The format of a My Take is 150 words – no more, no less – to express an opinion on a different topic each week. This week’s topic was emergency services.
“Poor planning on your part does not necessitate an emergency on mine.” As a chronic procrastinator, I’ve heard variations on this at the most mortifying moments of my life. (Gotta do something about that some day!)
In our personal lives, the saying holds. In public life, poor planning creates emergencies for us all.
Delayed infrastructure investments, service cuts, private-public partnerships, just-in-time delivery chains, or externalized expenses may balance budgets and boost dividends today, but we’ll pay for it eventually. We’ll pay for it tenfold when the stitch not-in-time comes back for the other nine.
“Government is simply the name we give to the things we choose to do together,” is a bit of wit from American politician Barney Frank. What do we call the things we choose not to do together, even though we know we need to, want to, but don’t, then… boom!… splat.
