SOYLENT GREEN
In an accompanying article (see “And So It Is Confirmed”) I expressed (vented?) my concerns with the recent Telegraph Journal article wherein pollster Don Mills advocated that our government dedicate all its job creation efforts towards job creation in urban areas of New Brunswick. To him, these urban centers should provide the jobs we need in rural New Brunswick. We could commute to those jobs, or better yet, relocate there. It seems like Mr. Mills thinks we rural New Brunswickers are somehow not deserving of the services our urban friends can expect. The really unfortunate part is that it seems our government thinks likewise. Certainly Health Minister Ted Flemming has made no bones about how he feels about us.
Obviously, the logical outcome of this policy would be the complete destruction of rural New Brunswick as we know it. Devoid, and prohibited by policy, of getting any government jobs; and being discriminated against when it comes to the possibility of any future jobs; would surely lead to the death of rural NB. Could there be any other conclusion? Immediately I thought of that 1970’s movie “Soylent Green”.
Those of us of a certain age will recall this B-movie starring Charlton Heston. It was a combination detective/sci-fi movie set in a really whacked out future where people in over-populated cities line up daily for their wafer of “soylent green” which was made (at one time) from plankton but with global warming, over-population, crop failures, etc the plankton died off. Ever vigilant, the good folks over at the Soylent Corporation started using dead bodies as a substitute for plankton. Yum!
The connection between the way this province is heading and this movie is scary. Depopulate rural areas and overpopulate urban centers? Totally give up on rural NB? Allow the hinterland to lie fallow while people starve? Allow urban areas to thrive at the expense of rural NB? Give up our humanity for a balance sheet? Our forefathers would never have survived if they shared these values. How can we?
Have we lost our collective minds? We certainly seem to have lost our way. Is this life imitating art?
I hope not!
Al McPhail
