13 Things You Can Do to Kill Your Community
by Doug Griffiths, MLA Battle River - Wainwright

Many other papers have requested this series of columns and I have begun to send them off to them. I am glad that the series has been such a success, and indeed, I have received many compliments on the series. I only had one criticism from a gentleman who criticized me for being so negative and critical. I tried to remind him that this series is meant to be taken tongue in cheek and designed to point out some of the things we do that damage our community without understanding their impact, but he was not interested and merely screamed until he hung up on me.

To anyone else that may have felt the columns were too negative or felt offended, I’m sorry, but I hope you understand that often, before we can fix a problem, we have to understand what is causing the problem and remedy it.

The interesting point about the gentleman who called was that every problem that he mentioned was someone else’s fault. Low commodity prices, closed borders, lack of processing, lack of volunteers for community fundraising, lack of new businesses in town, lack of truck drivers, lack of, well… everything, essentially.

Many enterprising and entrepreneurial people find that the lack of something means, not a road block, but an opportunity. Positive thinking people see problems as opportunities to make money, to develop new skills, to meet new people, or sometimes, just a new challenge or experience. Negative people don’t just see challenges as tough they see them as impossible to overcome and can’t help but focus on what is wrong, unable to see how it could be made right, and often by them.

I am reminded of a quote that says, “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men (and women) who find it easier to live in the world they’ve been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact, it is an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration of truth, it is a dare. Impossible is nothing, and nothing is impossible.” I try to live by that. I have never given up on anything… and indeed, when I am turned away the first ten times, I just get more ornery. I often smile at people who tell me something is impossible and say, “Those who say it cannot be done should not interrupt those who are doing it.”

So, if your ultimate goal is to bring about the failure of your community the thirteenth way to ensure that is to ensure you and no one else you know ever takes responsibility for anything that is wrong or a problem in your community.

Spend time taking to others too, and convince them that everything that is wrong is someone else’s fault and someone else’s responsibility, that way, you and no one you know will feel compelled to become involved to fix it and the problem will remain.

Blame the province, blame the federal government, blame your MLA, blame the Mayor and Reeve and their councils, blame the employees, blame the volunteers, blame the price of gas, or blame the kids down the street.

Whatever you do, find someone to blame and challenge them to fix it, but don’t ever take responsibility or you may just lead your community to successful initiatives.