While driving my new Cadillac out of Stittsville this afternoon after having put the car through the touchless wash at Petro-Canada, I saw a man walking along the side of the road. It is a busy roadway. But it is one with little but speeding traffic between its two ends. One end (apart from disappearing into remote country property) joins Highway #417; the other end connects to the former Town of Stittsville. Between the two extremities is the long road with gravel shoulders and very little development along it. The man who was walking looked to be overdressed; he wore an open winter coat which flapped in the wind and a winter hat which partly hid his face. He was carrying what looked to be a plastic bag of groceries (or at least something of importance). My overall impression was that he was a destitute fellow, a tramp or a vagrant. His uncommon appearance along the solitary roadway suggested he had been deposited there as a hitchhiker by whomever initially picked him up (perhaps someone en route into Ottawa along Highway #417).
Even if I were wrong about the character of the chap walking along the road, he inspired me to consider the fate of others who are less fortunate than I. It’s not something I normally do; nor can I pretend that I expiate any guilt I may have for not doing so by philanthropy to any remarkable degree.
Coincidentally while driving my car and flipping through Sirius XM radio stations I chanced upon a channel which involved a discussion of the Canadian Medical Association Apology to indigenous people.
Cdn Med Assoc Apology to Indigenous people
The discussion was of particular interest to me because I am a lawyer. I don’t think there is any question that doctors and lawyers can exert social dynamics within their scope of influence, even if unwittingly. And it is a scope which I believe is widened beyond the immediate sphere of projection. While “top down” economics may be arguable, I think there is no doubt that social conscience percolates from the top down. That is, it is the duty of those who have the privilege to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle to set an example of generosity (and not only monetary). It may for example include the simple though important assertion that disadvantaged people are not of necessity or predominantly substance abusers or criminals. The perversion of social awareness extends to the limit of sterilization (as lately as 2019). The radio discussion concluded with a song written by an indigenous man entitled “(I am a) Brown Man”.
The song concludes with the words, “I am a red man”. But not before the composer confirms that he is not a white man or a savage. The universality of the theme is critical in my view. We must consider not only the obvious perils of poverty. Life (as I have no doubt you know) is indiscrete when it comes to misfortune; anyone anywhere anytime can suffer loss and disadvantage. Seldom if ever is it fruitful to categorize people based upon what are often deeply ingrained errors and misrepresentations. The mistake includes even the people of whom it is suggested (a predilection which in turn limits the interest of the abused in correction of the error). As a lawyer I can at the very least acknowledge the logical inaccuracy of a conclusion based upon prefabricated disposition only. But of course the mandate as it is applies to those in a position of privilege is higher than that. The adage to “lead by example” is not inopportune.
It is also a reminder to those who enjoy advantage to stop to consider the many elements which have contributed to that enjoyment; perhaps everything from colour to sex to age to language to profession to appearance. That is, the very things one happened to be born with and for which there is no other entitlement whatsoever. But the ultimate ambition is not just talk or apology; it is correction and change. Significantly the radio discussion referred to the recent apology of the Pope from the Vatican. The apology was dismissed as that only; that is, there was nothing said meaningfully about correcting the errors of residential schools for indigenous people. I found it to be a surprising admission on the part of anyone in the public domaine. It speaks to the growing evolution of such intellectual clarity among a wider more respectable audience. I know however that it will be a painfully slow process of inculcation. There will continue to be those who persist to employ their ready powers of influence to defeat those of what are considered lesser prestige.
Understanding the importance of universal health care and education is of course a topic of current interest in the upcoming American presidential election. Nor is the subject one whose arrow is pointed only at one party or another. Politicians and the people whom they attract to their peculiar ambitions tend to be privileged people who have time for such amusement (and who of course most often have the prospect of benefit). Speaking the language of others, understanding the commonality of the human race, both contribute to improved relations and what I personally envision as mutual advantage. There is no more reason to consider such entitlements as beneficial to one person or another as there is to assume that the way you were born predicts what you can become. And for the complete success of that proposition we all need to assert and accept it. It is an educational leap of no insignificance even for the best of us.