The morning news pundits and reporters raise several issues that they are complaining about today, leading me to wonder how they would actually manage them better. I doubt that I could and suspect that they wouldn’t do any better. But I can sometimes reframe the questions. What are the ones they raise for me?
Is the CEO of one of the country’s large bank the person in the best position to tell the government not to give too much money to the poor and needy? Does he know what having no income at all feels like?
Does rioting in Northern Ireland solve its problems relating to Brexit?
Who should be vaccinated first?
Since distribution policies are causing vaccine surpluses in some communities, while others who need them have no access, are there better ways to fulfil distribution?
Is anyone looking at ordinary Americans need guns at all, rather than chipping away at ways to reduce their use?
Why are provinces in Canada denying sick pay and sending people to the federal government - when the federal government program doesn’t cover the income lost through sickness, doesn’t allow application until after the pay is lost, and has a difficult enrollment process to obtain it?
Why, when parts of the world despair of having enough vaccines, does a Canadian company that wants to produce them, have such a difficult time to get government support to do so?
Why did a prime minister let his family support a charity so obviously involved with celebrity star power?
Why were big box stores allowed to sell anything but essential items in the first place during the entire pandemic?
If we want to reduce carbon emissions from cars, why aren’t we looking at how other countries have produced such cars at lower cost?
Why haven’t public health communications looked more closely at human behaviour patterns?
Why do corporations get away with paying low taxes or no taxes?
I haven’t easy answers to any of these. And therein lies a tale. Most of us spend little or no time on thinking about any of these. That means that we let others muddle through when the possibility of better answers depends on the engagement and determination of all of us to create better answers. These are opportunities missed.