Muriel's Thoughts - February 7, 2006

The following are my own opinions.

The Bible says: “Ye have sown the wind, ye shall reap the whirlwind”.

Alvin Toffler’s book “The 3rd Wave” describes the communities he sees in the future. Today, we have gated communities with fences around them. In the future, we’ll have brick walls around them. The people inside will be armed to protect what they have and the poor people will come against them. Both will be armed. Is this the kind of society we want?

Today, 60% of the money accrues to 10% of the people. The other 90% of the people fight over the 40% of money that is left. We can see this working in our society by the increase in lawlessness and the increase in criminal activities. And, our society does very little to provide for the homeless, the poor, the elderly and the sick.

Remember that one half of the world’s population (or 3 Billion souls) are below average intelligence. Watch the sitcoms on television. They use very basic language. The increase in computers and the variety of computers leads to the lessening of original thought amongst people. Computers only spit out what has been put into them. In other words: ‘garbage in, garbage out’.

Multi-tasking just about guarantees that what can go wrong, will go wrong. Barriers are thrown up to prevent people from conversing with other people. They have to go through many difficulties trying to speak with someone about their problems.

The best government is the least possible government. Governments intrude on all our activities. As a result, there are so many rules and regulations that people just disregard them. Bureaucrats who run the government are removed from responsibility for their actions except in extreme cases and are not responsible to the public.

Taxes are increasing far too quickly for the average family. They are being increasingly squeezed to pay for their homes and to bring up their families. They are under enormous strain for such ever increasing costs as the Olympics and sports fields.

Taxpayers should be asked to vote on all proposed increases in taxes before new federal, provincial and municipal governments are elected. All taxes should be justified like this. I also think that the costs for Langley Township’s new full time fire department should be phased in.

I believe that many of our seniors will be taxed out of their homes. It is very difficult for people whose mate is deceased to live on one pension. I believe many face a choice between medications, food and keeping their home. The burden becomes unbearable. A person’s home should be their security.

Many of the high price ticket items like stadiums for the Olympics and other sport events should be paid for by people who are employed. As a senior, I cannot drive. I cannot indulge in sports or frivolous entertainment. I cannot afford it. There are many like me and I fear that we are going back into a time where there will only be private medical care and no pensions. I remember the Great Depression and I don’t believe that anyone would care to go back to those wretched times.

We are a very decadent society if we will not look after our homeless, our mentally distressed, our poor and our helpless. There, but for the grace of God, go all of us.

I often think the general impression we have is that somebody or something is in charge of our world. Well, I remember cowering in the basement with my family during the crisis over Cuba (when Russia and the US were on the verge of nuclear war). We wondered if we would live to see the next day. If you think people are rational, just remember that period of time in our recent history.

Do not go into debt. I get my cousin’s cast off clothes and I am grateful. I do not have a credit card. I shop at the dollar stores. I use a crock-pot to make nutritious meals. It can be done. Live within your means. Can’t governments do the same?

I was taken ill recently and I would like to thank the ambulance drivers who came to my home. They took good care of me as did the doctors and nurses who were run off their feet at the hospital. One of the ladies in a cubicle down from me was crying. She said that she had been lying in her own urine for 3 hours. The doctor told the nurse to change the bedding and I heard the nurse say that she couldn’t – they had run out of supplies earlier in the day. Go there sometime. You will admire the staff and despise the government for allowing these things to happen.

My profound belief is that we should legalize secondary suites. Lower income people should be allowed to live with dignity in a safe and comfortable surrounding. I believe that poverty destroys families and I cannot understand why some people have so much and some so little.

During my university studies, I read that in the Middle Ages the wealthy and the upper classes began to get nervous that the lower classes were getting angry. So they came up with the explanation that in a former life, the wealthy were good people and therefore deserved to come back as wealthy. Similarly, the poor were not good and therefore meant to be poor. People will always justify what they want, whether it is logical or otherwise.

As I sit and ponder how I am going to pay my taxes and pay for the ever increasing costs of food, I wonder how I am supposed to survive on a fixed income. I am looking for employment. It is very hard to face a future where one is required to pay heavy taxes for facilities that one cannot use.

After having paid taxes for 55 years, I have done my share. Now it is up to the 10% of people who get 60% of the money to pay for mine. I will try to be grateful.
We are destroying farmland as fast as we can. In the Book of Revelations, it says: “He shall destroy the destroyers of the earth”. It is a pity that other people will be destroyed at the same time.

I have been visiting various places since my retirement and listening and talking to people. If you have concerns that you would like to talk to me about, I would really like to hear from you. You can reach me at murielarnason@canada.com or 604-888-6264.

Muriel Arnason was Langley Township's longest serving Councillor and in December 2005 decided to take a break from Council. She cares very much about the people and now shares her thoughts in LFP regularily.