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Remember government promises

Given the 24-hour news cycle, when information overload is not yet classified as a legitimate medical condition, personal memory

Dear Editor:

Given the 24-hour news cycle, when information overload is not yet classified as a legitimate medical condition, personal memory is a potential casualty.

We might not forget day-to-day things, like our groceries or our bills, but more long-term events might be harder to remember. Questions like: what exactly did our governments promise us two or three years ago; or which communities were affected by that flood other than Calgary and High River; and exactly how long did it take people to recover, might be more difficult to remember a few years from now. That is why, commentators say, the makeover of the federal Conservative government cabinet or the current Alberta government’s austerity budget is being done at this time because two or three years from now we will have forgotten earlier policies or budgets.

Perhaps that is a cynical point of view and governments have practical and not solely political motives for what they do, yet it is important to remember and weigh our memories and the values that make these memories important.

There is absolutely no point in remembering things that are irrelevant but events that have affected others and ourselves, one way or another, are important to recall. And not necessarily out of vindictiveness or anger, but soberly, understanding two or three years from now, people in power will try to explain themselves. It is worth listening to the explanations, despite the high level of emotion and election glitz that will surround speeches and events.

Perhaps at this point it might be helpful when memories are still fresh, to note down one or two points that have affected or are affecting others and ourselves. Just for the record, so to speak, before our memories start to fade and before information overload becomes a widespread epidemic.

George Jason