Friday 15 September 2017

September 15, 2017 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   It seems whenever elections of any nature, or level of government, come up, suddenly there are serious personality clashes that didn’t seem to exist before, and opponents do all they can to discredit the others running against them.

   So, it should be no surprise that we are seeing a number of politicians getting into trouble of some form or another, with the most recent being Strathmore MLA Derek Fildebrandt.  What makes his situation a bit more “severe” is that he was part of the Alberta Tax Payer’s Federation prior to being elected and is accused of activities similar to those he used to criticise other politicians of doing.  Some of his constituents feel betrayed and have adopted a “how the mighty have fallen” attitude.

   I don’t know Derek personally, nor do I know all the ins and outs of the situation, but rather than a case of the mighty falling, to me, it is just another example of how easy it is to criticize from the OUTSIDE when you don’t know exactly what’s going on INSIDE, for him and us.

   To some degree, we are all guilty of this.  We think we can run the government, or our local community organizations, much better than those who are currently doing the job.  We think we have the answers to fix our family’s, friends’ and neighbours’ lives, solving all their problems, whether we’ve been asked for our advice or not.

   While, it is true that an outside perspective can give valuable insight and clarity, and provide answers that those in the situation are too close to see, more often than not, those outside are missing vital information that only those on the inside are privy to, information that makes a significant difference to the situation at hand.


   Nomination Day for municipal elections is just around the corner, and if you are called to run, I strongly encourage you to do so.  However, it is very important that we have individuals running for our municipal councils who are willing to do the best for our communities, not individuals who think they can come from the outside and “fix” whatever they think needs fixed.  What we see from the outside is merely the tip of the iceberg of what is happening.

Beth 


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