When Society Fails

Something has been disturbing me for the past few years and like a nasty rash it can be ignored for a while until it simply cannot. The nasty rash that disturbs me is how in a country of allegedly educated people that anything of any consequence is now a case of being in one camp or another and how this mentality is fracturing society in ways unimagined.

While it is difficult to be able to stand back far enough to get a clear look at the entire picture it is within the grasp of anyone if they care just put aside their own personal biases and objectively examine the rhetoric of more than the promoters of a subject or cause, but also the dissenters of promoted rhetoric.

To see how division is fomented a person needs also to look at the ways in which media promotes or vilifies the same. The same must be done of our political and business leaders as it is from these avenues of power that policies are formulated and enacted as well as the ways in which public opinion is shaped by the ways in which information is presented or not, as suits.

To date there are numerous campaigns running, some running hot, and others are not. Consider that in the past few years society globally has had to contend with climate change, BLM, Covid, and extinction rebellion to name the most well-known. Each one of these movements has an advertised goal they want to achieve and within that goal there resides a murky swamp of individual ambitions and desires that are generally self-centred to the individual.

Perhaps one of the most divisive subjects currently would be Covid vaccinations and the passport. In Australia there is a public vilification of those who are not vaccinated with little to no regard for the reasons why. The unvaccinated are conveniently lumped in the category of simply being anti-vaxxers and/or conspiracy theorists, usually this grouping is accompanied with some slurs and taunts. It takes little to see how this is a simplification of an individual’s personal circumstances and a way to silence any serious discussion on the vaccines and passports, and a way in which to push the official narrative which is overwhelming in the bombardment for everyone to get the vaccine.

The division continues unfortunately and anyone with a view opposite to the one given by our politicians, that is endorsed by the media and other ‘personalities’, are discussed as being unsuitable to hold any rights or a place in society. This has happened time and again throughout history with predictable outcomes. The only variables being the timeline and the extent of the disdain or hatred directed at those who have become a minority.

Everyone has their own opinion on this, and personal choice has seen which camp people sit in. Anyone who has been aware of current events with a semblance of objectivity can see that this campaign started with our leaders and has propagated from there. Politically this is a bit of a blunder as a political decision has deliberately created a division within society that somehow is acceptable. As with all things, the thin edge of the wedge’ rule applies with all the inequalities and expansion of things now accepted as the wedge is driven deeper. You wonder how it will be spun when they decide that the societal division that has been created changes to a cry for societal cohesion. It will be entertaining, unrelenting, and as fake as a three dollar note.

The irony of a vaccine passport, besides all the widely discussed potential problems, is the short life of it in regard to NSW.  As far as I understand it for NSW is the need for a person to have a vaccine passport to enter businesses that are not deemed to be critical. As politically promoted, this is the handing back of certain ‘freedoms’, with strings attached, to those who are fully vaccinated. What is weird is that the passport apparently will only be in force until December at which time things go back to something resembling normal, with strings attached for all of those in NSW.

Colour me crazy but it doesn’t make a lot of sense.

I do not want to discuss case numbers and all of that stuff because that distracts away from a simple question. What is the significance of the date and why is this date somehow going to ensure that all the vaxxed and unvaxxed will be safe to co-exist?

The cynic in me says the looming Christmas holidays might be the reason for a raft of reasons that will never be clearly explained. I suspect that pumping money back into the economy is close to the top of the heap of reasons. Another significant reason is that to continue down a path of ongoing restrictions and lockdowns is rapidly becoming political suicide. Another reason perhaps is that common-sense knowledge tells us that it is impossible to eradicate these viruses and that changing course and deflecting on the approach of nearly two years is going to take some spin so best to get that happening before the voters rebel too much. This particularly with a looming Federal election.

The Spanish Flu period saw many of the same problems in Australian society such as restrictions, division, and protesting that we have experienced since 2020. Last time the Federal government had trouble seizing back control from state premiers. Victoria and NSW were not on good terms both then and now due to the virus. People were caught and punished for breaking the rules in an emergency both then and now. Interestingly mandatory mask wearing was hated both then and now. Protests happened and were squashed, but strike action had an impact. Lastly, the pandemic restrictions in both eras were eased and then lifted more due to political decisions rather than health decisions.  History repeats when it is inspected.

The difference between then and now is that the Spanish Flu occurred at the end of a turbulent time in history and currently we are embroiled in a turbulent time in history that is unfolding before us.