My mother never told me that life was like a box of chocolates. Probably because there are many areas of life where you know, or at least can predict, what you are going to get.

If I tried the excuse “I didn’t know that would happen” my mother would point out that that was because I didn’t think.

There was a recent best seller about how to never be wrong using mathematical based decision making.

The book was about using mathematical approaches in analyzing issues and problems to achieve an understanding of the issue; a True and Accurate understanding.

Not what you believe, wish to believe, want to be true or what you [in Mark Twain’s words] “know for sure – that ain’t so.”

The more knowledge and understanding of the issues and the problems, the higher the probability is that you will be able to plan and act or behave in a manner that will have the desired outcomes and consequences.

You act, then examine and analyze the results.

“If you are happy getting what you are getting, keep doing what you are doing”

“If you don’t like what you are getting, change what you are doing.”

As Einstein noted, insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over expecting that THIS TIME the results, the consequences, will be different.

If you take actions and engage in behaviours that result in negative consequences it should not come as any surprise that if you repeat or continue those actions and behaviours you will continue to suffer the same negative consequences.

On the other hand, my mother did ask me on several occasions: “If everyone else is jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge will you jump too?”

In our household the fact everyone else was acting in a less than intelligent way was not an excuse for me [us] to act without thought or intelligence …… to do Stupid.

Not taking an action or actions that would be effective in addressing an issue because nobody else around you was doing it also qualified [qualifies] as “jumping of the bridge because everyone else is doing it.”

As a corollary our household also subscribe to “If 100,000,000 people say a stupid thing, it is still a stupid thing.”

Why is this so important?

Year after year, decade after decade, you continue to spend your money, even increase your spending, on services ands resources that year after year, decade after decade, the results show are totally ineffective ……. it should be no surprise to you that the issue or problem worsens and you do not have money to spend on actions demonstrated to be effective in addressing the issues and problems..

The economic reality is we don’t have unlimited resources – money – so we cannot afford to waste resources doing what has been demonstrated to be ineffective and allow the issue and problems to worsen as is currently the case.

In fact the reality of the finances of BC and of Canada is that unless taxes are significantly increased or significant spending cuts are made elsewhere in Budgets, the current level of resources is the maximum level resources available to address issues and provide services will ever be.

As the cost of our current level of resources continues to increase at a rate faster than government revenue increases, the resources available to deal with issues and problems [homelessness] or to provide services [healthcare] will decrease year after year.

This reality is not a matter of speculation, the high [double digit] increases in the cost of providing healthcare – in particular new medications, technology and procedures – has already imposed limits, in effect imposed cuts, on healthcare; especially in mental health services.

Thus the resources [such as shelter beds] will fall while the number of homeless continue to increase because we have continued, ignoring overwhelming evidence that it is futile, to do what we have always done and refusing to take action that has been widely demonstrated to be effective.

Years ago there was a commercial where you could ‘pay me now’ [do car maintenance] ‘or pay me later’ [replace a blown engine].

We can either choose to act wisely, effectively and thoughtfully, or we can continue as we are and deal with a ‘blown engine’.

And while my mother wouldn’t agree that you never know what you will get in life, she would have agreed with Forrest Gump that stupid is as stupid does.