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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Spaceship Earth; trying not to rain on the parade; and my basement “man cave”

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

You know, I keep watching these economic gurus on the TV and hearing them on the radio, and they’re all guessing about where the economy is going….when those of us with even a modicum of sense know it’s going down the toilet if we carry on in the direction we’re going. That’s because the population is growing at an alarming rate and we’re roaring through the heavens on Spaceship Earth. A 1960’s philosopher by the name of Buckminster Fuller coined the term Spaceship Earth and he used this analogy for our planet because, like astronauts travelling on a spaceship, we have only the resources on the ship to sustain us. At the moment, we can’t just reach off the planet and get more oil, or more food or more whatever. That day may come, but it’s not here yet and is coming at the proverbial snail’s pace. In the meantime, we have to get along using what we have on board the ship. Problem is that with the economic system we have, and the way we keep insisting on continued, unending growth, we are going to start to run out of stuff. And yet no one seems prepared to face this rather fundamental dilemma. The funny thing is – and you probably realized this – guys like Buckminster Fuller could see the problem coming 50 years ago. And, yet, we did nothing about it and we continue to careen along in space with little hope of long term survival. Mark my words. We will have to make some major adjustments in the relatively near future…..or they will be forced on us. We all know it, but nobody seems to want to talk about it…..Strange but true…

Some of you who read this space know I’m not a big fan of the Olympic games. I feel they have become too big and too grand and too professional and too overblown. I was asking a guy on the weekend why we have to build all these expensive venues for the games. Vancouver and area already has skating rinks, ski hills and most of the other stuff you need for the winter Olympic games. So, why then is it always necessary to build all this extravagant gear for the games? All the machinery for doing things like timing the races and stuff must cost a gargantuan amount of money. And why? Why the heck can’t some guy stand beside the track with a stop watch…..or some variation of that? No, I try not to poopoo the Olympics too much because I know a lot of people really enjoy them – and when you see the enthusiasm and excitement on the athlete’s faces, you know they’re having a good time. But the waste of cash is overwhelming and not really too cool when there are so many people suffering in the world. Having a competition like the Olympics is fine, and spending all that time and money on them is also fine – but you better make sure you’ve got your own house in order when it comes to feeding and housing people who could really use a leg up. Sorry, but when I see the amount of money spent on an event like the Olympics, my social conscience gets going. I just can’t seem to help it.

I’ve got sort of a shrine to the old days in my basement room. I recently heard a fellow refer to such a space as a “man cave” and I really like that. I’ve got old photos of myself when I was a wee lad, a Jim Morrison flag, a few framed album covers, a big wall plaque of John Lennon – and there are nooks and crannies all over the room with stuff jammed into them. An old wallet, a letter from a friend written in 1968, my public school graduation pin, the chess set I got for Christmas 34 years ago…..a lot of personal treasures – the stuff of my life. But as I get older and see what happens as people age, I know my stuff – my personal treasures – are heading to a garage sale near you when I get old. And it won’t really mean anything to the people who paw through it and purchase this or that for a few pennies. No, most of the junk that you value in your life is just plain old junk to everyone else. And that’s sort of a sobering thought. And it’s something I never used to think about. Sort of thought I was immortal and that it would somehow go on forever, but am now realizing that the ride is going to come to an end. I have worked hard to leave a legacy through my writing and will have to hope that that’s enough. And that’s about all there is to it.

Was up to the record show in London on the weekend and picked up a few more pieces of vinyl to add to the mountain of vinyl I’ve already got….forcing my wife to cringe. But what great tunes!!!

Out of time for another week…hope everything is going well as we head for spring….take care and remember, “Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may.”



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.