I have a fascination with Bhutan, and their struggles. An impoverished, landlocked country, sandwiched between India and China, either one of whom would quite happily absorb it. While I’m not a fan of Monarchies as a way of running a country, I can’t help but give their current king props, for being one of the most involved, concerned, and effective leaders in the world right now.
State finances so thin they can’t have a significant military? Ok. How about we roll the military, border patrol, search and rescue, paramedics, disaster relief, and public works engineering, into one organization. Call them the “De-suung” (Guardians of Peace), cross train the heck out of everyone, and just move that manpower where it’s most needed, RIGHT NOW.
A virulent pandemic originates in one of our neighbours, spreads to the other, leaving us stuck in the middle, without a medical infrastructure to deal with it if it breaks loose within our own border?
Shut down the border. Turn every district and province in the country into an island, mobilize the entirety of our “De-suung” to make it happen, move food and supplies around.
And does the King hide out in his summer cottage for a year, issuing proclamations from the steps?
No.
I swear he’s worn out a dozen pairs of shoes, going to wherever the problems were at their worst. Being visible, in person, showing how to wear a mask, and explaining why it was important. Presiding over the graduation ceremonies of new classes of “De-suung”, visiting hospitals, personally pinning medals on low ranking service-people for their efforts. Presiding over the first dose of vaccine as it gets put into an arm.
Always present. Always informed. Always taking responsibility. Taking his son and heir along with him to show him “This is how it’s done.”
And the results? Well, I’ll lift a quote from Stephen Maher of MacLean’s:
“One of the strange things about this disease is how some poor countries stopped the disease in its tracks because they were well-organized. Tiny Bhutan, which has a GDP per capita of about $4,000, mobilized all its social resources to suppress the virus and had only a single death. The world does not need more Canada. It needs more Bhutan.”