cktimes.ca Archives for Notes from a Garage


Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Economic armaggedon, Dave's last column, blues revival and up in Bayfield

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Well, I'm telling you....what a mess we've got in world financial narkets. And my feeling is it's going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. Our whole house of cards financial system may come crashing down and who really knows what that means. A friend of mine said he fears losing his home and business – I told him I can't imagine everyone getting turned out into the street if the whole system collapses. I guess we'd have to look back to the big crash of '29 to see what happened then. I'm gettin' a little old to be ridin' the rails, but as I've learned in life, you do what you gotta do. So, who's to blame for the big meltdown? Really hard to say. I'd say it's got a lot to do with all the jobs we've exported to Asia and other points in the world. These were good-paying jobs and they just haven't been replaced by employment of a similar calibre......the result is a general slide in the earning power of North Americans....the working class in Canada and the U.S. have a whole lot less money than they did, say, twenty years ago. People who had good jobs bought homes and big cars and took fancy vacations and spent their money – usually on credit. Then, poof, the job is gone and everyone's in trouble. I regularly hear the numbers of manufacturing jobs lost in Michigan and it's staggering – and it has happened across the U.S. and Canada over the last 10-20 years. Wallaceburg, my adopted town, has lost 6,000-7,000 jobs alone. And if you think there's still the money in the local economy there used to be, you're not thinking at all. So, I guess what I'm saying is that if I had to lay blame, I'd lay it on the free traders of the 1980's and that'd be Reagan and Mulroney and Thatcher – the three amigos – you must remember. The governments of that era traded away our collective futures for a very brief period of economic boom. It's too bad, folks, but the party might very well be over. And the really sweet irony in all of this is that our very own CEOs and Captains of Industry are the ones who sold us down the river. And the poor fools thought they were being so smart when really they were just playing their part in the natural evolution of the capitalist system. Unfortunately, we're the poor suckers who will pay the price. Great stuff, eh?

It's with some sadness that I accept Dave Richie's final installment of The Young and Impressionable – although it is with great respect for an excellent young writer who reminds me of myself about 30 years ago. And I wish some of the many people who have told me that they really enjoy "that young man you've got writing for you" would have passed those comments directly to Dave. Dave feels his column is missing the mark and not reaching the intended audience of young people, when I feel his column has been one of the most valuable on the cktimes' website. It has given me and many older readers a real insight into youth culture. And for that I heartily thank Dave. I know my audience on cktimes is mainly older folks, but I feel strongly that we need plenty of communication between the generations. I guess I've felt that Dave fulfilled that valuable role on the pages of cktimes. Still, I respect his decision and thank him for his contribution to what might be the planet's only good news newspaper. And I hope he'll consider returning at some point – good writer and a great young mind!

Had a chance to play out with the Hoodoo band at Tapas and Blues in Chatham this past Friday evening and we had a pretty good outing. We played pretty well and the crowd really seemed to enjoy the tunes. I've had a lot of fun over the summer playing with both the Hoodoo Band and Southwest Blues Review and have been very lucky that a blues renaissance seems to have developed, not just in Chatham-Kent, but across most of classic rock country. Think a lot of people my age are sort of tired of classic rock – i mean, it's great music but we've been listening to it for 40 years now and maybe it's time for something different. And most classic rock is rooted in the blues and that's why classic rockers feel comfortable with blues music. Our audiences at the clubs we're playing at are not the twentysomethings that rock the bar scene. They're mostly people my age or in that vicinity and that's why the place empties out by midnight most of the time. None of this two in the morning stuff for older folks. Anyway, it's wonderful to be part of this whole blues scene. It's a great joy to still be playing the old Fender guitar.

Was up to Bayfield over the weekend and the joint was jumpin'. Man, I can't get over that little village and the number of people it attracts. And that's what we need to do in Chatham-Kent! Become a destination location where people just want to come and spend time – and money. Let's work in that direction.....slow but sure.

Out of time for another week. Temperature is dropping this week – depressing stuff indeed. 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.