‘4'- Friday; April 3, 1587 — Norih Shore News Bob Hunter @ strictly personal ® | FOR THE first time in my memory what is going on in the Soviet Union seems more important than what is go- ing on in the United States. America has always been the cauldron of change, especially for Canadians living in a thin line along the northern flank. It is a country of such vitality and energy that it has always filled me with dread and awe. Yet right now the sense I get f about America is that it has ossified. It is not just that Ronald Reagan is showing signs of senili- ty. The United States itself seems f senile. | The Americans you see abroad today are mostiy the blue-rinse set. The younger ones have crew cuts and they’re back at home somewhere, either power-lun- i ching or lost in a video fog, mostly just clawing for survival. I turn on the tube and there is nothing coming across fr from there that not even a modern uuciear superpower can everything that happens on the ground. Certainly, the Americans ‘still wield enormous power — economic, social and military. But the limit of their power has come into stark focus. There are ather gigantic trading blocs, tike Europeans and Arabs, whose col- lective clout is equal to America’s. The rush into industrialization | by Asian Third World countries is eating away at America’s tech- nological lead, and at the same time creating new economies of scale. ; : It was not just Jimmy Carter’s helplessness in the face of a de- fiant old q ayatollah | that told the [ °Uf it weren’t for its chilling military system, constantly demanding new herdware, the American econom, ry would be a far smaller entity than it is ... ; ; that is the slightest | bit interesting. Bill Cosby has replaced Huey Newton. Eldridge Cleaver ‘is a Republican. Timothy Leary is a basket case. Johnny Carson prat- tles on. ; Yuppies are boring. The poor seem to have surrendered to their fate. The environmentalisis have become mere lobbyists. Congress is hopelessly tied up in petty power. struggles. American policy itself: has become a series of sleazy backroom deals run amok. Worst of.all, there is a sense of utter pettiness. No grand issues at all. Even in culture, there is a reek of putrefaction. The Hollywood formula movies all look the same. Name one great American writer who is making waves. The heroes are guys who are fighting rearguard actions to save Detroit. Do you hear from youth? Nope. The big news is how good Elizabeth Taylor looks. ' The space program? Well, maybe next year. In the mean- time, the astronauts are getting testy about having foreign pas- sengers on board. It reflects the mood of the times: bash your allies, rip off your friends, take care of Number One. - In fact — and this is the most significant sign — all across the board, the Americans are getting petty, xenophobic, niggling, wanting their marbles back. They just don’t have a vision any longer. It’s all rehash. They are into . finger-pointing and squawking. Worst of all, they are — whether they realize it or not — forfeiting what is left of their claim to leadership of the Western alliance. ~ The American empire didn’t really begin to crumble until Vietnam, when it became clear story, or. even Reagan’s oafish | attacks on tiny countries, while shying away from pushing back too hard against the big guys: . Probably it was the emergence of. Tokyo just last year as the banking capital of the world, replacing New York, which had replaced London, which had replaced: Paris. a long time ago, | that tells the real tale. America is being muscled aside by new biggies on the block. Like Reagan, the Land of the Free and the Brave might be in fabulous ‘shape for.:an. oldster, but the signs of wear and tear are present everywhere from a crumbling road system and poisoned rivers to decaying inner cities. If it weren’t for its chilling mil- itary system, constantly deman- ding new hardware, the American economy would be a far smaller entity than it is, and we may expect that its influence over us would be correspondingly | smaller. Having said all this, I remain perfectly aware that without the Americans, Canadians. would probably have been Afghanistanized a long time ago. Be that as it may, the most in- teresting revolution going on in j the world today is the one going on in Russia, which may be struggling to mature — at a time | when America is merely aging. There are absolutely no guar- | antees — and this is the nub of the issue — but the very dramatic reforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev are, by all accounts, a real and genuine effort to ex- tricate the'Soviet people from the corrupt, degenerate system they | have been trapped in for so long. If that’s the case, it’s fabulous news. is pleased to ainounce Dr. W. Patrick McRoberts ‘has joined him in his Practice of Optometry 1031 MARINE DRIVE (AVALON HOTEL BUILDING) NORTH VANCOUVER V7P 1S6 987-1929 control § SENIORS DAY | FIRST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH APRIL 6 Lynn Valley Centre knows seniors are special! Our shops and services are offering super deals to the members of our 60 or Better Club on the first Mon- day of every month. ‘A representative from ‘‘The Time of Your Life’, an event for seniors, will be on hand from 1:00 to 2:00 to answer your questions. ; A registration booth. for new’ members will be set up from 11:00 to noon. ' Join today! Lynn Vaiiey Centre 1199 Lynn Valley Rd. and Mountain Hwy., N. Van. : te ; ' . i 5 What's in a phone number? If you find your phone number hidden among the classified ads in the North Shore News you can win two tickets to the Pacific National Exhibition’s Spring Home & Garden Show, April 10-19, 1987. In our Hidden Phone Number Contest, the telephone numbers of eight North Shore rezidents will be selected at random from the phone book and placed among the classified ads, in today’s issue and every issue up until and including April 8, 1987. if you see your phone number, call the News Classified Department, then bring the newspaper into our office, identify yourself and phone number (with your telephone “ bill) and pick up your two free tickets to the PNE Spring Home & Garden Show. Read the classifieds! Find your phone yas number Win two | a free tickets to Rn orden Siow ee hibstion, Apel iO. tgtn 1947 986- 6222 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver THE VOICE OF NONTH ANO WEST VANCOUVER Val Stephenson Classified Manager aie Perera irae SK ne as SUNDAY + WEDNESDAY « FRIDAY All North Shore residents, except North Shore News employees and their families, are eligible