LETTER

Past, present and future

 

I love history, whether it is in Art, Philosophy, Medicine or a societal concern. One would be surprised by the menu of such undertaking.  It all depends on the reason or any ideology which leads to such an exam, or the abilities of the examiner to discard the ongoing practices of discarding the failed attempts of Humanity as a whole.

With an open mind, we can examine the 'pro's' and the 'against', and in our setting we can avoid the 'against' (the negative elements), and we should learn from the 'pro's' (the positives), re: Ontario’s free education for low income earners.  We apply this process often, e.g., in the design of working or living space, bathrooms, kitchens....

Should not the same thinking be considered for studying our societal order, to learn from failed attempts, and instead of building memorials to the victims of such trials, we build a better future for all of us, for our children? Otherwise, we’ve just flushed the tub with the baby, and do we then build a memorial to the baby we just flushed?

On the political scene, I see an exception in our past in the very progressive achievements of P.E.Trudeau. He dared to learn from the past and from his contemporaries to bring a better present and future. That was and is what I admired in him. There is a lot to learn.

Is it not this that all people desire, whether in Vladivostok, Peking, Istanbul or Ottawa – a better future?  . . . these were my thoughts when I created my “Desire”, which won the 1988 Superior Prize in Japan, the model of which is still sitting sadly in my backyard slowly falling apart.

Rasto Hlavina
Pontiac