably been spurred to give second thought's to their actions in the face of concern over group retaliation. The danger is, . however, that those same bankers will find it much easier to say no to farm customers seeking credit, than to face the prospects of seeing what tricks are in the offing if they say yes and thea have to take action to recover those loans. That, unfortunately, will be detrimen- tal to farmers in general, not merely those who are members of the survival group. Neither is the problem related solely to banks. An farm supply groups which nor- mally extend credit may deem it necessary to tighten their policies. Clearly, it is a dangerous .merry-go- round inviting some unpleasant repercus- sions that could be detrimental to survival. A "Trudeau!" Let's have opinions With parents screaming "Back to the Basics", teachers -trying to remember what the, basics are, and Ministries of Education never letting the left hand know what the right hand is trying to do, it's almost inevitable that the subject of cor- poral punishment in the schools is revived. It's a perennial, and it's always good for a headline, whether you are for or against. It's almost as popular as capital punishment for criminals. And you have no idea,gentle reader, how many people, in- cluding students, are in favor of that. I'm quite sure that a referendum would show a majority of Canadians would vote to restore that particular form of official murder: But while criminals make up a comparatively small segment of our society, rotten kids are always there in great numbers. And there's always someone who wants to pound them, vicariously, through the school system. Usually, the business of beating kids is seen in black or white. Or black and blue. On the -one hand, you have the fundamen- tals, who go back to the Old Testament, "Spare the rod and spoil -the child." These people forget that several of the disciples were fishermen, and that what this par- ticular one meant was, "If you don't let the kid use your spare rod once in a while, he'll grow up to be a lousy angler." I don't remember Jesus ever saying anything about pounding kids, but I may be -wrong. On the other side of the schtick are the other crazies: psychologists and such, who think a kid who. is thumped will. be warped for life; mothers who read articles by psychologists; and former child -beaters who are now vice -principals. And in between, as usual, are all the confused, decent and.sensible people like you and me, who have Sugar and Spice My mother used to work over my kid brother and me about every two weeks, whether we needed it or not. She used a fly - swatter, which has a sting like a scorpion, or a yard- stick, which transfers fire to the bum, when we got. under the bed and the flyswatter wouldn't reach. 1 Dispensed By Smiley given our kids the odd belt, and felt rotten about it. Both the extreme camps, of course, are full of crap. In the first group, we have people who were whipped unmercifully when they were kids, and now, by some weird type of logic, insist it was good for them. They can hard- ly wait to spread some of this "good" around. And in the second group are all the other people who were whipped unmer- cifully when they were kids and are trying to pro- ve that that is what has made them queer ever since. A plague on both their houses. Most of us olders were whipped, now and again, but not unmerciful- ly, and we deserved every stroke of the hairbrush, skelp of the yardstick, and switch of the willow -switch. It didn't warp us physically or psychologically. It taught us something about the society we would be living in as adults - that there are certain limits, and if you transgress them, you take your licks. It did us no harm whatever, and probaby saved her sanity. My dad, like most men leaving the dirty work to the mother, rarely laid a hand on us. But when he did...boy, some hand. He could spank your whole ass, not just one buttock at a time, with that hand. The same kid brother andI were in the same class in school one year, and once a week, our teacher,. Old Mary Walker, would give us a good strapping, along with a few other delinquents. We thought the world of her, and she of us. The strappings stung, but once in a while, we'd jerk back our hand and Old Mary would give herself a good crack on the' thigh. This doubled the number on each hand, but raised our status in the class. I've smacked my own kids, occasionally, and the grandboys, but their smoldering anger, and mine, never lasted more than fifteen minutes, because the smacking was not done in malice, and they knew they were ask- ing for it. Beating kids in school? Many parents would like it done. Many others would 1, have a lawyer on you. There are only two reasons for a teacher:to use a strip: 1) he or she is a poor teacher; 2) it adds a little drama to the hum- drum of the classroom. In fifty years, I've never seen strapping scare anybody or deter anybody. A word to the bleeding heats. There are many more insidious ways to wrap a child'spersonality than physical punishment. The real sadists of the classroom, and they are very few nowadays, are those who use personml harassment,-hectotlng, and sarcasm. Theseleattt do far more damage than a good thump. Ask 9ny kit In the whole debate, naturally, my sympathies are with the teacher. There are times when I would have been happy, not just to whip, but to strangle some kid, and go to jail for life meaning five years, with good behavior. Looking back, I amost wish I had. It's peaceful in prison. But 'I have no time for the bully in the classroom. Teachers Who know their stuff and have some strength of character have few discipline problems. However, let's think for a moment about the sen- sitive, ' young woman teacher who asks a lout to do something, and he says, "Screw you."? So the punk gets a "suspen- sion" for a few ,days (translation: holiday). And the teacher sits, shat- tered, among her crumbl- ed ideals. What to do? I'd turf him out of school for a year, and let his parents put up with him. Serve both par- ties right. Anyopinions? Let's have them. Heart attack prospects The scientists have nar- rowed down two basic types of people with respect to the likelihood of having a heart attack. A and B. Group A tends to have much fewer in- cidences of heart disease than Group B. They are easier -going, more matter-of-fact about life, tend to set realistic goals for themselves, are able to relax when away from their jobs, can let their anger out in a reasonable manner, and generally .en- joy life. Group B is just the reverse. They are usually very ambitious about pro- motions and getting ahead in their jobs, extremely conscious of time and its associated pressures, tend to set goals that are very high, sometimes far higher than is possible to attain, and tend to have poor methods of releasing the stress that is so fre- quent in modern jobs. The In days gone by people who worked hard physically were able to release frustration by Perspectives By Syd Fletcher scientists found out that people can actually create cholesterol in their blood streams in stressful situa- tions, and these people tended to have higher amounts than Group A and that they also tended to have higher incidence of high blood pressure, hypertension, and of course, heart diseases. bearing down a little harder on a shovelful of dirt or by 'cutting a few more logs for the fire, but those ways are not so easi- ly available for today's store or office worker. Big companies now are finding out that they save sick day time and increase productivity by building health centres near or on their factory grounds. The federal and provincial governments spend a great deal of money on advertising such as Tar- ticipaction' because they know that healthier people make a healthier, happier country. An interesting comment from the Canadian Heart Foundation: walking fif- teen minutes a day, every day, will make you lose eight pounds over the course of a year, assum- ing you don't change your regular diet. Another fact: each ex- tra pound of fat that you carry has an extra mile of blood vessels that your heart has to supply all day and all night too. Two little facts that many f us could listen tb carefu-1 y •