“Do the difficult things while they are easy, and do the great things while they are small” – Lao Tzu
There certainly is no better time than this to highlight the importance of the idiom “Prevention is better than cure” which has been attributed to the sixteenth century Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus.
The idiom has been in use for centuries, mainly referring to illnesses, though most people around the world started paying special attention to the concept and even seeing the validity of it due to the Covid-19 pandemic during the last couple of years.
A more general version of the concept can be found in the literature as a thirteenth century Latin proverb, the English translation of which, says: ‘It is better and more useful to meet a problem in time than to seek a remedy after the damage is done’.
Certain risks
Even within the framework of physical wellbeing there may be limitations beyond which any effort of preventing certain illnesses or avoiding certain risks could be seen as ‘eccentric’ behavior or even an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
For example, one might minimise the risk of getting involved in an automobile accident by not getting on the road and staying at home 24/7. However, with new normal adjustments such as online-education, -shopping, -medical consulting, -yoga and exercise programs and all the work from home options, being indoors 24/7 might not even be seen as too far off from what used to be accepted as normal behavior.
As far as physical wellbeing is concerned staying away from tobacco, alcohol, drugs, caffeine, sugar, salt, red meat, raw fish and deep-fried food or food cooked in aluminum pots or on PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene) coated non-stick surfaces are not considered as out of the ordinary.
The Covid-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity for the world to see that people can get adjusted to change faster than we may have believed before. One other aspect to notice is that such detailed preventive measures are not to be found regarding mental illnesses. Perhaps it is not as easy to identify factors causing mental illnesses as to do it for physical illnesses or the importance given to mental illnesses has not reached the same level as that of physical illnesses.
If one examines the relevance of the idiom ‘prevention is better than cure’ in an extended frame of reference, where the health of the man is replaced by the health of an organisation, the environment, a country or even the planet then, what would be identifiable as preventable diseases, or troubles and who is responsible for prescribing appropriate preventive measures?
In such a situation one might refer to the more general version of the concept which says: ‘It is better and more useful to meet a problem in time than to seek a remedy after the damage is done’. It certainly wouldn’t be a waste of time for Sri Lankans to think about the best possible ways to solve the problems we are facing today as a nation as well as whether we could have prevented any of these had we done things differently.
Could we have avoided the dollar shortage, which contributed to shortages and higher prices for imported goods and of course, the fuel shortage, which is the main reason for the power cuts and high transportation costs, which contributed to higher prices of domestic goods too?
Should the Government have seen it coming and taken appropriate decisions in time to avoid the chaos, instead of waiting till the last dollar and then make ignorant statements such as: “if someone gives me dollars then I can buy oil”?
In the global context, could the world have avoided the Russian invasion of Ukraine? Did the US and NATO have anything to do with Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine? Did the Ukrainian Government make the wrong decisions and put their people in this mess?
Wouldn’t prevention have been better than allowing death and destruction for a few days and then trying to profit from reconstruction and from solving refugee crisis, especially if the problem was brewing for several years?
Important decisions
Democracy, as we have come to accept it today, allows anyone who is eligible to vote to be a candidate who, if elected, will have the power to make important decisions affecting the lives of all the citizens of the country.
If it is an economically or militarily powerful country, of course, the decisions made by such people can sometimes affect the whole world.
Though people do not intentionally go to an unqualified person for medical, legal, financial, or architectural advice they seem to be willing to give the power to any ignorant person to make important decisions about their lives.
Unfortunately, the vast majority of voters either have no interest in politics or have a very low level of political knowledge. Instead of acting as responsible citizens who are trying to decide who should be making decisions to take their country to prosperity they behave as the cheering squad for the ‘blue team’, ‘green team’ or the ‘red team’.
They are happy if they just win this ‘game of election’. There is another group of people who have a better political knowledge but highly biased in their evaluation of information dismissing any opposing view.
Most of them lack critical thinking and are extremely selfish. They usually vote for the person who can provide them with their individual needs. Then there is a small group of people who have the political knowledge and the ability to think critically and not to let their emotions and bias cloud their judgment on voting.
Voting involves electing people to make decisions on matters of life and death for the whole country and in some cases for the whole world.
We have experienced that especially through wars, pandemics, financial meltdowns, famines, and all other types of disasters. Whether it is a war, a pandemic, or a capsized ferry, if people die due to decisions made by selfish and ignorant politicians who are at the lower levels of the evolutionary ladder, then a part of the responsibility lies with the voters who elected such politicians.
As in every sector of the society, one can find the whole spectrum of people, among politicians too. From those who are totally dedicated to the people and country’s development, most generous, to those who are totally dedicated to their own development, most selfish.
Two qualities
The majority would be in the middle with a mix of the two qualities, generousness, and selfishness, at varying proportions. Though we are living in a world where true democracy is nowhere to be found, we could expect the voters to make better decisions if they are more knowledgeable and less biased.
It is heavily influenced by the education system where equal access to quality education for all the citizens is needed to guarantee that the candidacy will not be limited to the rich and powerful. Then the Government will consist of people selected for candidacy on merit and elected by people who have the knowledge to carefully analyse the candidate’s plan for the country’s future.
Then the dream of the people would be to see the elected members of their governing bodies work for them as true professionals. That might be the best way to prevent countries from getting into economic or political chaos.
The writer has served in the higher the education sector as an academic over twenty years in the USA and fifteen years in Sri Lanka and he can be contacted at [email protected]