4- Sunday, August 4, 1985 - North Shore News No thanks to Star Wars STAR WARS. I’ve been rapped by readers as a Commie stooge for saying we shouldn’t go near Reagan’s Strategic Defence Initiative. The Ruskies have thousands of scientists deployed on a space-based defence shield. If Uncle Sam doesn’t do it, the Red hoardes will be at the gate. Besides, proponents whisper, there’ll be jobs in it for you Canucks. Wink. Wink. At the moment, with Reagan and Gorbachev psyching up for a summit, 1 would assume the issue is basically on hold. Canada’s input, no doubt already formulated, despite the public hearings, isn’t going to influence either Weshington or Moscow all! that 1.uch. Sill, it is worth making a point of saying “thanks but no thanks,’’ since the Star Wars idea will be the next generation’s curse, just as The Bomb has been ours. If our parents had been asked, in the mid-1940s, whether they favored building a weapon that would eventual- ly be capable many times over of destroying the entire earth, how many of them would have agreed to let the Manhattan Project go ahead? Comparatively, the losses to be suffered in a conven- tional attack on the Japanese archipelago would have seemed a small price, com- pared to the present nuclear dilemma, which threatens everybody and everything on the planet, including all fur- ther evolution. To me, the trillion-dollar Star Wars project represents the dark side of the impulse to make science fiction real. It was okay to go to the moon. It is not okay to build a “Death Star,”? which is essentially what SDI is--an ultimate space weapon. Most of the people starv- ing on earth are hungry because national wealth has ‘een poured into arms, not food production. In_ that sense, I can’t see how this century won't be looked back on as the most tragic of all eras, a time when children died for lack of protein while hunter-killer satellites jockeyed for laser- firing positions far, far above. The U.S. and the Soviet economies are mirrors at the level where both represent a kind of defence socialism. More than half the resources of the vast American federal bureaucracy are devoted to the military. It is difficult not to see that the course of events since the Cold War began have suited the needs of the big corporations in’ the U.S. rather nicely. The U.S. aerospace in- dustry has, in fact, been called ‘‘a kind of national industrial welfare program,”’ keeping the biggest and most powerful corporaticns alive. At a time when the great smokestack industries are crumbling, it makes cash- flow sense to embark on a high-tech military adventure in space, regardless of the damage to whatever few bi- latera} restraints there are to an open arms race in space. YNICA seeking summer volunteers IT'S EASY TO do some- thing worthwile this summer. And doing just a little can make a big difference to a lot of people The North Vancouver YMCA is fooking for volunteers to accompany handicapped adults and children on various day trips in August. Such trips might in- clude a day on the Royal Hudson or an afternoon at a BC Lions game. Interested people or those wanting informa- tion are asked to contact Mike Cregan at the North Van YMCA, phone 985- 5036. é “COMPLETE JAPANESE AUTO SERVICE CENTER” > “Quality Service Assured” Honda, Toyota, Mazda Datsun, Subaru, Colt CALL SKE FOR APPOINTMENT WE ALSO SERVICE DOMESTICS 1.B. AUTC 1160 W. 16th St. N, Van, 986-5375 fone block south of Marine/ot! Pemberton) “DO IT YOURSELF” or HAVE If DONE Decogywone) MANUFACTURED BY Decor Stone Inc. 310 Harbour Ave. North Vancouver and Exposed Aggregate CONCRETE PAVERS Also stepping stones, planters, curbs, bicycle stands SANDERSON CONCRETE PRODUCTS LTD. Call us: 985-6108 The trouble with Star Wars is that, like every other major mew weapon or defence strategy, it summons a clone of itself into being. Just as once The Bomb was created, the other side had to by Bob once a ‘Shield Wall,’ to borrow another science fiction term for the same thing, is in place, another Shield Wall will emerge in space to confront it. BEA have it, SUCCESSFUL WRITER Make money writing & earn while yeu learn. The Writing Schgol shows you Law ta write articles, short stories, novels, romances, radio and TV scripts that sell and keep on selling. 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The Writing School 6 Beechwood Avenue, Suite 183 Ottawa, Ontario K1iL 8B4 Toll Free: 1-800-267-1829 It is, indeed, all very much like the Dance of Shiva. The most perverse part of the whole, mad event is the logical outcome of it all: Everything stays the same. A balance of terror. Opposing strictly personal Hunter military megamachines. Ex- cept, by then, the super- powers would be dug in, as it were, in space. Neither side is guing to back away once they’ve got a toe-hold like that. UP TO 50% OFF nh UT At up to half-price! ‘< { Go the swag lamps! KG ! The table lamps! , The fixtures! The , desk lamps! the lampshades! The floor lamps! ! Every light we don't want hanging around ail summer at Lighting Uniimited is going out, right now! At 20%, 30%, 40%, up to 50% aff the prices they sold for before! a5 THE UP-TO-HALF-PRICE SALE AT * LIGHTING UNLIMITED THE EXPERTS IN HOME LIGHTING . SALE ENDS AUG. 17 th LANSDOWNE PARK MALL 279-2718 PARK ROYAL SOUTH 925-1511 If there was ever an in- dustry that the case for no- growth could be made for, it has to be military establish- ments everywhere. Yet Mr. Reagan, before he leaves, wants to toss a trillion bucks at the Pentagon, point at the stars, and say, ‘“‘Charge!"’ He won't be around, and even you and I might not be around when the switch is thrown to activate the Shield Wall or Death Star or whatever it ends up being called. It is not going to be easy to dismantle the thing once it is in place, a lot harder than screaming about it now. I liked it when space, at least, didn’t have military parameters. None of our OPENING AUGUST Ist in COQUITLAM CENTRE * many pattems in stock * 30% off regular price ’ ae Prices from Be Water Wise. Play it Safe. kids really needs THAT to cope with forever more. Everybody knows a wall is both defensive and offen- sive, since it halts people in their tracks, defines ter- ritory, draws the line where no one may cross. For what little it is worth, Canada might yet at least set a sensible example for thoughtful politicans in Washington by bowing, politely, of course, out of the deal. Star Wars? The mere fact we're even talking about such a concept is pretty damn weird, when you think about it, let alone that policies are being shaped to fit an arms race in space. Help! ‘Boonen 100% Cotton Cover Pros fom TWN 25 oz. 149% DOUBLE 30 oz. 169° QUEEN _ 36 oz. 1998 42 oz. 239% Boating and alcchal are a deadly inix. 50% of all boating accidents invoive alcohol. ts The Cargactian Rea Cross Socieky