by Bob Hunter

Politics and Karate

Everybody scorns politicians. It's routine to
sneer at them. Politics is dehumanizing. Etc.

Yet, to tell you the
politicians.

They're tough. You have
to say that for them. The
ones that aren't don't last.

It doesn't matter whether
the politician in question is
West Vancouver Mayor
Derrick Humphreys or U-S.
President Jimmy Carter, he
sti) has to deal with a lot of
customers.

He risks losing face just
about every time he turns
around.

Every time he makes a
move he’s bound io make
someone, somewhere, mad
at him.

There's an ancient
Chinese saying to the effect
that he who truly rules, truly
serves.

No politician appears on
the scene who does not have
a constituency whose

truth, I rather admire

demands he must satisfy. In
fact, the more power he
acquires to lord it over
others, the more be ts in turn
lorded over.

Lord Acton’s comment
about power corrupting and
absolute power corrupting
absolutely overiooks the fact
that no one on earth has ever
had absolute power. And
besides, I don't think it's a
matter of power corraptng
so much as if is simply —
obviously — addicting.

There hes the rub. People
noticeably enjoy having
power over others. That's
why it took so long to evolve
a system of political
democracy, while 1 took
bardly any time at ail,
historically speaking, to

evolve a system of armies
willing to fight one another
to the death.

Generally speaking.
people have to be dragged
out of their positions of
power, kicking and

Of course, not all. But if
there wasn’t some kind of a
hit to be gotten out of the
experience of bcing in
authority. why would
otherwise sane people Bo
back for it again and again?

The truth is, most
politicians are workaholics.
They have to be. Even if
they do nothing else, they
have to work af staying in
power, the competition
beimg as fierce as 11 is.

In our politicians, we see
ourselves writ large. If they
are mean and graspmg, then
it tells us quite a bit about
the community we live in.

District bans dumping
of hazardous materials

Dumping hazardous
substances without written
permission from the fire
chief is now illegal in the
District of North Vancouver.

An amendment to the
District’s Fire Bylaw was
passed by District council at
their regular mecting
Monday night.

It reads: “No person may,
within the municipality,
dispose of any explosive,
flammable liquid, flammable

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substance, hazardous
substance or any liquid of a
petro-chemical nature
from the fire chief written
permission setting out the
conditions and location, if
any. for such disposal.”

A further amendment
states that anyone breaching
the bylaw will be hable to
penalucs and responsible for
rembursing the District for
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The amendment was
prompted by a gas spill last
month im which a District
Fire Department spokesman
said an employee of General
Boat Works dramed gas
from a pleasure craft, in for
repaw, directly mto_ the
lancway.

Firemen were called to the
scene and thcy sanded and
gravelled the area to cover
the gas spill.

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If they're noble — it does

happen — that says
something too.
If no one dared to stand up

above the masses of us, we
wouldn't be able to see over
the heads of the people
crowded around. A kind of
social blindness, or at least
myopia, would set in.

But for all my admiration
for politicians, I have to
admit I feel sorry for them.

Serving anyone is a pain,
but serving the public ts a
special pain, if for no other
reason than the number of
total strangers who know all
your faults without you
having had a chance to find
out therrs.

Politics in a parhamentary
democracy is hke a no
contract karate match
you can't actually Aut the
other guy.

Vividly, I recall watching
such a match — the outcome

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West Vancouver

of which seemed to me to be
the perfect expression of
what happens in politics.

Two clubs had entered the
contest. One guy on one side
kept winning against op-
ponent after opponent,
displaying fantastic control
and skill.

On the other side, there
was one particular guy who
was terrible, but he too kept
winning match after match.
It was not that he scored any
points for himself, but as
luck would have it, his
opponents kept shpping and
hitting him by mistake.

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Immediately, they'd be
disqualified for breaking the
no-contact rule.

Guess what happened ‘
the end.

The character whose fa
by then was a bloody pulp
came up in the final mat
against the guy who hadn’
done a single thing wrong all
day, but then, like everyone
before him, shpped and
decked old pulp-face with ;
kick. ‘

They carried the winner

off in a stretcher. Ah, sweet’:
victory, but such a price. .

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598-9221

270-9971