Embracing Prevention

It has been a recurring theme this week, popping up in conversations, media consumed, and in silent moments of reflection as I have considered what meals to prepare.

The concept of prevention. Specifically, prevention of negative outcomes in personal and societal spaces.

I was on the road again this past Sunday. Somewhere just after passing Clinton, halfway between Vancouver and Prince George, my vehicle’s sound system stopped registering my iPod Touch. The 2009 device seemed to be working fine, so perhaps the connecting cable was shot. Whatever the matter, 15 years without issue is not a bad run.

With no music to listen to and 4 hours still to go, I combed the FM airwaves until I landed on the only available channel – CBC Radio. It went in and out as I weaved through the mountainous terrain, fuzzy for much of the journey. I had to re-tune several times to find the right frequency. But for the rest of the drive, my ears followed the programming as my eyes browsed the landscapes that the hosts discussed. The news programs spoke about the upcoming fire seasons. The interview podcasts featured guests who were experts in disasters, mental health, and wringing comedy from dark times. A little politics, here and there, seemingly the same polarized discourse we have been having for the last decade. It was clear that a lot of the shows were pre-taped, as the situations had changed even by then – the Sunday morning updates from BC’s Northeast and Alberta’s Fort MacMurray markedly different than the headlines being repeated.

One of the programs, “Cross Country Checkup”, ended by fielding calls from Canadians who had questions or wanted to share their thoughts on the modern mega-firescape that has gripped the nation’s summers in recent times. Some wondered why the provincial government had not banned campfires, given the predicted disaster-filled summer ahead. Most fires are human-caused, after all – the result of hot mufflers, discarded cigarettes, grass burning run amok, industrial activity. Why not prevent what we can? (Arson, it must be noted, represented a tiny percentage of the causes.) Other callers suggested preventative measures to deal with the new megafire reality; introduce large fire breaks around towns and populated areas. The idea being that these would be effective in aiding response efforts and save a lot of forested or agricultural land from eradication. The callers were also mostly fire-affected. Former evacuees; anecdote-holders whose trauma from recent events fueled their passion for the subject.

One woman shared her experience of living through the wildfire that destroyed much of Lytton in 2021. Her house was one of a few that survived. She revealed she had Firesmarted her home not too long before the fire season had arrived, not wanting to risk inaction and lose everything. She had been prompted by a seminar that had been held in town that aimed to educate residents on Firesmarting, or the value of risk reduction activities. The woman shared how she had removed a wooden shed that was attached to her home, cleared the nearby brush, and ensured that no sources of fuel were easily accessible to those dangerous floating embers that set structures alight. When the fire came to Lytton, she even sprinkled her lawn with water – she believes keeping it moist may have been why the flames circled her home but did not swallow it.

She revealed that most of the other surviving homes had also been Firesmarted. A good result. Most people in Lytton had not undertaken these activities, though some homes would have been doomed regardless. Her story offered a poignant reflection on the efficacy of small, evidence-based actions that can have outsized positive impacts.

On prevention then, as an activity to be undertaken but also a notion to be embraced.

We are facing many Sisyphean tasks as a species. Climate change is its own megafire. An all-encompassing blaze that is countered and fueled by our many economic, social and political industries. The connected crises of fast-moving misinformation/disinformation, extreme inequality/inequity, biodiversity loss, conflict, etc. a growing maelstrom that is becoming more and more difficult to make sense of. Aside from the info-bombardment, the most distressing aspect may be the lack of action from political and business leaders. Or, frankly, your neighbor. The old adage, “Only you can prevent forest fires!”, is not entirely accurate. There is plenty that should be organized and operationalized collectively. But it does designate a personal thread to be carried. What we believe and what we do matters.

In that vein, and as I listened to this program watching the patchwork of green and brown roll by, I thought about what the callers would be saying regarding those other topics.

On misinformation and disinformation, for example – avoiding crises in education by adopting preventative approaches. Teaching kids how to wrap their heads around propaganda, framing, logical fallacies, or deciphering truth from tradition. Not waiting until they are older to dive into the nitty-gritty of how to break down how and why humans construct thoughts the way we do. Critical thinking from the outset. A universe where The Demon-Haunted World and Philosophy of Science are just as critical as Shakespeare.

On inequality – so many tabled options seeking to disrupt the status quo and shift wealth more equitably, to benefit us all rather than fill up the pockets of a few. None of these offers gaining traction due to the growing concentration of power bequeathed by wealth and rationed to those making decisions. The preventative options obvious, popular, but stalled until collective action is incited.

Or say the loosely regulated food industry. The cruelty inflicted upon animals or the climate impacts of the supply chain. Multinational behemoths of the global order that fight with billions each year to maintain a pitiful state of affairs. How to prevent such brutal mass slaughter that is also one of the main drivers of worldwide pollution?

Of course, there are personal actions one can take in relation to all these. Adopt your own baloney-detection kit, inspired by best practices in critical inquiry. Do not be a mark for conspiracy. Vote. With your feet and wallet too.

The food one actually has a strange connection to something I have discussed previously; perhaps I can finish the rant here. A couple of years ago, I began to exercise regularly for the first time in my life. I had been thinking of retirement at the time, of what I would need to save financially or what I needed to prepare for in old age. Health came up frequently as a topic in retirement research; a neglected aspect in this particular continent where most people are overweight and undernourished because they rely on pills, supplements, and processed foods while dealing with the compounding impacts of a sedentary life. At the time, I had a relatively healthy diet, but was not moving a ton. That needed to change if I was to preserve what health I had and maintain it into my later orbits.

So I started some moderate exercise and have kept it up since. Preventative action that will hopefully save me plenty of pain and/or suffering in the future. This is how I try to approach many things now – reduce risk up front. In health and in so many other areas. It is never possible to eliminate adverse impacts entirely. But not to act – not to Firesmart, protest, eat well, move, think – I can only construe as complacency.

Model prevention personally, advocate it publicly, enact it collectively. It is imperative.