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The Huron Expositor, 1985-09-18, Page 2Huron F Axposltor. SINCE 1860, SERVING THE COMMUNITY FIRST BLUE RIBBON AWARD 1985 Incorporating Brussels Post 10 Main Street 527-0240 Published in SEAFORTH, ONTARIO Every Wednesday morning ED BYRSKI, General Manager HEATHER McILWRAiTH, Editor The Expositor is brought to you each week by the efforts' of,: Pat Armes, Bessie Broome, Marlene Charters, Joan Guichelaar, Anne Hutt, Joanne Jewitt, Stephanie Levesque, Dianne McGrath, Lois McLlwain, Bob McMillan, Cathy Melody and Patrick Raffia. Member Canadian Community Newspaper Assoc: Ontario Community Newspaper Association Ontario Press Council Commonwealth Press Union International Press Institute Subscription rates: Canada $18.75 a year (in advance) Outside Canada $55.00 a year (in advance) Single Copies - 50 cents each SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 1985 Second clgss mail registration Number 0696 Censorship Censorship, when spoken of in connection with communismand other repressive forms of government, is instantly decried on this_ side of the Atlantic as one of the most integral tools of oppression. it is therefore strange that from time to time various groups and organizations in this supposedly enlightened society come up with proposals to institute one form of censorship or another. The latest attempt to restrict what the masses will see or hear is being promoted by a United States -based group called Parents Music Resource Centre. This group is lobbying for a classification system for rock music records similar to the one which informs movie goers which films may offend them and in some cases, which ones they may not see at all. The PMRC is concerned that their children are listening to music which contains lyrics which they consider, not without cause in many cases, to be offensive or even obscene. The group's intentions are good and as parents they have a right to be concerned. However, they are exaggerating the problem and have proposed a solution which can only prove to be counter productive. Unfortunately, by rating records with whatever system would be devised, the record industry would simply be informing, youthful record buyers which albums contains the raunchiest lyrics -- thereby making them attractive to the more rebellious youths. In this way, the ratings will have defeated their intended purpose. Not only would the classification of records probably increase the sales of albums with the type of lyrics the PMRC would object to, it might also mean the end of the type of records they would prefer their children listen to. It has become an accepted fact in the movie industry, that to draw well at the box office a film must obtain at least a PG. Parental Guidance rating -- preferably an R, Restricted to persons over 18. The same would undoubtedly happen to the record business. No performer would want to make an album with a clean cut rating. It would be death at the record stand. It should be emphasized the current call for classification would affect only rock and roll music, There is no hue and cry over the suggestive euphemisms common in country music. Perhaps because parents are familiar with that type of music and do not fear it. Fear of something we do not understand is almost always found at the root of any censorship situation, and this case is no different. Rather than try to censor rock music, PMRC and like-minded groups would be doing their children more good if they attempted to come to terms with it. Opponents of rock should consider the good work done by Northern Lights, USA for Africa and similar organizations, which used rock music to unite the world in fighting Third World famine. Many of the musicians who were involved in what proved to be the most effective charity fund-raisers ever invented are the same musicians whose work the PMRC would rather their children did not hear. Participation in the Ethiopian benefits does not mean all of these musicians are paragons of virtue and good role models. Many are volatile individuals with outlandish views, But that does not change their fundamental right to express those views. Free speech is an indispensable weapon of democracy, no matter what medium that freedom is expressed through, we can't afford to let it be diluted. — P.R. COUNTRY CORNER by Larry Dillon Farms floundering The decline and failure of medium sized and small farms is predicted in a recent government document that was leaked to the press. Of course the response of the government was that the document was an economic prediction not a statement of policy. To the troubled farmers, it does not matter whether the document was policy or predic- tion. We know there are problems. In Ontario, livestock and cropping farms are in serious trouble. it is not just a matter of statistics. We are experiencing the cold harsh reality of the destruction of a way of life for thousands of families. I have seen several friends and neighbors forced out of the business because, of financial failure. At the present time i am worrying about two close friends who are in a desperate situation. They are each trying to stall foreclosure on their farms for a few more months in the hopes they can find a solution to the situation. Economic experts and other armchair advisors can toss phrases around like "good for the industry," "weeds out the ineffi- cient." or the frequently heard "obviously poor management, after all they lost money." This sounds good but it avoids the issue. The problems being experienced are not the fault of the farmer. I Those are Any it that are in trouble. They are efficient, productive, and conscien- tious farmers. They are not poor managers, they are victims of unfavorable market conditions. They still would have been able to survive if the situation had not been complicated by political manipulations. Farmers in other provinces often receive heavy subsidization. Our men cannot com- pete with both the farms and the treasuries of the other provinces. They are put at a financial disadvantage and then criticized because of supposed "inefficiency." The Ontario farmers are losing access to traditional markets because the American government is taking measures to protect its farmers from the unfair competition by other Canadian provinces. My friends, my neighbors, and other members of my community are losing their business, their homes, and their life savings because of this situation. It is no longer a matter of a few poor managers being forced out of business. The poor farmers were put out long ago. It is the hard working members of our community. the people we respect and care about, who are losing now. The next time 'hear someone saying that it is good for the industry or that the troubled farmers are poor managers, i think t will punch him in the nose. It may not be a rational reaction, but at least someone else will be hurting along with us farmers, OPINION Reflections Photo by Patrick Raftis China promises fascination For Westerners, China has always been one of the most fascinating countries in the world and the next few years in that country promise' to be even more fascinating than usual. China is in the midst of a great experiment as the Communist government tries to breathe new life into the economy by allowing at least a small amount of Tree enterprise. In a recent issue of National Geographic maga- zine there was a profile on the Sichuan province, the first area of China to adopt the new freedom to start a business on your own. Changes for some people have been drama- tic. The case of Wang Yongdi as an illustration. Wang grows flowers on 1.64 acres and grossed the equivalent of $28,000 in one year. By comparison, the average annual income of people in another poor county in the province is just over $100 a year. There is no doubt about it, private enterprise is going to improve the lot of many Chinese. There's no doubt too there will be those who will be cautious about getting involved. They've seen the winds of change turn'in the opposite direction many times in a lifetime. Capitalists were persecuted and made out to be demons after the communist takeover. Then came the various campaigns of Moa Tsetung according to his latest whim, culminating in the "Cultural Revolution" BEHIND THE SCENES by Keith Roulston that saw marry who had once been hems of the revolution being executed, exiled or just thrown out of work. Now comes a new leader with new ideas but he is old and what ideas will his successor have. From the other side it is sad to see the road the new freedom seems to be leading down. Chinese leadership has sold the idea of individual initiative by dangling the glittering baubles of western life in front of them: televisions and stereos, expensive, fashion- able clothing, cars and motor bikes. The rewards for frills in society are already higher than the rewards for producing the necessi- ties. Wang can earn far more from his flowers than he could from growing wheat or rice. Earning far more still is Li Pingfen who opened a nightclub that is quite scandalous by Chinese standards or Yang Yian who produces brightly -colored mosquito nets. The new prosperity collides with the old system in terms of supply and demand. The waiting list for some things like motor bikes is so long that people began finding ways around it through bribery and blackmarket- in W hat will be fascinating will be to see just where the balance between communist ideals and capitalist practicality finally is struck. W e in the West have been coming to the same balancing act from the opposite direction and it remains an uneasy balance with each side of the equation trying to push the balancing point a little farther. During the sixties and early seventies those who saw the problems of the capitalist system pushed for govern- ment intervention to lesson the hardship on those who didn't fit into the system. Today the push is in the other direction as people claim the welfare state has failed and we must get government and its regulations out of our lives. A stable balancing point will likely never be found in this ongoing struggle. Hut while the various factions here squabble, it would be good if they kept an eye on China and see what lessons that vast, intriguing land can teach us. Get back to spartan life is your life a cultural wasteland? Do you do the same old things, talk to the same old people on the same old subjects all the time? Are you scared to take a risk, smile at someone you've never seen before, do something the neighbors will mutter about? Do you want a decent tombstone, not flashy, but dignified? Of course you do. You're a good Canadian. You believe in personal decorum, censorship, the family as a unit, and capital punishment. On the other hand. Do you go for a swim at midnight. sing a song at dawn, smoke marijuana, drink fairly heavily, march in protest parades, live in sin, abhor censorship and capital punishment, and contrive to do something that will offend friends and neighbors? Of course you do, You're a good Canadian. You believe in individual liberty, acid rain, dirty movies and sexual irresponsibility. it doesn't matter which group you belong to, or whether you're somewhere in between, you all have much in common. Despise the government You despise the government, but won't elect an alternative, since you despise it even more. You are caught by inflation and high interest rates, whether you are a sixty -year- old fanner trying to keep the place going, or a twenty -year-old punk trying to maintain his habit. You are basically anti-American, though if you were asked why, you couldn't give an answer that was articulate. You feel frustrated, in this land of wood and water, not to mention nuclear power, because, if you are getting on in years, you see everything eroding around you, and if you are short in years, you see nothing but a stone Wall between you and your aspirations. You wonder vaguely, if you're old enough, - what became of the Canadian dream: "The twentieth century belongs to Canada." And if you read the papers and analyze the news, you realize that, while Canada still has a high standard of living, we are very low on the totem pole when it comes to production, SUGAR AND SPICE by Bill Smiley strikes, economic stability, peace, happiness and goodwill toward men. If you're very young, you don't give a diddle. There's lots to eat, warm clothes, and the old man will kick in a decent allowance so you can feed the video machines with their war games. But if you're a young adult, just about ready to launch into "real" life, you're so bewildered about unemployment, and esca- lating university fees, and the increasing shadow of the computer. and the wealth of choices of a future tall lacking in security) that you can become so depressed you drop out, or dive into a stream, and fight against the current. This isn't a doom and gloom column. it's merely a look at our nation today. It is so rife with suspicion, fear of nothing much, anger over ndthing much, that we are becoming paranoid. From the Prime Minister, through the head of the Bank of Canada, right down to your local alderman, you have lost trust, and feel that the ship is heading for the reef with nobody at the helm. This is nonsense, of course. Canada has been going through this miasma ever since 1867, and before. Maybe the guy at the helm is blindfolded, and maybe we have scraped a few rocks, but the ship's bottom is still sound, and we haven't hit the big reef yet. if we do, we can always scramble into the boats, and become the new Boat People of North America. W e've had the French-Canadian separa- tism thing with us for generations, John A. MacDonald almost put the country on the rocks, financially and politically, but he dared to take a chance, and had vision. W e survived a terrible depression, and came out smelling of roses (and the stench of our dead young men), in two world wars. Cheer up, you dour, gloomy Canucks. When you have to settle for one meal of ground wheat a day, and have to huddle around a charcoal brazier to keep warm, then you can whine. though few will listen, just as few of us listen to the people of the world who are doing just that. right now Forget about the Yanks If you don't like their culture invading us. turh off your TV set and get out your Eskimo carvings. The Yanks won't invade us physically. Unless they have to, and there's not much we could do about that. If you can't afford your mortgage increase, you were probably over-extended in the first place. Get rid of that monster, with its swimming pool and rec room and pitch a tent. Preferably in the local cemetery, to Suit your mood. sates Pull in your belts Ammummintios Pull in your belts. Dump that extra car, the boat and the cottage. If you look at it objectively, they're just a big pain in the arm anyway. Walk to work. Take a bus to the city instead of your gas -gobbler plus parking fees. Learn to do your own elementary plumbing and electric work at night school. Ladies. Get the knitting needles out and make lots of shawls, sweaters, scarves and wool socks. You did it for the troops overseas. And godawful itchy and ill-fitting some of them were, but they kept us warm. Stop spoiling your children with allow- ances. Let them earn their own money through odd jobs, or do without. Let's stop grumbling, and get back to a spartan. rewarding life, where ideas are more important than physical comfort. After you, h' said.