by Martin Rossander

Our ship of state did spring a leak, although festooned with bells and whistles. Who could have dreamed of such a glitch to well laid plans by free-trade tycoons? Were affairs not assured, in full-blown knowledge that market value knows what’s best? For all? CRASH! The Titanic—no less.

So came today’s “Meltdown”, reminiscent of the 1929 stock-market crash. Had you been there, as I was, you’d still remember the lean years that followed: a full decade of hunger amidst plenty, the destruction of produce to bring back prices, the situation finally rescued in great smears of global violence and waste known as World War II. Nevertheless we were repeatedly assured, “Prosperity is just around the corner. Have faith!”

Naughty! Must not point the finger! When one finger points at another, three fingers point back. Why blame elected officials for a situation engendered by grassroots apathy? Politics has neither imagination nor elbow room to cope with anything beyond routine and taxes.

Hear now this clarion call to jumpstart a new initiative: Beyond Survival, last known as a one-hour weekly talk show broadcast by JUMP radio in Powell River, feels obliged to switch to the printed word and invites the community to join in creating think tank #2.. Artists, writers, thinkers, children, housewives, mothers, recyclers, bankers, and bill collectors, give us your thoughts! To all salespersons engaged in furthering consumerism, in an idle moment, jot down your impressions, your “druthers” in a positive vein for inclusion in a soon to be published book—to be published entirely in Powell River! (PR has a new cottage industry—community publishing!)

For instance, imagine a crowded lifeboat, filled with a mix of age, gender, language, culture, and nationality, adrift of the high seas. The sky is overcast, offering no clue to navigation for a boat minus motor, minus oar, minus leadership. The very silent man aboard is suspected of being the captain of the submarine whose torpedo sank the rescued passengers’ vessel and brought them to this apparent dead end. To break the hours of boredom, a parlor game erupts from time to time, for evidence, for admission. Should punishment be meted out? What form of “justice” would now apply?

I offer this lifeboat metaphor for comparison with whoever failed to cry out a warning or who is otherwise implicated in the current world-wide crisis. Sweet vengeance, to those who foresaw that we were on the way to turn our heaven on earth into hell and did anything to prevent it, is short-lived. To what end can energies now be best directed? How about a think tank?

Welcome aboard!

Send your submissions in the form of articles, essays, poetry, or short fiction (maximum 3,000 words) to editor Eva van Loon: email mettalaw@gmail.com; mail to 6799 Cranberry Street, Powell River, V8A 3Z3; or call 483-4940.