It appears as if the problem with our democratic society lies in the fact the system really doesn't allow for a lot of visionary thinking.
With politicians being in charge of our future files, for instance, the visionary thing generally lapses right around the three or four-year mark ... meaning the next general election. No sense in making any plans beyond that because they may not be in charge and they don't want someone else taking credit for their wonderful ideas ... seems to be the prevailing process.
In spite of all that fluffy hold-up stuff, some sectors are still attempting to think beyond election dates.
The communications people, for instance, don't seem to be too tied up in political duct tape. They're looking forward to the day when we can communicate simply through our mind process or eye movements. They want us to pay bills in the future, simply by producing an encoded card or an eyelash batted in the right direction. Whether we can afford these snap decision purchases will not be their concern.
When it comes to transportation, health and education though, it seems as if we are doomed to follow the more sluggish paths to progress.
Why just the other day I was again contemplating the prospects of having Highway 39 and Highway 6 south twinned for the more than obvious reasons. However, these thoughts soon wandered into the realm of "what's going to be linking Estevan with Regina and beyond 40 years from now? Sixty years from now?
Will there even be rubber-tired traffic to worry about? Will rail be revived to once again carry people as well as cargo ... only more efficiently than before? Will we be using community or individual hovercraft? Will we take 15 minute flights like we take the two to three hour bus trips of today? How safe will we be? In other words, twinning one highway may be the least of our issues. Of course my wandering mind didn't have any answers for the immediate problem either. What the heck, I'd just like to see that unpaved portion between Estevan and Macoun covered up right now. We'll let those politicians who are shortchanged in the visionary department decide when they'll pursue the obvious short-term solution.
Same thing with education ... visionary thoughts not really encouraged. Progressive thoughts yes, changes ... for sure. That's a nice thing about education ... it's always changing. Sometimes the changes are positive. But what about the schools of the future? Will we even need schools? Gee, let's get those communications people hooked up with the educational visionaries and see what happens!
Health care? Ditto. Communication is next to nil. The apparent visionaries are still trying to figure out whether home care trumps institutional care for seniors requiring attention. Health care is definitely getting better because we're living longer, so somebody has done something right. But costs and care are subjects still at the discussion stage. There are all kinds of advancements being made for those engaged in operating rooms and cutting edge exploratory surgeries and diagnosis, but when it comes to actual care on a cost-effective model ... sorry, politicians in charge, please reduce speed ... no hasty decisions required or desired. In fact, no decisions are better, especially if a government is within two years of another campaign.
I can assure you, I won't be around in 60 years to run a check on what transpires in these wonderful worlds of communications, transportation, education and health and quite frankly, I'm not sure if I want to have the capabilities of buying a new car through the blink of an eye on a screen or by just thinking hard. I like looking at the shiny pictures in the magazines before making a decision. Boy, is that really old school, eh?
