More socializing (maybe, in some places, more socialism!) and altruism would be great silver linings. More of a focus on risk assessment would also be great - for individuals as well as for the average individual's understanding of how governments and organizations plan for and deal with big events like this.
As individuals, I think there isn't enough consideration given on a daily basis to risk assessment. America may be considered more litigious but Canada's not far behind when compared to Europe, where personal responsibility is more prevalent. Over there, you're usually given more latitude to make your own decisions about acceptable risk (using backcountry skiing as an example) but you're also responsible for the consequences (you can't sue everyone to recover the cost of all your losses, and you may be charged for part or all of the cost of your rescue). Search and Rescue may cost you money, but in Switzerland at least, you could buy an annual policy for 80 CHF (roughly 80 CAD) that would cover your costs - a worthy annual investment that supported SAR and covered your ass in case you screwed up.
Then we get into pay-to-use fee structures, which I'm also a big believer in, but that's a conversation for another time.
April 2, 2020, 7:16 a.m. - Pete Roggeman
More socializing (maybe, in some places, more socialism!) and altruism would be great silver linings. More of a focus on risk assessment would also be great - for individuals as well as for the average individual's understanding of how governments and organizations plan for and deal with big events like this. As individuals, I think there isn't enough consideration given on a daily basis to risk assessment. America may be considered more litigious but Canada's not far behind when compared to Europe, where personal responsibility is more prevalent. Over there, you're usually given more latitude to make your own decisions about acceptable risk (using backcountry skiing as an example) but you're also responsible for the consequences (you can't sue everyone to recover the cost of all your losses, and you may be charged for part or all of the cost of your rescue). Search and Rescue may cost you money, but in Switzerland at least, you could buy an annual policy for 80 CHF (roughly 80 CAD) that would cover your costs - a worthy annual investment that supported SAR and covered your ass in case you screwed up. Then we get into pay-to-use fee structures, which I'm also a big believer in, but that's a conversation for another time.