A sinking feeling

Welcome to North America, the greatest place on Earth. We have a well fed citizenship, suffering only from a global recession set off by...well, rich men from the first world (primarily North America). Welcome to the great nations of aging populations (with the exception of immigrants of course) and young over educated idiots (I use it in it's ancient Greek sense). In Canada we are lucky to have such a strong economy. I know ours is strong because our Minister of Finance has assured us that it is, and he must qualified if the prime minister felt he deserved that appointment.

We, the lucky inhabitants of this continent, are sailing on the worlds largest ship of dreams; we are the new Titanic. Our voyage has started out so well and we have properly separated the classes of individuals from one another, to avoid the rich mingling with the poor and getting dirty or infected. We have successfully travelled these dangerous waters, wallowing in the luxury of being the biggest and the best for decades. In recent years though we have been hearing noise coming from the captain and his mates. There seems to be an issue with our direction and the speed in which we are travelling in that direction. Luckily we are reassured by the soft voices of the crew that all is fine and that we should stay in our section of the ship. Meanwhile those upper class members, who have been enjoying the exclusive lounge, the fine champagne, and the best food are heading for the life boats, just a drill says a crewman to me. When asked where all these people would go if a disaster occurred on this ship it was hinted that many would go to Asia, it seems like the place to be now.

As I observe this "drill" taking place I have come to the start realization that if there every was a catastrophe, there would not even be a tenth of the boats or other safety precautions necessary to protect even a 10th of the people on this voyage. It is starting to seem like those who built this ship and set us on course never considered that we would hit a rough patch. Even if this was considered it appears that after decades of successfully sailing the oceans of success and prosperity we felt so comfortable and sure, and have picked up so many new passengers that we have done away with safety to make room for everyone to fit. With the final stages of the "drill" being carried out, I notice that they are actually lower these "VIPs" down into the ocean and our ship seems to be gaining a slight tilt. I don't know about you but I am starting to have a sinking feeling about this, if only I could remember what happened to the first Titanic, maybe that would give me the answer I so desperately need to understand the situation we are in now.

Health Care

I have finally experienced the congestive heart failure that is occurring in our health care system. At one point I used to think that waiting for 3 or 4 hours was a long time to sit in a waiting room, but my significant other manage to spend close to 15 hours waiting to simply be seen by a doctor. Mind you it appears it was only a moderate allergic reaction, not life threatening, but also not something that could be treated without cortical steroids.

My significant other was relatively luck, but beside us was a teenager in a wheelchair. He was wearing his work uniform, the local grocery store, and was in that wheelchair because he had managed to hurt his foot rather badly and could not walk on it. His toe had been cut deeply and was wrapped in gauze, but after the first 7 hours it apparently started to soak through. This made me begin to wonder, "what, in our area, is considered an emergency serious enough to see a doctor in a reasonable amount of time?" The only answers I came up with were heart attack, stroke, car accident (sever one), severed limb (i hope), or trouble breathing. Basically if you are not dying you do not want to wait to see a doctor, unfortunately there are many reasons why you may need to see a doctor.

I guess as Canadians we need to consider creating incentives for doctors to stay in Canada. Rural areas are in special demand and will need to find a way to create extra incentives to attract and keep doctors. The problem with all these suggestions is that there is a large monetary cost that goes along with them. As a Canadian I am concerned, but I do not have the answer. I welcome any suggestions others may have.

The Blog

Hello to all interested and intrigued individuals. This was originally designed as an outlet for political commentary and discussion. I still wish it to hold that primary goal, but I plan to add to this site, commentary on a topic which touches my heart greatly; the education of our population. One cannot distinguish between a meaningfully active citizen and and educated individual. This is not to say that all people who are educated are academics, professors, teachers, politicians, doctors, or lawyers. Instead this suggest that people who have been taught how to think critically, be it a welder, plumber, telemarketer, mechanic, politician, academic, or lawyer, will be able to decipher and formulate conclusions making them capable of meaningful participation in the political life of their nation. It will be this aspect of education which will appear occasionally in my observations and opinions presented on this page. The questions of how to foster critical thought in youths and adults alike is a great concern of mine and of anyone who wishes to have a powerful democratic nation.