It Never Starts Where You Think It Will

"Over the years, plenty have participated in legislative duties while drunk, or stoned, or incapacitated in some way. By maligning a much-loved figure like Fairbairn, the Tories risk a spotlight being shined on the conduct of their own members. They won’t be happy about the outcome. At all."

- Warren Kinsella

Everyone loves Game of Thrones.  Why?  Because it's so unpredictable and, as such, provides a great mirror for the times.  There aren't any villains, really, just people, their choices and the motivations behind those choices.  Sometimes, the consequences of those choices burn everyone.  Plus, there's the odd little throw-ins that build pressure and ignite existing, simmering tensions in new ways.

 

 

History is a lot like that.  It's never the thing you expect that triggers the fall.  The climate was ripe for World War I, but it took the assassination of a Duke in Sarajevo to get the pieces moving.  Al Capone was done in by tax evasion.  Commodore Perry's aggressive stance on Japan lit a fuse that would lead to, among other things, the Rape of Nanking and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The lesson is, the more force you exert, the less certain you can be of unintended consequences. 

 

 

Here in Canada, we have a recognized mental health crisis.  Everyone wants to do something about it, nobody knows how.  We have social services that are sinking under the demands placed on them, but a populace that can't afford to pay more.  They could, perhaps, if they had jobs, but the job creators aren't complying - because they fear economic instability caused by government using tax dollars to pay for those very same services.  Then, there's the realization that the industrial economy is rapidly failing and needs to be replaced by something innovative. 

 

 

Will the story of Joyce Fairbairn and the repercussions that ensue ensnare enough people on a personal level that the powers that be will say "this has gotten out of hand?"  Will leaders start questioning the behaviours that have gotten them in trouble and look for alternative solutions?  If so, where will they be looking?

 

 

It's interesting times.  Who knows what will happen next?  We'll just have to stay tuned...