John Terpstra Part II Why Must We Die 17

Why Must We Die? Part 2 by John Terpstra           Oh my city.         It seems as though we’ve finally bottomed-out, that nothing worse can happen, no more bad news, the only way now is up, and then the ladder gets knocked out from under us again.         For one hundred years this city prided itself on its making: steel in particular, anything that could be made from steel, and much else. Now there are cheaper places in the world to get work done, and the companies have moved away. Technology has reduced the need for human labour. There’s been precious little to replace the work that people have lost. One third of the population lives below the poverty line. It’s difficult to fathom.             And then another plant closes. The only real surprise is that a plant still existed. Three hundred are laid-off. A thermal inversion of grief and uncertainty settles over them, their families, their neighbourhoods, and the whole town.            There were citizens in the nineteenth century who did what I do now, building and un-building; renovating, maintaining. It was a trade, an avenue of employment which survived that century as well as the next. Not all trades did. Where is the cooper, box maker, lather, turner, hackman, blacksmith, brickmaker, tinsmith, furrier, huckster, stonecutter or coppersmith? Jobs and factories have been coming and going here since the beginning. An industrial economy is a fickle way to make a living.            James Wade, Carpenter, lived in a frame cottage which still stands, covered in aluminum siding, in the first block of Locke Street, south of York, on the west side, at the corner of Florence Street.         He filled in one of the blanks, circa 1885.         Between his cottage and the corner, on the map, there is a property lot. One year the lot is empty, the next it has a two story, double brick house standing on it. The year following that, his home address has changed to the west half of the double brick: the corner house. The conclusion seems obvious: he built the house and moved into it. But I do not know this for a fact.     [  >>>>> FORWARD ]   Share | [Distillate © HA&L + John Terpstra  |  {from the Greek bios} - the course of a life.] [Read Part I: Why Must We Die? An Introduction] [This article is sponsored by Wolsak & Wynn Publishers LTD., acknowledged with thanks by the Editor and Samizdat Press.]