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PORT PERRY STAR -- Tuesday, August 23, 1968 -- 7 wd Viewpoint by John B. McClelland Is a newspaper editor entitled to have a change of heart? That's a question | was asking myself as | sat in front of the MAC and pondered this column. Sure, why not. People change their minds eve- ry day of the year. So why not editors and colum- nists. There was a time not too many moons ago when | was a supporter of wide open Sunday shop- ping in the province of Ontario. Not that | would ever go shopping on a Sunday. God knows | hate shopping any day of the week. The last thing in the world | would ever do on a Sunday afternoon is go shopping. But that's just my preference. One heck of a lot of people in Ontario must like shopping on Sun- days or the Government would not be embroiled in the pickle over the issue. And besides, | used to think. Business is busi- ness. If somebody wants to keep his/her shop open on Sunday, or all night, that's not my affair, nor it is the affair of the provincial government. | don't like governments telling reasonably intelli- gent, law abiding citizens when they can go shop- ping, when they can buy a case of beer, or what movies they can view. But 'that's another story. Back to the Sunday shopping issue. What changed my way of thinking was not the arguments put forward by big labour that Sunday shopping would result in workers rights getting trampled; nor was it the shouting of religious figures that Sunday is a day set aside by God for rest and recuperation from the week that was and for the week ahead. | think most people can intelligently decided for themselves when they want some time for rest and recuperation. No, my thinking changed when | noticed a couple of stickers on the rear bumper of a car. One said "born to shop," and the other said " shop til you drop." So, what's the connection between a couple of facly bumper stickers and Sunday shopping, you ask? I"m not completely sure. But | think it has some- thing to do with commercialism run rampant in soci- ety. Have we really reached the point where people are "born to shop" and "shop til you drop." Maybe I'm over-reacting. Maybe it is folly to take those bumper stickers at their literal meaning, but the very fact that they are being displayed, even as a gag, tells me otherwise. There is a message in those bumper stickers and it is this: spend, spend, spend. Buy, buy, buy. Even if you don't need it, buy it. Go shopping for the hell of it. Make shopping an activity unto itself, rather than a necessary chore. | truly hate to say it, but if this "shop til you drop" mentality is starting to creep into the way society thinks, then by gosh, maybe society does need government protection from itself. My protest is not so much against Sunday shop- ping per se, but more against the whole issue of to- tal and mass commercialism, mass consumption of a seemingly never ending string of products, goods and services, all neatly packaged and labelled in throw-away wrappers that are as useless as the product inside. As a society, we are consuming at a rate that far exceeds our needs, and even our wants. Our ap- petite has become insatiable, constantly feeding off itself in a vicious frenzy for more, more, more. Sunday shopping is just a small and fairly insig- nificant part of the feeding frenzy of mass consu- merism. The North American addiction to useless non-essential products (and the corresponding ad- diction to money to buy these useless products) has in my view replaced many activities and values that are far more noble to the human spirit. Not content to foist this feeding fenzy on us six days each week, the merchandisers of junk and useless trinkets now want it seven days a week and they have come up with all kinds of neat little argu- ments to back their case. | swallowed those arguments for a while. They did after all, pander to my basic instinct that big gov- ernment has no place in the marketplace and no right to tell intelligent people when they can or can- not shop for disposable diapers. But | honestly think the merry-go-round has to stop, or at least slow down. Sunday shopping is a mere corollary of the bigger, more dangerous mala- ise of un-bridled consumption. Television, the most pervasive messanger for mass consumerism, has already killed conversation in most families, and is in danger of killing the ability or the desire to read and/or think, especially among today's youth. Somebody has to put the brakes on, and no to Sunday shopping might be a way a to start. L.etters oo Yesterday's Memories 70 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 22, 1918 Courses in Agriculture and Household Sciences will be ad- ditional courses at the Port Perry High School starting in September. Harvest crops are exceptionally good in this vicinity this season. Mr. W.F. Walker, Manchester, is erecting a new silo on his farm. Mr. Ralph Fitchett, Manchester has bought Cawkers Bros. butcher business and opened up the store in Port Perry. Mr. George Gerrow has sold his home to Mr. Allan Goode and will move to Toronto in October. 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 26, 1943 A complete new roof has been put on the Town Hall, credit is due Mr. Len Leahy for good work in levelling the roof base. Mrs. Clayton Love and Mrs. Arch Anderson entertained at a shower in honour of Miss Mary Stone, a popular bride-to-be. The amalgamated congregations of the United Church at Scugog Centre will celebrate the laying of the corner of the new church. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 20, 1953 Mr. George Holmes, Chief Constable, tendered his resigna- tion and the council accepted it. Meantime Provincial police will police the area. Port Perry Legion Branch have made a donation of $900.00 to the Hospital. Monty Cranfield, Oshawa, set a new record at Port Perry Yacht Club Marathon. . 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 21, 1958 Mrs. Ralph Dusty is Dairy Princess for Ontario County and will take part in the contest for Dairy Queen at the C.N.E. The Annual Progressive Conservative Picnic was held at Greenwood Park. Mr. Ronald Wanamaker took as his bride, Miss Leona Mae Reynolds, in Seagrave United Church. 20 YEARS AGO Thursday, August 22, 1968 ' Miss Pat Hunter, Seagrave, a member of the Port Perry Junior Farmers, will represent Ontario County in the preliminary Dairy Princess Contest at the C.N.E. on August 22. (Turn to page 12) Thanks for the Iceland article To The Editor: Dear Mrs. Cathy Olliffe: This letter has been composed in my mind over and over again. It is difficult for me to express my emotions or thoughts on paper, a fact that you are able to do with such ease. Please be patient with I wish to extend my deepest love and my sincerest thank you. The article on Iceland means a great deal to me. I am impressed with your fine writing ability. You were able to pull from our inter- view the points that would be organized into sequence, creating a professional piece of writing. A lot of work!!!! It is frightening to imagine that I have allowed this all to go to my head. A copy of the Iceland arti- cle shall be sent to the National Baha'i Office in Reykjavik, Iceland and in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I was feeling nervous about be- ing interviewed and forgot much that I wanted to tell you. I cannot change that now, however, it is Good Samaritans To The Editor: Today, Sat., Aug. 20th, approx. 2:30 p.m. we had the misfortune of motor failure on the lake in our boat & 10 miles from home. After paddling for over an hour, we were fortunate enough to final- ly be spotted by some caring peo- ple from Robinglade Estates. They towed us all the way home and would only accept a "thank you" for a reward. We saw many boats go by (& they knew we were in trouble) as we waved & hollered, etc., to no avail. What is the matter with this sort of individual; when they see Box bashing It must be a new fad. Everywhere across the town- ship, mailboxes are being bashed in and broken into. The latest area to be hit by this plague is Epsom, where on August 20, scven mail- boxes were destroyed, and some mail was stolen. you, know you're in trouble then laugh & take off? There could have been a heart attack victim aboard for all they knew! ! Anyway, again we say: thank you very very much to those kind & thoughtful people who helped us in our need. Frank & Irene Lux, Pat & Glen Anderson, Sun Valley, Seagrave. important to me to share the following story. During my stay in Iceland a letter came to the. Iceland Baha"i Office, addressed to me. It was a letter of introduc- tion from Mr. Jerome Taylor, Mayor of Port Perry. No words can explain what it means to me to have this letter arrive in Iceland. At the time of its arrival I was still experiencing pangs of home sickness. Thank you Mr. Taylor. The gesture, I hold close to my heart. A special note to my family. They have always supported me and have always been close to me. God has blessed me with giv- ing them to me. I love each of you very much. Thank you for your time, the in- terview, your kindness and the ar- ticle on Iceland. Again, for everything, thank you. Wish upon the moon, listen to the songs of the nightingale and slide down a rainbow. Allah'u'Abha, Heather Boyd, Port Perry, Ont. Letters to the Editor ... our policy It has always been the policy of this newpspaper to encourage our readers to make use of the letters to the editor column. Our readers have a right to freely express their opinions and view- points on just about any subject, and we feel that a lively letters column helps make a better community newspaper. We insist, however, that a letter writer sign his or her name. On 1are occasions, we will agree to with-hold publication of a letter writer's name, if we feel there are very good reasons to do so. Under no circumstances will this paper print an anonymous letter to the editor. While we enjoy receiving letters from our readers, we must con- tinue to insist on knowing the identity of the writer.