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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

The Essay on Civil Disobedience; a plethora of crime; and more criminal activity….

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

So, I’ve been railing away about the government over the past few weeks, and the more I study my relationship with the government, the more I realize that we just aren’t on the same wave length at all. I mean, there’s the gambling thing and the HST and the wind turbines and the smoking stuff and the drinking and driving stuff…..and it goes on and on. The provincial government and I are clearly not on the same page these days. And it sort of reminds me of my good friend, Henry David Thoreau. Back when Thoreau was around, the United States got into a war with Mexico. Thoreau thought the war was wrong and didn’t want to support it. He reasoned that when he paid his taxes, the government used the money to hire a soldier to fight in his place. He decided he didn’t want to fund even one soldier for an unjust war, so he stopped paying taxes. And, of course, he was arrested and thrown in jail. And while he was in jail, he wrote something called “the Essay on Civil Disobedience”. In this famous document, which I think is almost forgotten today, he argued that if government doesn’t abide by the wishes of the people, the people were justified in carrying out acts of civil disobedience against it. And the best act of civil disobedience you can pull off against any government is to stop paying your taxes. If enough of us carried out this act of civil disobedience, it would bring the government to its knees in short order. That’s why the power always lies with the people. So, the next time you and your friends are carping about the government and feeling all powerless and impotent, plan on starting a tax revolt. That’s the way to go. I’m almost there now, but I’m a little more radical than most. Still, it’s worth thinking about…

And speaking of government, I’ve discovered a law they should change. They should take all the stop signs in the province and turn them into yield signs. Why, you ask? Because almost no one stops at stop signs any more anyway. I simply can’t believe the number of people who perform rolling stops these days, before gunning it out onto the road. Highway 40 between Wallaceburg and Chatham is my favourite example of this. Now back when I was learning to drive, My Dad told me that you never pull out into traffic if you’re going to make the oncoming traffic slow down. Well, that rule is certainly gone these days. I’m almost killed at least once every time I travel Highway 40 and I can’t believe there aren’t more fatal accidents on that stretch of road. No, people are living their lives at such a fast pace these days, there simply isn’t time to come to a complete stop at stop signs. Man, I wish we could slow down a bit and exercise a little more caution. Take the 401….I’m cruising along at 120 kmh last week (too fast), and I should be in the slow lane because everybody else is passing me. Why bother with a speed limit at all on the 400 series of highways. I saw an OPP with someone pulled over last week and I wondered how the police decide who to pull over when everyone on the road is breaking the law. Strange, but true….

I was involved in a crime the other day….I think I was the victim. I drove a friend of mine to the hospital in Chatham for an MRI and while doing so I had to park in one of the CKHA lots. And on the way out, I forked over five bucks for the privilege of parking and waiting for my friend. And when I forked over that five bucks, a crime was committed, because it certainly should be a crime to have to pay to park to go to the hospital. I worked for the Sydenham District Hospital for quite a few years back in the 80’s and 90’s – was part of a huge fundraising effort to shape the hospital up. We raised over $2 million to help out SDH and it never once crossed our minds to put up parking meters. I mean, it would be cruel and unusual to make someone pay while they’re sick or injured and almost as bad to do it to someone who’s visiting someone who’s sick or injured. I think pretty well anyone should agree with that. It’s common sense. But you gotta pay at pretty well every hospital I’m familiar with. Sad, but true. And why you may ask? Because the provincial government is underfunding the hospitals? That’s why we have to constantly fundraise for capital equipment that should be funded. But, then again, maybe we should be looking at the wage structure and staffing levels in administration at the hospital. We’re in an economically depressed area…..perhaps we need to re-evaluate….Check what the City of Windsor is doing….

Out of time and really longwinded today….forgive me. Hope you’re having a good end of summer….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.