Canadians can see an end to the pandemic by mid to the end of summer 2021. Predictions are made that there will be a great swirl of spending as people take the money they could have spent on last winter’s holiday and jump on a plane for a holiday. Or maybe we will make a much longer road trip to visit our grandchildren in Calgary and Vancouver.
But could we turn to being less selfish in our lifestyle? In our economic activity? between countries? The upcoming period of coming out of the lockdown will be a time of testing: will we turn towards our fellow human beings or indulge ourselves in our privileged culture?
The past year has brought to the fore the weaknesses and the cracks within our society. The area that received the most attention was our long-term care homes for the elderly. It has been highlighted that so many of these homes are understaffed and the care workers poorly paid. But a greater need is the absence of family and supportive friends that should accompany the last years of our seniors. Care homes are very lonely places. Will we just go back to the emotional neglect that we practiced before the shutdowns?
What are the thousands of Canadians who suffered unemployment during this season? Many had financial support from the CERB program but how do people fill their days with meaning when they have no work (i.e., no purpose in their lives)? Can we hear the frustrations of the women and men who ask ‘why am I getting out of bed this morning?’
This morning (March 12) there was an item in the news that noted that the province of Ontario had experienced a fifty-nine percent increase in overdose deaths during the first eleven months of 2020. Almost every one of these deaths (primarily male) were accidental, caused the drug fentanyl. Each overdose was a human being with serious struggles with their addiction. Each one belongs to a family. Few Canadians pay attention to this serious loss of life.
With all the discussion of the vaccines there is very little discussion about the needs for vaccines in Third World Countries. The first thing on the agenda in the First World is to get all our citizens vaccinated but what about the majority of humanity? Is our sole preoccupation to protect our own citizens a form of national selfishness?
Do we want to return to what we knew before the pandemic or will we move away from being self-centered to become more compassionate and sharing?
After our vaccinations what will the next year tell about ourselves? Selfish or a bit more generous?
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