Learnings
It’s been a busy week. A week ago, the Emergencies Act came into force in Canada to much censure for overreach by some, and a sense of relief by others. I tended to be in the latter group, and felt justified in its results and withdrawal as soon as an emergency in the City of Ottawa was resolved. Yes, - the Provincial Government might have stepped in and solved it. But it reminded me of a board meeting some years ago when a member commented, “I could have done it, just as well or better'‘. and an astute chair replied, “That may be - but you didn’t”.
What the whole thing did do was bring to light how many of our Canadian citizens are ignorant of our country’s history and governance. We don’t have a First Amendment to guarantee their rights. Our constitution does not guarantee life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Freedom - FREE-DOM chanted loudly and repeatedly - does not mean that others don’t have rights too - for clean air, theability to move in their neighbourhood without harrassment and feedom to adhere to follow the law onwearing masks. Fox News is not a Canadian network that the majority of our citizens use to get their information. I’d also love to know - looking at the protestors and guessing their age - whether they are aware that they were inoculated or vaccinated as babies and toddlers - Did they ever think to ask about Diphtheria, Tetanus. Pertussis. Poliomyelitis, Mumps, Measles. Rubella, Chicken Pox or Hepatitis B. I think I know the answer, but it would be interesting to know if they do.
It was easy to ignore the growing tensions in the Ukraine and be preoccupied with events at home - but no more. Last week the seminar on Non-Violent Communication came back to mind. What both these events have in common are Faux Feelings - interpretations of reality masquerading as feelings. Among the shared interpretations of some truckers and a Russian president are words like = betrayed, ignored, invisible, neglected, put upon and unappreciated. How they will play out in the larger world conflict we are about to see.