Right in the centre - Excellence should be the goal
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- Published on Friday, February 4, 2022
By Ken Waddell
Neepawa Banner & Press
I got into a fairly deep discussion with someone a generation younger than me. We were discussing how my parents, and in-laws, stayed with their farming roots decades ago in very difficult times.
The person said, “When your dad was in his 20s, there were 16-year-olds faking their way into the armed forces (WWII). Back then, 20-year-olds were typically married with kids on the way and expected to find a job and stick with it. Unlike you and Christine, most of your generation’s main focus appears to be personal tenure and benefits wherever possible.” This younger person said, “I may be over simplifying, but access to ‘security’ took a pretty big bite out of the creative energy that drove actual industry. The generation that didn’t want their offspring to work in factories pretty much made sure it’s rarely an option by shipping all the work offshore….why? It was easy to do because folks want cheaper stuff, no matter what it costs them and their country. That, plus the fact that corporations have a fiduciary duty to make shareholders as much money as possible, regardless of how it ripples through their industry sector.”
Then came a very telling contrasting statement, “When the focus is on making the present a launching pad for future generations, industrious folks thrive, but when the focus is on comfort and the delusion of stability, people start to think short term and sell their future for current comfort. Interest rates are so low now that we can barely feel the bleeding.”
Wow! That’s great insight.
All my life, I have heard people crabbing away at the next generation to not follow their footsteps, be it into factory work, farming or business. That has always annoyed me and puzzled me. Who do the naysayers expect will run the businesses, operate the farms or work the factories? As the next generation spokesman said above, it seems many of my generation don’t care, as long as they get cheap stuff and, for those who have had some cash to invest in corporation shares, let the dividends keep flowing in. That’s worked out well for us, hasn’t it?
We have far fewer factories and less domestic manufacturing than we should have. We import way more food than we should. We have elected governments that are inept at predicting the future or developing our economy. In spite of decades of informative history and experiences, the mistakes just keep repeating themselves. Governments have become very good at imposing phoney deadlines, phoney climate change goals and pandering to countries that can readily undercut our manufacturing capabilities and prices.
It’s all about attitude. How many farm kids can remember their teachers say, “Don’t be a farmer, get an education.” Turns out that today’s farmers are far better educated than a lot of professions. The idea that one “shouldn’t be a farmer” was based on some knowledge of hard times for sure, deprivation even. The excuse was that farming was hard labour, and it was, but the hard labour has been largely replaced today by huge automations. Long hours, yes, but hard labour is a thing of the past on farms.
Then there was the isolation of farm life. My wife’s grandmother would go weeks without “getting to town” in the winter when roads were bad. That doesn’t happen much any more. Farm homes were often cold and wind swept. Well, that changed as most farm homes are very comfortable today. Then there was a lack of water and sewage. My parents, like many farm families, didn’t have the modern conveniences back in the day. No Hydro until 1954. No water and sewer until 1967. That’s all changed.
So why is there still a “don’t farm” message? Get an education, they said, and get a job. When was the last time you heard it said, “get an education and start a business?” It’s all about bad attitudes and habits.
Fortunately, many people stay in, or go into, farming. Many people do work in factories and trades and many do buy or start businesses. But, as the younger generation person quoted above, there’s still a “focus on comfort and the delusion of stability.”
Better we should embrace optimism, common sense and encourage people to develop Manitoba and Canada into what it can be instead of just sinking into a mode that says, “good enough is good enough.” No, it’s not! Excellence is the goal, not mediocrity.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the Banner & Press staff.
