Flying on the State's Dime?

I can only imagine the horror and frustration of being a visitor stuck in a place where, whether it is true or not, it feels as if everyone around you is either sick with a sometimes deadly disease or are about to get that disease. If you do go out to buy food - you and everyone else are wearing masks. There are no planes, trains or buses leaving the area and at any rate, you do not want to be with other people in case they are contagious. All you want to do is to get back to Canada - except there are no flights. What is the first thing you and your relatives do? It appears that you demand that Canada do something to solve your problem.

I am never sure if it is the government's responsibility to get citizens out of trouble. I appreciate why one would want the state to do something - individuals must feel powerless. While we generally want the state to stay out of our lives, in times of crisis we expect them to quickly become directly involved. It reminds me of living with a teenager who communicates by slamming doors but then has the audacity to ask for a drive to the mall - then gets upset when you can't do it right away. If we expect that the government has the responsibility to intervene when we ask - then perhaps the government has the right to demand the same level of support from its citizens. It so frequently feels as if assisting citizens in trouble is a one-way street.

However, it is the accepted convention that countries do assist their citizens when they are in difficulty. Or at least they try to. It becomes more difficult when the county is far away and there are relatively few citizens who need rescuing. It seems to me that there are probably not a lot of aeroplanes large enough to fly from central China to North America just hanging around on some runway - waiting to be used. Secondly, I suspect that it is partially the cost - who pays for the flight on an aeroplane that might be half empty? As well, if I was an airline attendant - I am not sure if you could pay me enough to take the risk.

And there would be risks being on a plane full or at least half full of people escaping from the area that is the epicentre of a potential worldwide epidemic. Everyone could wear masks, although there is no scientific proof that an N95 mask does anything to stop the spread of the virus. For people such as myself with a beard, (admittedly my beard may be fuller than some) because a tight seal cannot be achieved, a mask would do little to protect myself or others.  Even if the Canadian citizens were rescued - would they agree to be placed in quarantine for the week or two?

My tax dollars will be used to assist people and I am glad that I live in a country where this is possible. I just wish that those being rescued were a bit more gracious as to how they ask for help or demonstrated some sort of gratitude from benefiting from the largesse of a government who accepts that they can never do enough, fast enough for some people.