Band Aids are the name of a brand of adhesive bandage. They sometimes can help a wound heal a little easier than leaving an open cut for bacteria/germs to enter our blood stream. They hold broken skin together. They can cover up something that needs to be kept from public view. It is not, however, something that actually repairs what is broken. We seem to have gotten way too comfortable using them to fix what is broken and have lost the real definition of a band-aid.
I sat in a meeting today on transportation - specifically dealing with traffic congestion on a major freeway. As I listened to the description of "the plan" and how spending billions - with a "b" - on widening this freeway was the only way to fix the problem, my stomach started to get knots in it. The more I listened - the more it felt like I was hearing a band-aid solution - which isn't a solution at all - but a cover-up for a broken transportation system.
When are we going to reach a place in this country - on this planet - when covering up what is really broken no longer works for us? The freeway discussion today was a perfect reflection of where we are on so many of the complex problems.
How can we justify spending billions of dollars that this region and nation doesn't have to widen highways that - upon completion (usually ten plus years) - will be just as congested as they were? How wide do our freeways have to get before we finally say - Hmm, maybe we should find another answer? Granted - we know how to build really BIG freeways and have done so from sea to shining sea, but have we "fixed" anything?
So, why are we "OK" with band aids? Is it because thinking about the problem is hard? Have we reached the place where we rather just cover up the problem instead of put the work and thinking that it takes to find a true solution?
All I know is that band aids can only work for so long. I believe that we have reached the place where the complex problems that this nation and planet are facing are going to require major shifts in our thinking. I am done using band aids as the answer.
Veterans can understand these band aids all too well as one looks at the past in terms of military transition and post war efforts to provide our service members a life after the battlefield. Only recently has the powers to be realized the importance of handling with care this invaluable resource, our Veteran community. Nowhere else can you find a group with such diverse skills, strong leadership and a will to continue on until the mission is accomplished?
Such incredible individuals know that band aids don't work and aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves, make hard decisions and get away from the status quo. These are the thinkers we need solving the problems of today and the future, help us launch them in a way that has them reaching the heights needed to solve complex global issues.
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