EMPTY and FULL
Sunday, September 26, 2021
The gas gauge in my vehicle is wonky – when it’s full. it says so and tells me how far I can go till empty (DTE), but lately, when I get to about 2/3rrds of a tank, it indicates empty, and DTE flashes: - - -
I’ve gotten used to that – in part because I have an inducement not to let my tank run low, which is fine, and I have a heightened awareness. That shift from certainty to uncertainty has a parallel in my mind – the reminder that everything isn’t black and white, or ON v. OFF, yet we somethings think it.
For instance, elections are big things – as if the world will stop if there is a dodgy outcome, but we learn the world doesn’t stop, and the outcomes aren’t dodgy.
Another case in point is the health situation in Alberta right now; if you read all the media, you grasp the feeling the system (health care) and politics (can the premier hold on?) are in dire circumstances. And it seems, if the politicians had listened to doctors and not opened us wide on July 1st with pronouncements, the pandemic was over in Alberta; we wouldn’t have this soup we are in right now. And the premier wouldn’t be in the pickle he’s facing.
The media seems to indicate, as well, that the risk of entering the healthcare system right now with anything worse than a hangnail puts you in a hospital full of COVID patients, and soon the only way in for care will be when someone dies and exits the facility. It seems DTE - - - has us in uncertain territory. What can we do? Keep driving, sure, but when do we fill up? When do we cry for help? Or is it too late? For the premier, it’s a very tough road politically, and it seems he’s going to tough it out and try to stay in control of his job and maintain his leadership of the governing party. The point, however, is that isn’t the problem.
The problem is the health care system has warning lights flashing – it’s not about vaxxers v. anti-vaxxers, it’s not about urban v. rural or ‘old PC’ v Wild Rose party affiliations; it’s about the system running out of gas and fewer Albertans than ever having confidence in a leader to lead or manage. A leader, by the way, with little reputation for consensus-building or advice taking.
The Alberta healthcare system is flat-out in trouble and scrambling for help. At times like these, we need the professionals to lead, we need to follow, and the premier needs to get out of the way.
Reader feedback:
Reader feedback:
Great musing today Mark. I really appreciate this paragraph: We need and want it all, but our priorities are misplaced. Our leaders, focused on getting elected more than on leading, and our corporations, more focused on shareholder value than on societal impact – as if they can only have one by sacrificing the other. ~~~~ What I consistently remind myself of is that each and everyone of us carry a pinpoint of responsibility for the systems we are a part of. I recently saw or read a piece about the rise of Nazi power. It proposed that if people through their professions refused to do what was outside the scope of their values, much could have been thwarted. Wish I could link it here, but it has escaped my fingertips. One reference was… What if physicians refused to perform procedures on people without consent? I count myself among the many who often think, “Somebody else will take care of that,” instead of taking responsibility for learning more myself. When we cede our agency to authority figures… what responsibility do we have for the societies, leadership, and corporations we get?, GB, Waukesha, WI