We are inundated daily with Warnings and reminded of a near limitless supply of Crises and Epidemics (a term previously reserved for madly spreading diseases, but now used more regularly to describe social afflictions).
If our various news sources, feeds and apps don’t name things explicitly as warnings, crises or epidemics – then their tone and hyperbolic language often do so implicitly.
Some days, the barrage can make even the most even-keeled Pragmatist feel a bit overwhelmed.
To Wit
My weather app shows an almost permanent red warning triangle – whether for heat, cold, wind, rain, snow, or air quality. The other day it registered a heat warning when the temperature was going to hit 31. Mon Dieu! – in Summer no less. And last month it warned of 40 kph winds. Batten down the hatches!
Daily inflation stories remind us we are at record highs (unless, of course you lived through the 80s). And it will apparently suck a couple extra loonies out of your pocket, unbeknownst to you, each time you walk into a store. Then again, inflation isn’t so bad if you consider only “core inflation” vs “headline inflation” – assuming you don’t eat, fuel your home or use any mode of powered transportation.
Recession warnings are a daily refrain – though “analysts” and “experts” debate whether we’re actually in one – and if the presumed exit will be a hard landing, soft landing, or no landing. I dare you to explain the difference between those terms without Googling.
Housing is a crisis. Prices are at record highs so young people will never get into the market – unless your parents buy it for you or you hit the Lotto Max. Current homeowners are warned they may not be able to service their mortgage after rates rise further. Some “experts” predict you could lose all your hard earned home equity because the market is due to fall any day now. And there is always the possibility that those whispered warnings of an eventual equity tax on us rapacious homeowners could come to pass.
Daily financial headlines blare that your investment portfolio is at perilous risk of melting – because we are warned interest rates could still rise. Or fall? Or stay put? Please ignore the fundamental market realities that financial instruments rise and fall, driven by buying and selling, and competing sentiments. Just stay worried and bulletproof your portfolio for whatever may come, based on information from the disagreeing experts.
You are not allowed to forget the climate change crisis for more than an hour (climate change having been rebranded from “global warming” a while back). Our climate – apparently now inseparable from weather or good forest management - is at yet another tipping point unless we shut down fossil fuels and severely change our ways by 2030 (or is the REALLY serious year 2050?). I’m optimistic, though, as my understanding from Justin Trudeau and Steven Guilbeault is that if we just keep paying a higher carbon tax, it will help decelerate planetary temperatures. This is apparently through the carbon tax’s power of behavioural modification - or maybe its just the chilling effect of yet more taxes. And never mind that we’ve been spectacularly wrong about cataclysmic climate predictions since the 1970s, or that Canada’s contribution to carbon emissions is little more than a rounding error because, after all, we have to “do our part”.
China apparently set up shop in Canada some years ago and we are unsure what they’re doing under the covers. Our government was a two year laggard in banning Huawei from our 5G networks; ignored or conveniently missed important memos about China’s tampering in our elections; and awaited the US to do something practical to prompt the release of our two Canadian citizens held captive in a tit-for-tat display of China’s unsubtle diplomacy. Alas, Canadians could not be assuaged of our concerns by the eminent David Johnston, whose previously fine reputation was dragged through the mud by taking on the ill-chosen task of investigating China’s interference for Justin Trudeau – Johnston’s fancy French title notwithstanding. So we add concerns for our national sovereignty and security to the growing list of crises.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the latest boogeyman/bot as we’re told the machines are coming for us. Twenty years in, most people are still trying to figure out how to write a decent Excel macro, but now are trying to wrap their heads around the basics of a technology that is purported to make us obsolete or enslave us. Meanwhile, we can distract ourselves for a laugh by having ChatGPT write us a song in the style of Anne Murray.
There are so many other epidemics (or crises) on the daily buffet. Of course, we had the Covid epidemic (quickly upgraded and rebranded to a pandemic) which was fat-fingered by our public health and political leaders, giving us no current solace about being kept safe and healthy when the next health crisis alights. And we have untold other epidemics to read about each day, such as obesity (and its kissing cousin, Type 2 diabetes), violent crime, opioid addiction, and suicide, to name just a few.
And, finally, there are countless other issues that tickle in the back of our heads as we feel they ought to be considered crises – such as our Federal and Provincial debts. Although, on that front, there have apparently been some exciting advances in macro economic principles since I last sat through university economics – as we can now spend our way out of debt, while eschewing the old-fashioned notion of national productivity and just focus on corporate subsidies, wealth re-distribution and the latest religion of diversity, equity and inclusion.
Perspective Matters
So, every day we get pounded with this onslaught of warnings, crises and epidemics and told that we are standing on one precipice or another, and staring into the abyss.
Indeed, in most things there exists some truth and reality. And for many of the above examples, there is certainly cause for concern, pain being endured and pragmatic actions we can be taking.
But not everything is a crisis. Not everything can be the worst, the most important, or the most urgent. And not everything should be handled as a crisis, because it sucks the oxygen from countless other important things that our governments should be doing, and that we should focus on.
We cannot be apoplectic about everything, because at some point Chicken Little’s yelling exhausts everyone – at which point apathy, denialism and nihilism set in.
What Then To Do?
At minimum, we can examine things pragmatically – sometimes tackling them straight on, and sometimes digging into tangential topics to search for influence, cause and impacts.
At the top of the list, we must examine how our governments’ legislated policies, stated priorities and overarching tone affect the big issues of our day. But we should also look to history to understand precedents, lessons learned and to gain perspective – history really does repeat itself if we pay attention. We need to think critically about how to integrate the predictions, models and forecasts from the “experts” on whose information many warnings depend – including how they arrive at their forecasts. And I believe we should ponder our own responsibilities to think critically and add practicality to the discussions around us.
We’ll dive into these topics and more in upcoming newsletters.
Stay tuned and stay pragmatic.