I have come to regard the flagrant squandering of credibility as foolishness at its best. When it is gone, it’s virtually impossible to regain. We were provided with a very public example of this recently when the Iranian government adamantly denied having shot down the Ukrainian airliner carrying 176 passengers, many of them Canadians of Iranian origin. Any observer of the international scene is aware that the Islamic Republic controls the media and routinely shapes news to suit its own purposes. The people are often uncertain as to where the truth lies. When the government reversed its version of the downing of the plane and admitted its role, Iranian citizens were enraged by the attempted deception. Many lost faith in government statements.

The numerous instances of prominent individuals and government leaders engaging in deception to gain unfair advantage have fostered within me a fascination with credibility. One of the most extreme examples, exposed in 2008, is the Ponzi scheme of former NASDAQ Chairman Bernard Madoff. He kept his hedge fund losses hidden by paying early investors with funds from those who bought in later. He admitted to his sons, and subsequently to investigators, “it’s one big lie.” The scheme has been cited as the largest fraud in U.S. history. His untrustworthiness cost many investors their life savings.

It’s disappointing when those living and working at lofty levels choose to flaunt their disregard for integrity. They seem not to understand that their example confuses and distresses people struggling to feed a family, buy shoes for their children, pay the mortgage or rent, and hope the bank will loan them the funds to replace an ailing vehicle. They seem unconcerned that their example undermines the values that hold our society in place.

Most of us have witnessed attempts at deception on a personal level. A few years ago a friend, Virginia, wanted to borrow twenty dollars from me. “I need to buy groceries,” she said. “I’m getting some money tomorrow and I’ll pay you then.” About age 30, she still retained an attractive figure and pretty face, but her reputation was somewhat shaky. I knew she was deeply addicted to tobacco and realized the money was likely intended for cigarettes. Wanting to show trust, I gave it to her anyway. The next evening I attended the Hedley Street Dance and noticed her across the street. Seeing me look in her direction, she quickly disappeared into the crowd and has avoided me since then. I still regret that for a mere twenty dollars, she sacrificed the trust I had placed in her.

True credibility comes when there is a sound foundation of integrity. When parents give their children an example of speaking the truth and being honest, their offspring are more likely to pass this on with their own lives. Virginia didn’t live this way and her 3 children struggled socially and academically. Unable to cope with an unstable home scene, they turned to pharmaceutical and illicit drugs to calm their anxieties. They had no dependable scaffolding for the building of their lives. Seeing this, Virginia became distraught, but floundering herself, she could not help them.

For the most part, my generation grew up in homes where there was at least a measure of integrity. I never caught my parents lying or cheating. I was surrounded by strong, authentic role models. When my Uncle Cornie’s chicken flock was decimated by disease, he didn’t have insurance and could have declared bankruptcy to avoid paying the feed company and bank. It would have been the easy option. Instead he went on the road with his tractor and rototilled gardens until he had paid his debts.

I’ m deeply grateful I had role models I could trust. The example of upright individuals built into me and many of my generation, a solid foundation of values. Even if we didn’t listen to the words of parents, uncles and aunts, teachers, and others, their trustworthiness was indelibly imprinted on our hearts and minds.

Unlike my generation when distractions weren’t as plentiful, the thinking, attitudes and character of many children, adolescents and also adults today are being shaped by social media. This is not likely to change. If we want young people to develop a constructive direction for their lives, we will need to show them an example of unimpeachable credibility.

Only those timid souls who have buried their heads deep in the sands of time can be unaware of the unsettling political, economic and environmental developments around the globe. Having just crossed the threshold from 2019 to 2020, many of us are wondering what we might encounter in this new year and new decade. Political leaders everywhere are more focused on retaining or gaining power than on dealing effectively with issues that threaten to disturb the present world order. In 1968 when Mary Hopkin sang the words “those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end,” she aptly described the time in which we now live.

Hoping for a glimpse into the obscure future looming before us, I turned to University of Toronto professor, Thomas Homer-Dixon’s observations in “The Upside of Down”. He contends there are a number of stresses simultaneously converging on an increasingly maligned earth. Among these are global warming, population imbalance, energy scarcity and the growing gulf between rich and poor. Because they are coming at us simultaneously, he says, we no longer have the luxury of responding to them one at a time. “Surprise, instability and extraordinary change will be regular features of our lives,” he suggests, then adds, “the reliable landmarks of life will become strange and distorted.”

Writing in the early years of this century he asks, “Thirty years ago, who would have anticipated the implosion of Soviet Communism, the widespread adoption of personal computers, emergence of AIDS, opening of a gaping hole in the stratospheric ozone layer over the Arctic, or airplanes flying into the World Trade Centre?”

To this list we could now add the increasing indiscriminate violence of terrorists, the rampaging wild fires currently ravaging vast tracts of Australia, and the continuing loss of forests. There is also concern about instability of the North American electrical grid, impact of global warming on polar bears, and dangerous levels of air pollution, especially in India and China. Having lived in Abbotsford many years, I know how polluted air impacts health and enjoyment of life. Even though we may be anxious about the desecration of the planet, we seem unwilling to alter our destructive ways.

I became acutely aware of this human resistance to change when I worked with prison inmates. Corky was a prime example. Stocky, barrel chested with a shiny bald pate, he faced life with arms crossed. He resisted all attempts to divert him from his heroin dependent, small time law flaunting criminal persona. He would not, or possibly could not, change his thinking. Corky viewed life through a cynical soul destroying prism. Out on parole, he stopped at a bar in Princeton one evening, then drove his car off the highway into a deep ravine. He was confined to a wheelchair until he suffered a massive, life ending stroke a dozen years later. His inability to adopt a more optimistic outlook invited disaster into his personal life.

Unless many of us become willing to view our circumstances through a less selfish, less self-centered lens, we too could face calamity. Increasingly, observers of world wide trends are warning us we’re drawing ever nearer to an abyss of calamitous events. We are already faulting our government for the various ailments festering in our country. We need to recognize, though, that politicians alone cannot derail our society’s progression toward a chaotic future.

Although on a global scale there is much that we in the Similkameen Valley cannot remedy, we can do things in our back yards and our communities. Denial of reality or responsibility is not an adequate or acceptable response. In the realms of environment, pollution and climate change we can take measures to decrease our personal footprint on Mother Earth.

Where do we begin? Homer-Dixon says that to rescue our planet from further degradation, men and women with courage and good sense will need to take action. In a world of relentless change and surprise, he suggests we must constantly re-invent ourselves, our society and our future. We must be willing to grapple with complacency and our inclination to shrug off tinges of guilt.

Corky resisted self-change, at great cost to himself. To this time we’ve been blessed with many good years. Let’s not assume they will never end. It’s essential that as individuals we challenge our thinking and look for ways to protect our little corner of the planet.