PAGE 12, WEDNESDAY APRIL 28, 1982, WHITBY FREE PRESS LETTERS TOTHE EDITOR "Ail people are important" Rison Dear Sir: We have noted in recent columns in your newspaper that whenever Tory- leaning political commentators wish to be particularly nasty towards some person or group, they usually end up by labelling them as "Socialists" or friends of the Liber- ais and Mr. Tru- deau. We, of the N.D.P. PRINTING 218 HARWOOD , 14' 7TEL TUESDAYS & TIH PERMS LORAINE Tony's Hairstyling would of Loraine Foster (formE has jolned our staff as of 106 Lupin Drive Blair Park Plaza Whitby 668-5441 who are proud of the fact that we are Democratic Social- ists, expect little else from the Tories, but we would hope that readers of such arti- cles will take suffi- cient time to consi- \der the question - What is a Socialist? As president of the N.D.P. for On- tario Riding, a Social Democrat, and - yes, a "Social- * ANNOUNCEMENTS * RECEPTION CARDS * INVITATIONS- * THANK YOU CARDS AND OFFICE SUPPLIES AVE. S. AJAX SHOPPING PLAZA LEPHONE 883-1968 IURSDAYS ONLY like to inform the clients erly of Scissors) that she March 30. Mon -Wed 9-6 Thurs - Fr1 9-8 Saturday 9-5 Ist," I would like to reply to some of the Tory "tripe" that we have read In the local printed media recently. We "Socialists" ask our Tory critics and others to consi- der some of our points of view. In spite of some Tory claims, and ai- though we do not think much of his style, Mr. Trudeau is not a dictator. He is up for election every four or five years or so. This Is not common for dic- tators! All dictators and oppressive govern- ments are not in communist or even Socialist countries. Do you remember Hitler, Mussolini, Franco? Have you checked out the leaders in Chile, Bolivia, Argentina? Most observers place these gentle- men on the conser- vative right wing of palitics. Please do1 fnot label the Liberals as Socialists, and please do ,not "blame" the Liber- ais in Canada for unemployment in- surance, old-age security payments, senior citizens' homes, Medicare, universal access to bigher education, women's rights, and many of the other social ser- vices available to needy people. We of the N.D.P. must take the "blame" for these socialist policies-because it was from the lead- ership of people such as J.S. Woods- worth, M.J. Cold- well, T.C. Douglas, David Lewis, and Ed Broadbent, and continuai pressure brought upon gov- ernments at the provincial and federal level by our party that led to these policies being grudgingly in- troduced. Don't take our word for it. Check the history books! Please do not condemn unions in this country and then express great support for Solidar- ity in Poland. Re- member that Soli- darity is a socialist movement which believes in demo- cracy and is, with the church, the strongest force fighting commu- nism in Poland today. Also consi- der what may be an amazing revelation for some of the Tory-types out there - Socialists are not communists! Soc- ialists of the N.D.P. variety have demon- strated their com- mitment to demo- cracy more than any other party in this country. We are well aware of the short comings of too much government presence in our lives, but we have serious 'doubts about the ability of the free enterprise system and the monopolistic multi- national corpora- tions to solve our problems. The ex- perience of the small service sta- tion operator in the /present day hassle with the large oil companies shoots hales in the argu- ment 0f the free en- terprisers. Cana- dian farmers who cannot sell their produce while the "free enterprise" large food chain import comparable praduce ta make the extra buck may wonder If the gov- ernment should step in with tariffs. Even that citadel of capitalism and the f ree enterprise system, General Motors, seems to be looking for government assist- ance in limiting car imports from Japan. N.D.P. "Social- ists" believe in a mixed economy where government assists small and large businesses when ~ the need is there. We shall continue to strive for a strong govern- ment presence in the resource sector now almost totally controlled by non: Canadian interests to ensure that the great wealth gener- ated by the resourc- es of this country will remain in Canada. We "Socialists" are like you Tories. We don't agree with governments hand- ing out money to able-bodied men and women who will not work, any more than we agree with the rip-offs that many of the upper income es- tablishment white collar crooks per- pertrate upon the working people' of this country. We "Socialists" have-often noticed that those who have the most are the strongest· critics of those who have the least. We believe that ail people, not just the rich, powerful and politically influ- ential, are import- ant, and we' shall strive for a more equitable sharing of the material benefits that this country can pro- duce, and above ail, we shall be ready to help those in real need. These are just some of the ideas in which we "Social- ists" believe. Per- haps some of the Tory writers could telI us which social programs they will cut out first if ever they become the federal government. We shal1 not re- quire this Informa- tion at the provin- cial level because most of us are ai- ready aware of the cutbacks in Health, Education, and So- cial Services Pro- Dear Sir: When you pur- chase a product that is produced outside your coun- try, or community that is in direct campetition with one that is pro- duced internally you hurt your coun- trymen and your neighbours. How many do you hurt before you hurt yourself? The doctors in Ontario are locked in ,a dispute with their customers, who are also their countrymen and neighbours. They want more money. To do waht? To buy more Mercedes- Benz, Audis and Subarus - to take exotic vacations in other lands - to in- vest in off-shore properties where their additional in- come will.be shel- tered? Thesé dollars that they (and the rest of us, too) spend begin their life in the economic cycle with the production of con- sumer goods. When that production decreases or ceases the supply of new money dries up or devalues or both. I am not so con- cerned with the amount of money doctors make as with the way they spend it. And Il'm really picking on the doctors to illus- trate a point that is germane to all of us. They are simply a highly visible group with a signi- ficantly greater ac- cess to a money grams, and ,the shifting of the cost burden from provin- cial to municipal taxes. Geoff Rison, President, Ontario Riding N.D.P. Association. supply they did n9t create. That they may have earned this access is not the subject of this debate. The point of this argument is that they (the doctors), acting as a symbol for the rest of the consuming public, have violated a basic social con- tract wit the pro- ducers. In simple terms the producers have a tacit agreement with the consumers to provide goods for services, If the con- sumer buys his goods from someone. he does not serve,,and alter- nate customers are not available, then the money to pay for his services does not exist. When the country doctor repaired the arm that a farmer had damaged in his machinery, and was repaid with a side of beef, they entered into a contract that insured the survival of both. When the urban doctor of today repairs the damaged arm of an autoworker and uses the fee to pur- chase a vehicle that is not produced by that autoworker he breaks that contract and in doing so may ultimately destroy not only the auto- maker but himself. The question still remains -, how many do you hurt before you hurt yourself? T.E. Scott, Swiss Heights Dr., Oshawa, Ontario. L1H 7K5. Reader believes.... Doctors violated social contract -----------------------------