102 Success 0n the Edge 
     
    
   
   
    
     The breakdown of Tignish’s isolation, as represented 
     
     by the ubiquity of the media, improved roads, and the 
     
     Confederation Bridge (now linking RBI. to the mainland 
     
     of Canada), is a fact which cannot be ignored. Fortunately 
     
     it has happened gradually, and has brought many 
     
     advantages. One of the greatest of these is providing 
     
     encyclopedic information to a community which is 
     
     largely visually-oriented. Television, at its best, provides 
     
     a much better view of the world than superhighways or 
     
     the Bridge. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Tignish could be much more self-sufficient than it 
     
     is; there may come a day when, for instance, it will have 
     
     to provide more of its own food and fuel than it does 
     
     now, and it would be well if that day began soon. It is 
     
     also much too dependent upon the private car or truck. 
     
     Fortunately it has a taxi, but its elderly and handicapped 
     
     residents, not to mention others who do not always care 
     
     to drive themselves, could use at least a local bus or van. 
     
    
   
   
    
     It would be possible to make a long list of ways in 
     
     which Tignish is more or less independent, and to discuss 
     
     them at length. This is not the purpose of this chapter or 
     
     even of this book; suffice it to say that Tignish seems to 
     
     be more independent than many small communities on 
     
     this continent.