December 16, 2012
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it’s time for change
I find governments tend to be “reactive” instead of proactive about making changes or bringing about change. Either because they think it’s a politically suicidal, or there’s no money in the government coffers.
I would LOVE to have a Proactive government but that will never happen… it’s always going to be reactive and usually in ALL levels of government.
For example:
I remember our school lobbying with the local council to get a set of traffic lights because people wouldn’t stop just because there was a lolly-pop person. The response from the authorities: “they will consider only if there is a tragedy”- yes basically they wait for a number of “deaths” and “severe” accidents that cause people to be handicapped before change comes about.
Or the state government changing the speed limits around schools to a 40km zone (and that only came about) obviously with way too many primary and secondary school students ending up as road carnage.
Or the Federal government spending billions of dollars upgrading school buildings but that wasn’t UNTIL many of the buildings were already falling apart.
But many of these changes to law etc did not come about because the governments were “proactive” and decided to act before such terrible things occurred, they occurred because it had already happened. But at least, our governments DO something about it, albeit a little too late at times but better than never at all.
We don’t have to look to far but look at our American friends. Change DOES NOT come about after each shooting where dozens of lives lost because someone else has problems with their own lives but for whatever reason decide to take it out on the innocent people going about their day to day lives.
You would have thought change would have come about with the first crazy shooting at Virginia Tech, where dozens of families who lost their loves one were asking “why”.
yes WHY indeed? Why did nothing change after the shooting? Why are so many Americans go on the defensive the moment they hear “gun control’ because clearly there is a need. Why are all the American politicians so dense and stubborn, and to afraid to make change? Obviously the GUN lobbying groups are a lot stronger voice than those of the dead and the suffering. Maybe change would come about if each and every one of those lobbyist had their wife/husband/child maimed and killed by a psychopathic idiot where access to guns is way too easy? Perhaps then change would be pushed their government a lot faster than nothing at all.
But no, nothing happens.. and so the rest of the world witnesses more senseless shootings ranging from Colombine, Colorado and now at a primary school where young children who would have had the rest of their lives to enjoy life cut short because nothing changed.
I’m an Australian and I find the news of the young massacred in such a senseless way really heart breaking, and even I ask “why? and WTF”
I am proud of the fact that our government- REACTIVELY reacting 15 or so years ago when a man decided that he was going to GUN down innocent people at Port Arthur and our government of the day decided that firearms of the sought were going to be banned and spent a lot of money rewarding those who had them to turn them in – no questions asked.
Sure- it was something that should have been done years ago, but seriously, it was better that something happened than nothing at all.
because at least, unlike our American friends who are mourning over the lives that were lost over the weekend, we don’t have to ask “why”
