Re: Urban society slides into helplessness (B.C. Views).
Thanks for the article on the way society cannot handle any small upsets to the status quo.I remember the big windstorm of 2006, which incidentally was in December. I was a 60-plus senior at the time, and my power was out in a residential area of Colwood for five and a half days, as our two-house power line was not a high priority in the queue. I watched the Hydro trucks go by day after day, waiting my turn for reconnection.
Fortunately I have a wood stove that can heat my house, boil water and cook food. It does get tiresome living by candlelight but I had my disaster radio nearby to listen to the local station give updates on how Hydro was doing. Most of my freezer contents were moved to friends’ homes, and my garden shed became my refrigerator. Anyone with common sense can understand that the repair crews work tirelessly to restore power as quickly as possible, and perhaps the media could help by reminding people that they need to fend for themselves for several days if the major earthquake ever occurs. Calling 911 just clogs up the lines and can stop people from getting through with real emergencies.Whatever will we do when the “big one” comes?
Margaret Mercer
Colwood
Tom Fletcher’s latest confusing rant challenges your readers to be “competent” enough to plan for retirement using RRSP savings accounts without government assistance, tenuously suggests nationally subsidized child care is a form of incompetency and then rather ominously asks us if we are “ready for the day when the machine stops.”One can only assume Mr. Fletcher somehow intends “the machine” metaphor to be a thinly-veiled reference to the federal government collapsing.If so, I urge caution: RRSP savings accounts are registered with the federal government. Should that particular “machine” fail, your registered retirement savings plan would be rendered worthless, as it would be “registered” with no one in particular.That spot under the mattress is beginning to look even more attractive as a place to plan for our retirements. Thanks for the advice, Mr. Fletcher.
Max Rundle Wilkie
Kelowna
