Can we be better?

Just a few hours ago I heard about the death of Osama bin Laden.  For over a decade this man has been the face of terror.  One friend on Facebook commented that a "shadow just lifted."  Another posted a statement rejoicing in his death.  The news carried images of young Americans cheering and chanting in front of the White House.  The images (minus the burning US flag) were not unlike those we've seen in the streets of Iraq and Afghanistan when American soldiers are killed.  

This got me thinking about where we go from here.  With all the differences between countries and cultures we have so much in common.  At our worst we celebrate death and destruction.  At our best we rejoice in ideas and achievement.  It feels as if we've celebrated death and destruction over the last decade in our pursuit of justice.  What ideas and achievements will be pursued now that this shadow has lifted?

Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice, or the LORD will see and disapprove and turn his wrath away from them."  Proverbs 24:17-18 NIV      

We know this isn't really the end of terror.  But it can be the beginning of a new chapter in World history.  Let's spend the next decade re-building the bridges we've burned.  Let's spend the next trillion dollars of Defence spending to reconstruct the lives and places that were destroyed in our pursuit of justice.  Let's continue our pursuit of justice, but with wisdom and humility, otherwise are we any better than our enemy?  Let's strive, not to be better than others, but to be better than ourselves.  

I understand why there's dancing in the street.  But it just doesn't feel right.  We can be better. We need to be better.

The end of the perk?

Travel perks for New Zealand MPs are on the line this week. The issue has sparked a debate (on talk radio at least) about whether or not MPs should still have access to the perk or whether it should be axed in lieu of a pay rise. Mike McRoberts, filling in on Radio Live this morning, suggested that if these perks weren’t available the public would miss out because it might deter the “best and brightest” from making the sacrifice to serve in the public arena.

It got me thinking about teachers, medical professionals, and other workers who provide vital public service without perks like reimbursable travel. In July, Campbell Live ran a story about a NZ teacher who began a Facebook campaign to get Air New Zealand to provide discounted airfares to teachers who don’t have much flexibility in picking when to take their holidays. The only options available are for them to travel at peak times of the year (unless they want to take unpaid time during the term). Granted, teachers get more ‘holidays’ than most, but most of the teachers I know use much of this time to prepare for the coming term. Would discounted travel attract a better quality teacher to the classroom? Maybe. Maybe paying teachers and nurses $130,000 p.a. would attract more quality candidates to Teacher’s College as well. Before this would happen though, there would need to be a shift in our thinking about the strategic value of teachers and nurses to the future of the country. We would have to contemplate the significant contribution they make to our economic potential as they shape the business leaders, politicians, bus drivers and check out operators of the future.

Regardless of the perks, we still have Parliamentarians, Teachers, and Medical professions who do the job for the sake of giving something back. So I wonder whether the perks really do make a difference as to who fronts up for these demanding jobs, or whether those who choose to serve in these positions really do it for altruistic purposes that have nothing to do with the perks of the job at all. We could find out by axing Parliaments travel perks and paying our teachers and medical professionals a MPs salary. Or we could just keep things as they are so we don’t upset the status quo.