at

Some recession!

asked my father-in-law: what the difference

was between the current, ahem, mild recession,
and the Great Depression.

“In the Depression you
had to chop a cord of wood
before you got
breakfast,’ he replied.

Ah. I see.

What. with the 50th an-
niversary of the March on
Ottawa having just passed,
and unemployment levels be-
ing as high now as they were
in.the middle of the. Dirty
Thirties, it's fair to try to
compare the two eras.

1 look at young people fac-
ing an economic dead zone,
and l see some awful changes
taking place.

For one thing, you’ll note,
there is no March on Ottawa
happening. There is an
astonishing lack of rage out

Broken
watermain
floods |
‘basement

- A BROKEN’ WATER main

inconvenienced iwo
homeowners in North Van-

: couver Saturday. :
‘North: Vancouver District”
firefighters were called to the -

_ 3500 | block’ Highland: just.
_- before 8’a.m. May. UL: wher
“ aswater main had, broken.

. They: in® ‘turn: called ‘the:
North . Vancouver municipal ’
‘Engineering «: Department.

Sin:

basement.: >.

445 13th St.
.West.Van
926-8922

to eat :

; District ‘crews repaired the ™

. leak .but not before” gravel
’ “got into the driveway and silt

into the pool of the house at:
, 961 Forest. Hills. .The house:
_at3557 Highland. had ‘three -
to'four feét.of water in the <3

Reservations Suggested

there,

To tell the truth, I think we
are becoming Newfoundland-
ized.

This was a phenomenon i
noticed in Newfoundland,
naturally. With 14 per cent of
the workforce on the dole, |
expected to meet bitter, angry
men ready to go to the bar-
ricades, Instead, 1 found a lot
of surprisingly cheerful guys.
The only problem was, they
were tanked 90 per cent of

‘the tinte.

The pubs stayed open until
the last customer passed out
and opened in the morning
when the first one roared in
on his Skidoo.

Everybody had a video
machine, And enough money
for food, fuel and smokes. ft
was actually fairly easy to
blot out the whole world,
hunkered down in front of
the boob tube or the bar or
both,

Nobody was out chopping
wood at the crack of dawn,
let me tell you.

One thing was clear: there
wasn’t going to be a revolu-
tion or insurrection in New-

Mon-Sat from
.§:00pm
Closed Sunday

foundland, b'ye. By the stan- ~

dards of all previous history,
even the poorest of the poor
was living in the lap of some
kind of luxury.

This is how it’s getting in
B.C., by the way.

i happen to know quite a
few people who are aut of
work, not all of them young,
by a long shot. Some of them
had very upscale jobs.
They’re the ones who are
really uptight.

The younger ones have ac-
cepted their fate with
astonishing willingness, it
seems to me, Obviously this
is a generalization and there
are a million exceptions, but
there are a heiluva lot of able-
bodied young persons out
there on welfare and UIC
who like things exactly the
way they are.

Why should they want to
work? Often enough, they
get more money on the dole
than they’d make if they took
work, especially if you allow
for all the deductions that
Start happening the moment
they earn a penny.

I look at some of these
guys. There they are, smok-
ing cigareties! I got off the
killer weed years ago, but
have you noticed the prices

PIRE FITNESS
CRT OCATING TO

* SAUNAS
* SUN BEDS

* RETAIL WEIGHTLIF
* CAFETERIA

* AEROBICS

CENTRE iS
THE NORTH

NTER CLUB.

OPENING SOON
; REA

_ *'B500 SQ.FT. WORKOUT A
* OVER 120 EXERCISE STATIONS
* SEPARATE CHANGE ROOMS FOR

N AND WOMEN WITH
SA *STEAMROOMS *WHIRLPOOLS

* SHOWERS *LOCKERS
* OLYMPIC SWIMMING POOL (S

* JUICE AND VITAMIN BAR

. ALIZED INSTRUCTION
Penson TING ACCESSORIES

* LICENCED LOUNGE
ALSO AVAILABLE

* CHILD MINDING SERVICE

for a deck of smokes? How
can someone seriously be
considered a genuine poverty
case if they can sustain an ex-
pensive drug habit like
nicotine?
Critics of our welfare
system tend to overlook its
main purpose, which is social
control. Keep ‘em dazed,
drunk and dependent. That
way, they'll never storm the
gates. Obviously, it works as
well in B.C. as it does in
Newfoundland.

Sure, I feel sorry for the
unemployed. But, face it,
there are a lot of
‘“‘unemployed’’ out there
who get by on their
guaranteed annual income
quite nicely. They’re not go-
ing to rock the boat.

Chop wood? You laugh.
Hey, man, this is the
Eighties. Drink up!

It's too bad we don’t have
a national goal. A mission.
What's wrong with Manifest
Destiny, anyway? That way
we could take a pretty fair
chunk of our unemployed
and give them something to
do.

Here, build a canal from
coast to coast. Save the starv-
ing in other lands. Set up a
colony on Mars. Re-build the
forests. Create a fleet of com-
puterized solar-powered

ships. Something! Anything!

*LOUNGE AREA
EASONAL)

happening to virtually an en-
tire. generation in this
province,

Sit on your butt too long
and you turn into a
vegeiable. And that’s what's

NOW OPEN
LYLA'S
HEALTH CENTRE
Personalized consultations
NUTRITION SYSTEMS
ANALYSIS & NUTRITION
PROGRAM

—To prevent disease & promate good health;

—Advice for dietary correction & dietary supplements ac-
cording to the specific metabolic needs and based on
latest scientific evidence;

—Hair, blood, urine analysis to investigate the amount of
minerals & essential elements in the body, and the

presence of toxic metals poisoning,

WEIGHT LOSS & CONTROL PROGRAM

—Designed according to the individual metabolic

tequirements:

—Toxic fat (Cellulite) removal by combined treatments;

—Control check up after 6 months at no charge.

INCHES LOSS & MUSCLE TONNING

—Body wrap (dry) & Slendertone Signa! Stimutation

methods;

—All treatments for men & women, under professional

control.

CALL FOR FREE CONSULTATION OR JUST
COME IN!

Mon, Wed, Fri 9:30-5:30 #340 1425 Marine Dr. W.V.
Tue, Thur 10:00-7:00 Tel. 925-2760 ;

Eeeriepsce