Global Village

Marshall McLuhan coined the term in the 1960’s.  I was reminded of it again as I watched Jack Layton’s funeral, although the latter was purely a Canadian ritual.  Still, it brought people from a vast land together in a way that not many events have.

One of the things that really touched me in the days leading up to this was a chalk written comment at Toronto City Hall – ‘I voted for the first time because of Jack Layton.’  As an older adult and a former immigrant, for most of my life I’ve thought of voting as an important right and privilege.  Granted there were a couple of times when I got discouraged with all the parties and didn’t vote, but these days when I see people in other countries willing to die for the right to vote, I know how lucky we are.

As well, it was amazing what a broad spectrum of people came to pay their respects both in Ottawa and Toronto.  This man did appeal to a wide variety of people and his life and activities meant a great deal to many.

Mass media has brought the world closer together since the early days of radio.  There was the immediacy of the Hindenburg airship disaster with a reporter speaking directly from the site, and expressing his horror.  Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation was shown on television in Canada, not live but as quickly as the video tape could be flown across the ocean.  I still remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I heard that John Kennedy had been shot.  I also remember the same about John Lennon’s death.  Many people watched the wedding of Charles and Dianna, and later the world watched her funeral.  Canadians joined together in watching Pierre Trudeau’s funeral and the train that carried his body.  More recently we shared in the joy of the Olympics in Vancouver.

What is it about events like this that bring some people out in droves or glue others to their television sets?

I think that human beings need to feel connected, to be a part of something larger than ourselves, and we need ritual.  Perhaps some will think that the funeral was too much or over the top.  Certainly for many it seemed to be just what they wanted – a chance to mourn, but also to celebrate.  And perhaps it was an opportunity to make a commitment, to go forward with a feeling of hope that we can make a difference, can make the world a better place.

On the other hand, a more cynical part of me says, it's the down side of mass media.  We all want to live inside a movie or a television show.  Sometimes when a disaster hits, I've heard people say, "It was just like a movie."  Are movies ever like real life?  There are people who love reality TV.  I don't understand why, but maybe we want to see ourselves on the screen -- all our foibles, and warts as well as our heroic possibilities.  If our lives feel insignificant perhaps being part of a movie or TV show will make them seem more important.

Still, I think that people do recognize the genuine when they meet it.  May inspiration fill us all to change our corner of the world.

Retirement

Periodically I find myself giving the retirement lecture.  I left my long term job just over 8 years ago, though I still do contract work.  I love not being tied to  regular, every day 8 to 5 routine, appreciate the flexibility and the more organic nature of my life.  I have more room to grow, do things on the spur of the moment, sleep at odd hours and stay up really late if I want to without having to worry about getting up early the next day.  Conversely, if I do have to get up really early for an appointment I can take an afternoon nap.

Friends unhappy with jobs or close to retirement often say that they just don`t know how they will cope financially.  They don`t have the same kind of skills I do or they don`t know how they`ll manage with a reduced income.  I tell them it`s all about finding different ways to live and rediscovering yourself in new ways.

When I retired I was really tired.  Though I had worked for the same employer for about fourteen and a half years, had got to do a lot of different things, learned an amazing amount, and mostly liked my job, there were also things I didn’t like.  I could do without the stress at budget time and the constant dealing with members of the “public” who wanted to complain and even yell at you on occasion.  I learned how to problem solve, but I got tired of constantly taking responsibility when there were people who rarely seemed to take it.  I like change, but at times things seemed to change or be reorganized too often and as the years went by, my job had more and more areas of responsibility.  In the end I was responsible for overseeing around three quarters of a million dollars (this included grants) and I didn’t think I was paid enough for that and some of the other kinds of work I did.  So I left, though on good terms because I wanted to go back and do contract work there.

Before I retired, however, I did some soul searching, counselling, and research into options for other work.  I knew, for instance, that I could probably get part time work at the public library, and I was fairly certain I could substitute teach because I had a teaching certificate and had taught in the past.   I’d also been a waitress at one point so Tim Horton’s was a possibility.

I had a small pension coming from my employer and some savings to tide me over until I could apply for Canada Pension at 60.  What not everyone realizes is that it’s pretty easy to research Government of Canada pensions and Old Age Security on line.  Prior to getting my pension I had to have a full year without work, but once I had it, I could work as much as I wanted.

I did a couple of things that needed doing on my house before I quit working (re-shingling the roof). 

Then I took several months off just to relax, recoup, read and vegetate if I wanted.  After that contract work arrived periodically without my having to do very much.  I had a few lean months now and then, but I had some mutual funds that I cashed in, some Canada Savings Bonds, and a little money in RRSP’s.  I haven’t had to cash in any of the latter so far, and still have some Canada Savings Bonds.

I was able to pay off my mortgage a few years after I retired thanks to a longer term contract, which allowed me to live on less.  I keep my expenses down, and rarely impulse buy, particularly when money is tight.  My car is 20-years old, but I bought it new and keep it maintained.

There are flush times and leaner times, but generally my philosophy is not to spend money I don’t have.  When I needed to either repair an old washer and dryer, or get a new set, I waited until I had a good contract and bought the appliances.

I wanted more time to write, and I have that.  I have the flexibility to spend with family.  I’d like to travel more than I do, but when I don’t have the money for it, I don’t get bent out of shape about it.  Rather I appreciate the kind of life I’ve made for myself and the things I love about it.

To anyone who is thinking about retirement, I say, do some planning and research.  You don`t have to buy into the consumer society; there are ways to make money and live well on less.  Think creatively, consider the things that are important to you, and go for it.

London

The events in London this past week certainly shocked many people.  The British Prime Minister may have been partially correct when he said that one of the causes was poor parenting, but I’m sure there’s much more to it than that.  As someone said long ago, “It takes a village to raise a child.”  It’s not only parents who have failed, but society.  On the other hand, apparently some of the looters not yet caught are quite pleased with the loot they stole, for example, a plasma tv.

I’ve been thinking about recent history.  In the 1960’s there was violence in the black ghettos of the United States – Gordon Lightfoot’s song “Black Day in July” is about Detroit in 1967.  There were the protests against the Vietnam war and around civil rights for negroes.  The March on Washington occurred in the United States in 1963 with Martin Luther King (his phone was tapped by the FBI) giving his famous “I have a dream” speech.  Organizations such as Students for a Democratic University (formed first at McGill and Simon Fraser) and Students for a Democratic Society (originally American) sprang up even in Canada.  In May 1968 students protested and 11 million workers and went on strike in France.  There were street battles with police in the Latin Quarter in Paris.  And then there were the clashes between police and protestors at the Democratic Convention in Chicago in 1968.

In Saskatchewan students at the U of S in Saskatoon occupied the Arts Building in 1971 to protest the firing of a faculty member and to ask for representation on university committees.  At the University of Regina the office of the Dean of Arts and Science was occupied in 1972.  It seems to me there were well articulated political reasons for demonstrations and protests in the 60’s and 70’s as there are in parts of the world today. 

I haven’t heard any political views from the so-called looters.  Are any of the young people in Britain this well organized or are they just angry and disaffected?  Maybe all they want is some of the consumer goods that everyone else has.  If so, their lives are pretty drab.

I read an article in the (UK) Guardian on line in which a young man named Chavez Campbell predicted riots (before they happened) because of youth unemployment and cuts to youth services.  It’s probably more complex than that.  I imagine there are criminal elements and perhaps “hierarchical” gangs (according to British PM Cameron) involved, but there also seem to be ordinary people caught up in some bizarre reality tv show.  However, people charged by the courts appear to be overwhelmingly young, male and unemployed.

I hate watching pictures of police battering down doors to find and arrest people, even if they are guilty.  Let’s not forget that the police are a hierarchical, para-military organization and that’s not meant to be a positive comment.  I can’t believe that some British MP’s are talking in admiration of 1971 in the United States when troops were brought into Washington and thousands of people were arrested and put into the DC stadium.  Shades of Chile in 1973, except there of course people were shot as well.

Young people are a country’s future.  If you ignore your young people, don’t find ways to bring them into the society, make them feel a part of it and want to contribute (and make needed changes), what kind of future are you building?  We in Canada had better wake up.  It’s not impossible that something like the London riots could happen here.

If you want to know more about the 1960’s in Canada read Long Way from Home by Myrna Kostash.

Black Mask

Launched in 1920, Black Mask began as a commercial magazine with stories of adventure, mystery, romance, love, and the occult.  It was a `pulp´ magazine as opposed to `slick´ meaning the paper was cheaper and thus the magazine could be sold for less.  In 1923 the magazine published the first tough private detective story, and by December 1933 it was publishing nothing but crime stories.  Its circulation was 103,000 and it cost 20 cents.

Writers for Black Mask included Dashiell Hammett,  Erle Stanley Gardner, and Raymond Chandler, and many others who also wrote for the movies and wrote novels.  In the late 1930`s, due to the popularity of comic books, cheap paperback books, radio, and movies, Black Mask went into decline.  It managed to hang on until 1951.  The magazine was revived briefly from 1985 to 1987.  Black Mask inspired the Quentin Tarantino film ``Pulp Fiction.¨

I recently picked up The Black Lizard Big Book of Black Mask Stories at the library.  It`s a collection of crime fiction from the magazine and includes stories by Hammett (The Maltese Falcon), Chandler (Try the Girl), and other well known names from the heyday of the pulps.  They´re pretty much all of the hard-boiled detective school, mostly male, with a few interesting women thrown in (Katherine Brocklebank has a story in the book), though generally not as protagonists or authors.  Apparently readers of the magazine sent letters to the editor when such appeared and said they didn´t care for them.  I quite enjoyed the book.  Many of the stories are short and can be read in an evening or afternoon.  They are varied, though now and then I got bored with another boxing story.

The history of dime novels, slick and pulp magazines in a way mirrors what´s happening today with the internet, print on demand, and the established publishing industry.   It seems to keep getting more difficult to get published in the regular way, but people are finding alternatives to getting their work out there.   Change is inevitable and always has been.  It’s a matter of finding your own path in the changing landscape, searching out the way that stays most true to your own values and goals.

Black Mask is now a web site: www.blackmaskmagazine.com and it contains information and stories from a variety of pulp magazines, in pdf format.