The South Marysburgh Mirror I have to admit the recently departed Harry Smith got me thinking. His commitment to social jus(cid:415)ce seems to have been the raison d'etre of his later years, if not his life. His sen(cid:415)ments lay very similar to many in terms of being your brother's keeper. However Harry did not just feel or talk, he ACTIVELY opposed injus(cid:415)ce. He personally kept the spotlight on many evils so that those with the power and resources could see what was happening and move to remedy. It's food for thought in a troubled age. But are things really that bad? Well yes and no. Clearly the advent of the internet means we are far more aware of developments and issues across the globe than we ever have been before. A click of a mouse bu(cid:425)on can tell you about weather in Sea(cid:425)le or the poli(cid:415)cal unrest in Uganda. I'm hoping that this means we are s(cid:415)ll in a peri- od of transi(cid:415)on as the world becomes increasingly more connected and aware. The internet should be a tremen- dous vehicle for bringing us closer together but first we s(cid:415)ll have to get over the shock of discovering and more deeply understanding other cultures. There is a founda- (cid:415)on being laid for this, especially in Canada. I hope it spreads in a sustainable fashion. Lastly, I leave you with one further point and this one is more op(cid:415)mis(cid:415)c. While far from solved, the num- ber of people living in extreme poverty is falling. In just 20 years over a billion people escaped extreme poverty through goal se(cid:427)ng by the UN. Tons and tons of more work needs to be done, including in this country, but clearly something is going right. The baby boomers have not been up to some of the challenges of this new world, but this is something to feel good about. 2 By Doug McGregor The Legacy of A Baby Boomer Like many people these days, I feel stressed and bummed out about the state of the world. Much of this hails from the ac(cid:415)ons of various na(cid:415)ons and socie(cid:415)es. Is there something about our genera(cid:415)on that has re-spawned the evils of racism, extremism and even state sponsored torture? Or is it a simple resurgence of mankind's darker behaviours? As a child, I learned about the horrors of WW II. I naively felt at the (cid:415)me that the evils commi(cid:425)ed then were behind us as species as if it were part of some great learning. Our poli(cid:415)cal and social systems had evolved to be strong enough to prevent bad condi(cid:415)ons from forming and le(cid:427)ng bad people into power. Genocide and state ins(cid:415)tu(cid:415)onalized torture were things that all but died in 1945 and evil had been stamped out. Imperialism was dead and all we had to do was pa(cid:415)ently overcome the Cold War. As an adult I was lucky to work for a mul(cid:415)na(cid:415)onal company and met people of all different races, religions and countries. Many became friends and I became a be(cid:425)er person for it. At the (cid:415)me it seemed like the world was pulling together as a global community and I felt somewhat comfortable in my outlook, par(cid:415)cularly a(cid:332)er the Berlin wall came down. However the world hasn't turned out this way. Terrorism, genocide and racism have become more serious. Disappoin(cid:415)ngly the tools of the 5th estate (journalism) have faded as compe(cid:415)(cid:415)on from the internet and sensa(cid:415)onalist biases mean we can no longer rely on a single source to keep us informed. Indeed, it is a struggle most days to figure out where the truth lies. destruc(cid:415)on. Depressed yet? Me too! So where do OUR responsibili(cid:415)es lie as individual ci(cid:415)zens. For me, that's a real dilemma. I used to think I had three major roles: 1) to live my life in rela(cid:415)on to others as I would like to be treated; 2) to stay informed about current affairs domes(cid:415)cally and abroad; and, 3) make to government. But is that enough? So one way or another we seem headed for self- the best choice possible for elec(cid:415)on