Doug's Blog
On Being Thankful
We live in an interesting world. Only 1/3rd of the world's population has access to clean drinking water. Fully one half of the world's population goes to bed hungry and does not know where their next meal will come from. Much of the population of the world does not have the right to vote, or if they do, they worry about getting shot in the attempt. Contrast that with Alberta, and Canada, where we have plenty of food, own half of the entire Earth's fresh water supoply, and take voting so much for granted that only half of those elibible even bother to vote.
Yet everyday someone calls or writes complaining about how horrible things are in this province. People scream at me on the phone when their gas bill is higher than expected. Yet they live in a warm house, have plenty of opportunity for freedom, and often spend more on their cable bill than they do on heat. People complain about driving 14 km extra to get to a paved road, because the road isn't paved in front of their house, and they want it paved right now. I have had complaints about everything you can imagine. The complaints are fine; the outrage is puzzling.
Only 100 years ago there was no development in this province. Only 100 years ago people left everything to ride the train to Wetaskiwin, and then walk upwards of 100 miles to a stake in the ground where they could begin building a life on a new homestead. Never in the history of the human race has so much progress been made in such a short time by so few. We should be proud, but we should not forget our roots.
We will always be fixing and repairing, building and rebuilding our infrastructure, just like you do with your house. We have to do it right, however. We must manage our wealth to ensure we can still build and fix that infrastructure 50 years from now. That means appreciating what we have, determining what we really need, and foregoing some of our immediate wants for a long term vision.
Criticize and complain, please. We must be vigilant and never lose sight of the issues. Holler and scream that "in a province this rich it should all be done now," and I worry we will find ourselves with a new round of bumper stickers asking for "one more boom". Let's not forget how good we have it right now, and how fleeting prosperity can be. We owe it to the next generation.
For a brilliant cartoon that illustrates what I have said, check out Patrick LaMontagne's creation on his website at . ">http://www.cartoonink.com/ed2006_12.php. For other great editorial cartoons visit his entire site at www.cartoonink.com.
