TimminsToday received the following letter from a resident of Iroquois Falls who says we need to use more common sense and treat others the way we expect to be treated.
For nearly 40 years, the social contract that kept the peace and helped bridge the gap between nations has been slowly dismantled. The concept of solidarity that previously existed was replaced by rugged individualism after Margaret Thatcher famously declared in 1987 that “there is no such thing as society”.
We were convinced that taxes were too high and that we should not be paying for the shortcomings of others. Somehow we in the West were led to believe that we deserved what we had accumulated while much of humanity still suffered in abject poverty.
Some still question why we send aid money to foreign countries even when they struggle with famine and natural disasters said by scientists to be brought on by human induced climate change.
The threat of nuclear war and ongoing international conflicts, armed and economic, have risen social anxiety to a fever pitch. We are now dealing with a global pandemic the likes of which have not been seen in a more than a century as our most vulnerable are dying in droves.
Viruses like COVID-19, SARS and H1N1 have circulated and spread death around the world in record time by people who can afford to fly or take expensive vacations on cruise ships.
Environmental degradation continues to be ignored while the vast majority of the well-to-do have no interest in giving up any of their personal luxuries to help ensure the survival of the human race.
Some fundamentalist Christians and end-times cheerleaders are watching from the sidelines, waiting for the second coming as locusts are devastating crops in northern Africa, our oceans have become cesspools and tensions continue to build in the middle east. Still we remain quiet!
How did it come to this? Is there any hope for change? Can we still look in the mirror and tell ourselves everything is alright? Will we wake up from this nightmare before it is too late?
Crises have often brought change to the world but not always for the better. The one we are now experiencing will certainly bring more change. We have an excellent opportunity to make things right.
The economic meltdown we are experiencing should serve to focus our attention on the failed neoliberal economic and social systems that have enslaved us for decades as we have become indebted to a ruling class many aspire to but will never manage to join.
The accumulation of wealth at the expense of other nations’ sovereignty must end. We must be prepared to pay more in taxes for they are the price of the civilized society we all wish to live in. We have to stop thinking that might is right and stop imposing our so-called enlightened ways on others. We must finally come to realize that we will not survive without clean water to drink and clean air to breathe.
We need to return to the simple concept of treating others as we wish to be treated. They call it the Golden Rule for good reason.
It does not belong to any one creed or religion. It is common sense and God knows that the world needs more common sense these days.
Ben Lefebvre
Iroquois Falls, Ont.
