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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2000)
April 19, 2000 Page A5 (Elje Portiani» (Dbeeruer P o rtlan d Family Living Have a happy Easter Earth Day, is mankind a How to Achieve Quality Family Time titanic failure? COW TIUBUTtDSTO»Y A c to r L e o n a r d o D iC a p rio , a spokesperson for Earth Day 2000 ( A p r il 2 2 ), h a s b o u g h t in to environm ental alarm ism . “The Earth is heating up and every o n e’s Future is at risk,” he exclaim ed, “ Pleasejoin us [this Earth Day] in sending a strong m essage to our governm ents that now is the tim e for action to prevent violent changes in our clim ate.” Mr. D iC aprio’s sentim ents reflect the e n v ir o n m e n ta l e s ta b l is h m e n t’s austere view. To DiCaprio, m ankind is the problem, th e c a u se o f th e en v iro n m en ta l “crisis.” He ignores the fact that m ankind is also a problem s solver- and pretty good at it too. H istory proves that m ankind is m ore a “problem s solver” than a problem . H um anity has dram atically improved its diet, m obility, health, and overall quality o f life. In A m erican and m uch o f the world, people live longer, w ork less and have m o re tim e to e n jo y th e ir lives. M oreover, our increased tim e and r e s o u r c e s h a v e a llo w e d (a n d encouraged) us to better appreciate, protect, and improve the environment. P opulation and econom ic grow th m ean that m ore people are m ore able to r e s o lv e a b r o a d e r ra n g e o f environm ental problem s beyond their ow n health and w elfare. A w ealthy econom y m akes for a h e a lth y e n v ir o n m e n t, an d technological innovations m ake it p o s s ib le fo r u s a d d r e s s m o re environm ental issues. A w ealthier w orld is a cleaner, safer, healthier and fairerw orld. T hose w ho see m an, w ealth, and te c h n o lo g y as e n v iro n m e n ta l “ problem s”suffer from the “Terrible T oos” : they believe there are already “too m any” o f us, w e already consume “too m uch” and w e already have allow ed “too m any” innovations. T hey see m ore to fear than revere in biotechnology, the expanded use o f energy, suburban developm ent, and global trade to these alarm ists, our current lifestyle an environm ental “crisis” : w e are depleting natural resources, causing global w arm ing, destroying the natural environm ent. T he A m erican lifestyle, they w arn, is unsustainable; allow ed to continue, it w ill lead to global destruction. T heir solution to the earth ’s gloom y p r o s p e c t? M a ssiv e g o v e rn m e n t in te rv e n tio n to slo w an d d irec t econom ic and technological change. U n f o r tu n a te ly f o r th e e c o - catastrophists ’ thesis, environm ental quality continues to im prove along w ith affluence and population. F o r in s ta n c e , th e C o m p e titiv e E nterprise Institute’s Earth Report 2000, published this year by McGraw- Hill, sa y ’s “ T oday, alm ost tw ice as m any people are fed per acre o f cropland as w ere fed about [ 100 years] ago. “ Truly, m ankind is a problem solver. M oreover, our problem s are best solved w hen people are free to use their intellect to discover new ways to address old problem s. That process allow s us to use m ore resources. W hile decreasing our stress on the planet This Earth Day, policym akers should ponder this point before endorsing increased governm ent controls on resource use, econom ic activity and technology. Such controls are all too lik ely to c rip p le th e in n o v a tiv e process, and to create unnecessary tensions betw een environm ental and econom ic values. Slowing econom ic and technological grow th w eak en s th e p ro ce ss by w hich w e have, todate, fended o ff ecological and econom ic disaster. I f L e o n a rd o D iC a p rio a n d h is doom sday follow ers have their w ay, th ey ’ll be right! Thus, on this April 22, let us com m it to both a freer and a cleaner world. The fact is, you really c a n ’t have the latter w ithout the former. W hen w as the last tim e you and y o u r fam ily spent an ev e n in g to g e th e r w ith o u t w a tc h in g television?Can ’t remember? T hat’s because, like for m ost A m ericans, telev isio n seem s like th e only source o f relaxation. W e forget that it is possible to spend quality tim e w ith the fam ily and still have fun. T hat’s why you need to start setting aside some quality family time, even if it’s only a couple o f hours a week, w ithout w atching television. To H elp parents do this, one week out o f every year is designated as National rV -T u m o ff W eek, when f a m ilie s a c r o s s th e c o u n try voluntarily turn o ff their television sets and turn to other w ays to have fim w ith their families. You can make it easier for you, Hasbro, the makers o f some o f the best-know n classic gam es, is here to help. They have com e up with a new w ay o f bringing fam ilies closer to g eth er by helping them spend quality tim e while having them take advantage o f their time together by interacting with each other, face-to-face, playing board g a m e s r a th e r th a n s e p a r a te ly . Introduced during the fall o f 1998 as a practical way to put some real qual ity tim e back into your busy life, H asbro has brought together som e o f its m ost well known games forthe Family Game N ightthem e. They include, the M onopoly gam e, Scrabble gam e. T he G am e o f Life, Sorry. C lue, PayD ay and Y ahtzee. “ W e believ e that play in g gam es •m akes fam ily tim e together m ore m e an in g fu l an d fun, sa y s Jo h n Chandler, senior vice president o f m arketing for H asbro Games. “We know from our own families that when you play a gam e there are tw o experiences - the actual gam e w here you strategize and the em otional experience o f enjoying each oth er’s com pany. There are m any fam ilies rediscovering the w onder o f board g am es, a c c o rd in g to th e T oy M anufacturer A ssociation. Sales o f fam ily and adults gam es were up m ore than 10 percent in 1999. For parents w ho need a little extra helpplanningaFam ilyG am eN ight, H asb ro has m a d e a fun an d interactive brochure outlining the benefits o f fam ily gam eplay that also provides creative ways to plan family gam e night. To O rder your free brochure, send your address via e-mail to fgn@ hasbro.com or w rite to Hasbro Family Games Night, P.O. Box 5659, Pawtucket, RI 02862. For more information about F a m ily G a m e s N ig h t, v is it www.familygamenight.com T R I-M E T 'S A M A Z tfiK j A M E N IT IE S Meet Jerry. Jerry is a happy Tri-Met rider. Here Jerry waits for his bus. Does it faze him that some meteorologists are predicting 20 years of wetter- than-normal-weather? No. Because Tri-Met is adding more bus shelters every year. Jerry stays dry. Some days it gets hot. Hot enough to melt plastic dolls on the sidewalk. But Jerry is cool. Why? More air-conditioned buses than ever. Not only is Jerry dry and cool, he is busy. He’s got people to see and places to go. But he knows that on many routes, including his, lii Mu Nt ( more frequently Minority from page 1 lim itations, w hether w e are w hite people or black people or brown people.... The answ er to that question is yes. W hite people can also build around them team s o f people w ho live and w ork in those com m unities that they are serving and em pow er them to m ake sure that they serve as a liaison betw een them and those com munities. TRI MET 503 238 RIDE Which means Jerry is more efficient and has more free time to play with his dog Rusty. tty SOI 238 ^ 1 W WW tri met org »