For miners in San Jose, Chile, trapped for nine weeks one half mile underground, the world around them will likely never be the same again.
Chatting with friends and co-workers, we have yet to see one not shiver, thinking about the close quarters and bravery needed to overcome this ordeal. There are some lessons here for all of us.
First, is how well resources can be shared and used in a crisis. American and Canadian firms helped the Chilean government and its workers in varying degrees to help bring the miners home. With luck, all will be rescued, since at press deadline about half of the men had been retrieved.
Second, we believe such near-death experiences cause people to change their outlook on the world around them. Work, family life, life goals, and spiritual beliefs tend to get prioritized, for a little while at least. How strange it is, that it takes a near catastrophe to make people rethink their destiny and gain perspective on deeds unfinished or dreams unrealized.
In light of that, it seems to us that most Canadians could do with a subtle nudge about their priorities. Barring a crisis which would force the thinking to change a little, we wonder if the time has come to embrace a few simple truths as it relates to this fall’s election.
Watching candidates overpromise and some incumbents overstate their achievements we can see how a bit of despair has crept into most voters. Regrettably, vigilance and seeking specifics has a way of turning election time into a time of personal attacks. The simple truth is that all candidates have an audience, right or wrong, and respect is owed to those willing to offer up their time and reputation to advance the cause of said audience. The voters will sort it out in the end as they have for generations. We need to respect ideals.
Competing interests continue to come to the fore and we are concerned this could lead to animosity and divisiveness that could make it hard to manage community affairs in the future. The arts community, downtown businesspeople, industrial owners, Sports groups, farmers, seniors on pensions and those with incomes at or about the poverty level all have needs and goals. Prioritizing the funding of those needs as it relates to the various towns and townships is a function of local councils. With goodwill around the table an equitable balance can be achieved. We need to share a little and respect in due course, whichever direction the voters choose.
Further to that point since we have heard rumbling in each end of the county on this point, there needs to be some respect paid to the taxpayers’ pocketbooks. If an incumbent successfully gets re-elected it should not be considered as a wholesale endorsement of the past term. Similarly a new candidate should not believe his or her mandate is an antithesis of their predecessors. Balance is needed.
Good things can happen when people work together. We hope a bit of the strife that seems to have struck local council races can get set aside in favour of the larger picture.
