Remember when Newt wanted to build a moon base? Well, now Don Drummond does.
What? Yeah, I just compared a fruity Republican candidate to our Austerity Czar. Why? Uh, ’cause they both want the same thing. Which is? They want the moon.
Remember getting a man to the moon in 1969? Neither do I. But I’ve learned about that national project and what it did for American ambition, technology, science and math education, and pride. I’ve also learned that it was ridiculously expensive and understand that some people don’t believe that it happened. Whatever.
But can you imagine watching that on television? A MAN. ON THE GODDAMN M-O-O-N. Holy sh*t! Think about what it was like to feel like a part of that – like anything is possible – just like your parents told you.
“Moons” have allure. They are at once irresistible and improbable. They are a bit crazy, but somehow within reach. Think of that scoundrel moon, slowly orbiting and taunting you. “Come and get me,” says moon. “I’m right here.” I mean, moons are awesome. <I need a moon.> We all need moons. Moons motivate and encourage. Moons make us stay up late and get up early. Most of all, moons make us dream.
But when I think a little more about putting a man (*ahem, person) on the moon, I realize that getting to the moon wasn’t a policy problem. It was a transport challenge that needed an implementation strategy. Turns out that getting to the moon wasn’t actually all that moon-like. Crap.
Anyways, I just checked my trusty telescope and – good news - Ontario has a moon of its very own (!). Something we think can’t be done but can. The impossible, unfathomable project that will capture our attention and imagination. Don’t believe me? Read this excerpt from page 31 of the Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services (emphasis mine):
We can perhaps shoot for a grander goal — a province that provides the best public services, delivered in the most efficient manner, in the world. If this sounds impossibly ambitious, put the question another way: Why not? We goad our business sector to win new customers globally in the face of stiff competition. Why not apply the same standards to our government? Why not give our public servants an objective that can turn the task of transformation — which will at times be a very tough slog — into a project that becomes a source of real pride?
I want to lasso that moon for you, Don Drummond.
And you? What are you going to wish for when you throw the rock?
Policy girls won’t you come out tonight?!
John – what if we were competing with the other provinces – would that be enough?
Jimmy – implementation is just how policy-makers “show me the money!” Jerry Maguire styles. You gotta walk that walk.
LOL @ “It was a transport challenge that needed an implementation strategy.”
I would like to think that though I haven’t read the Drummond piece yet. But I do know of a prof who would just love you for using that line. To him/her, it’s “like all about implementation”.
Implementation is great, but you can’t implement and execute excellently if the appropriate infrastructure isn’t there.
Just my 2 cents.
It may be a wonderful life….and for it to be so, it always needs a vision. JFK wanted to go to the moon to beat the ‘Ruskies’ in the space race and show that capitalism can beat out communism. But it took all the resources of NASA to do it and abandoned every other aspect of space exploration. Fifty years after JFK laid down the challenge, Newtie looks like an idiot for wanting to colonize a place they visited 43 years ago. Mitt would fire him!
But even with a single minded vision, we have to be ever wary that austerity and cuts are easiest to visit on the poor and hardest to make on the rich who have the wherewithal and the money to fight back.
So those who dream of better public services, I issue the challenge to conduct austerity fairly… Here is one place to look first:
http://www.ttc.ca/Service_Advisories/Service_changes/index.jsp
Note the cuts to transit starved Scarborough but also note the absence of any cuts to the Rosedale or Bridle Path bus services that the rich need to shuttle the “help’ to their mansions. The city’s emptiest buses continue to roll into the night while their SRO, jammed-up counterparts for the working poor are reduced.
Now that’s just one of many moons to lasso…..” Policy gals, won’t you come out tonight?”