Land of opportunity or paradise lost? reader asks

OUR READERS WRITE

I share with many people of our country real concerns, people who really wonder about our future.  A country blessed with so many advantages that nature has given us: the beauty of our lakes, rivers and forests are marvels.  Of course, we also have to add other natural resources plus the advantages we enjoy from an educated population, a population that is hard-working and eager to make the world a better place for all.

However, we have our legitimate worries.  

We see a world where often there is a decline in the Quality of Life here and elsewhere.  For instance, beginning in the mid-1980s with the commencement of FTA and NAFTA, more and more we in Canada are affected and influenced by the dog-eat-dog culture of America. This influence reduces our humanity and our collective will to support each other and to look out for the community's interests. In addition, we have witnessed too many examples of smug, self-serving politicians who generally seem to have a commitment to political expediency rather than principles that reflect an understanding of our world and that we all have an obligation to look out for one another.  Many of our institutions seem to be out of control and emphasize impersonal technologies that rule our every day actions.  Too often that technology acts as a screen to avoid personal commitment and responsibility.  How many of us remember that old-fashioned expression: “My word is my bond”? Consider also our political institutions at all levels that depend more and more on impersonal communications where it is next to impossible to hold politicians and their bureaucracies to account.

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