Dear editor,
Have you ever faced a critical or life-threatening problem, something for which you felt totally inept at solving? To face this problem, we need to keep our emotions on the back burner and allow our brain to kick in.
How serious is the problem: is it about potholes in the street or at the other extreme, an earthquake? Does the problem concern inanimate things like roads and equipment, or is human life involved?
In life we casually make decisions all day long concerning inanimate things like a broken bicycle or a poor running lawn mower. What do we do if human life is all or part of the problem? Now we are faced with the ethics and moral conduct of society and ourselves. Morals are the concept of doing the right thing and ethics are the principals of what is best for people and society.
I am convinced that every right we have in this country implies a responsibility on our part, and likewise, every opportunity an obligation. My moral compass always says, when you help others you help yourself, we are all neighbors.
Take the COVID-19 virus of 2020. Countries have put all kinds of measures into place to mitigate the virus, the chief measure being self-isolation and the shut-down of non-essential business, which I agree with. Unfortunately, this has driven the economy almost to a halt.
For some, the practical answer of letting the virus have its way because it is less onerous to society than the countermeasures, goes against our Canadian moral conduct. I believe as Canadians we will always default to what is best for our people and our society, that’s the Canadian way. Follow self-isolation and anything else that helps, that’s how I see it.
Doug Thorson,
Ponoka