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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Workers of the world unite; seeing Stratford in Chatham-Kent; and unhappy voters

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

It’s funny you know….Politicians across the land have been announcing the end of the recession for the last couple of months. It’s over say Stephen Harper and Dalton McGuinty and most of the others. Then, last week, I saw two economists on the TV news within a couple of days who said that maybe the recession’s not over. Maybe we just made it look like the recession was over by pumping huge quantities of taxpayer money into a whole bunch of make-work projects. And once those make-work projects start to get finished up, we’ll pretty well be back where we started. I have long been of the belief that we are in a huge downward slide in North America as far as the economy goes….and at the moment, there’s no way to stop it. That’s because our esteemed leaders have exported nearly every good paying job on the continent to China or some other place where there is cheap labour. Those jobs aren’t coming back and when they went the standard of living in North America was lowered forever. Doesn’t matter how tough government talks about creating jobs and all that balderdash. The next time the government announces that it’s created some jobs, take a look at the type of jobs that have been created. Are they high paying manufacturing jobs, or are they minimum wage service sector jobs? No, folks, our economy is currently standing on the edge of an abyss and it will likely fall over. That’s because nobody seems to get it. You can’t send hundreds of thousands of jobs packing and expect the economy to sail along unhindered. About the only thing that could really save us these days is if the workers in these other countries start to realize that they’re really being taken for a ride. In fact, over the last few weeks there have been several strikes at Chinese manufacturing facilities, so there may be hope. There should be one rallying cry for workers around the world right now…..and it should go something like this…..”Workers of the world unite! Cast off the chains of your oppression!” Now, where have I read that before…..the Communist Manifesto? You don’t say…..we could see it yet. And you likely read that here first!

My wife and I made our first trip to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival on the weekend and, as usual, it was a wonderful experience….a chance to escape the humdrum in life, if only for a few hours. This is my nineteenth year reviewing plays at Stratford and it has been a totally enjoyable thing to do. The quality of performance at Stratford is really amazing, and even when we hit a play we don’t like, it’s still usually done in such good fashion that it’s almost always worth watching. Each year, I pick a couple of pieces of theatre that I really don’t know too much about. Usually, these are some of the best pieces we see that year. Usually, the only problem I have when I go to Stratford is that I’d like to stay and never come home. That’s because you can just feel the creativity in the air. The whole community is just filled to overflowing with creative vibes. I continue to hope that Chatham-Kent can create something similar using the Capitol Theatre, but I have some serious doubts about it. For one thing, the people operating the Capitol have decided to slug it out with venues in other nearby communities, instead of developing the theatre into a truly unique destination point for people seeking theatre that is somehow special. My own feeling is that it needed a strong Afro-
American focus through the spring summer and fall and then a real Dickensfest in November/December. Clearly, the people in the know at the Capitol aren’t reading this space. Many of the acts they’ve booked, we could have seen at the Kiwanis Theatre in past years. Hardly unique or special. I’m wondering how ticket sales are going? I know we all need to get behind the Capitol and try to make it work….but that’s tough if there’s nothing to get behind. Anyway, I’ve still got my fingers crossed and am waiting to see what happens. Maybe I’m all wet like usual.

Folks are really coming out of the woodwork for the municipal election this fall. If getting into the race early is any indication, there could be thousands of candidates by the fall. This usually means that people aren’t happy with the government they’re getting. I’d like to see a bit of a change….no doubt about that. I’ve been seeing a lot of the same faces at the council table for a little too long….

Out of time for another week and really hope things are going well out there in cyberland…..take care in the week ahead 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.