Story telling #3 Addendum

I find it interesting and in some perverted way a bit satisfying to note the increased attention being paid to the Ebola outbreak within the past few days. The western media and western governments are starting to act as if someone should be concerned. Of course the concern only exist because of the number (no matter how few) of residents of the US or Europe who either have contracted it or at least may have been exposed to it. Most Canadian provinces now have designated hospitals in major cities that are equipped and have trained staff. We are becoming concern because it may affect us.

Clearly, in order to generate public concern and the willingness to invest tax dollars, we will need to be inundated with scary information to generate sufficient moral panic to take action. Action that should have happened five months ago.

TVO had an excellent discussion on Ebola last night. One of the guests was a Canadian doctor (Doctors Without Borders) who had work in West Africa six or so months ago and another was the head of Doctors Without Borders. While the President of MSF was slightly more circumspect than the doctor, both made it clear that (1) MSF had made it clear six months ago that this outbreak was unusual and that the world needed to get actively involved right away and (2) it was beyond human comprehension as to why the world was not becoming fully engaged now in providing resources to fight the spread of this disease. It was refreshing to hear people say what they thought.

What was even more surprising was Steve Paikin said. He asked the question as to why we didn’t respond sooner and with more resources. He wondered out loud if it was because the virus was only affecting poor black Africans. Paikin usually tries to be a neutral host. Yesterday he asked a question that we all need to ask – and then answer.