SEDABOOKTOOK (Guysborough) – In March 2020 many often-overlooked truths abruptly entered into our lives; the one made abundantly clear was that we are in this together. We must support each other as we learn how to improve the conditions conducive to our collective wellbeing.
So much has been made evident over the past 12 months that it is impossible to reference all. If you will join me in reflecting upon our COVID-19 year I am certain you too will bring positives and realizations to mind.
Future generations will look back and examine how communities, regions and countries endured and hopefully advanced as they dealt with this viral predator. COVID-19 will be another benchmark in the world’s historical development, just like the industrial revolution, previous vaccines, space explorations, advances in technology, and so on back into history.
It is amazing how most of us are now doing things that would have been unimaginable 13 months ago. For instance, we have adapted well to wearing a face mask to protect ourselves and others.
COVID-19 has exposed inadequacies requiring our immediate attention, such as economic inequalities, food insecurity, mental-health challenges and the plight of marginalized communities.
These issues will need financial inputs. How our governments spend our tax dollars should be paramount within our considerations. As many participants as possible must have opportunities to be part of those discussions.
A sad reality is that our political system has developed along adversarial lines with groups and regions pitted against others; that needs to be addressed and consideration must be given to policies that benefit as many as possible and don’t adhere to cultural discrimination, regional biases, tribal mentalities or societal exclusions.
COVID-19 has shown that as we work through this current pandemic and prepare for the next health crisis, it is vital that we pull together for the betterment of all. History will reveal our successes and failures and remember us for what we did and did not achieve.
Ray Bates, Guysborough (Sedabooktook: harbour running far back), a former school principal and Nova Scotia Community College Truro Campus faculty member (Ret’d), has been contributing his opinions to newspapers since 1998. raybates@eastlink.ca
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