Boré’s View.

Back in the day, ‘Mandate’ was a gay nightclub in Melbourne.  Now it is official Government policy on vaccines.  When we return to weekly meetings, it will almost certainly be under a government mandate of vaccinated people only.

John Stewart Mill’s book On Liberty, written in 1859, was hugely influential amongst people in the young democracies of the time.  It can be read as a call to arms against dictatorship and also a guide to the limits of state power against the individual in a democracy.  One of Mill’s key points was that the state should not restrict the freedoms of a citizen in order to protect him from harming himself.  However, where one person might hurt another, the state can reasonably encroach on the individual’s freedoms to limit the harm to others.  So, by this reasoning, if you don’t wish to wear a seatbelt then state’s attitude should be ‘knock yourself out’ (literally, if it comes to it).  On the other hand, if you drink and drive you risk harming others, so the state is entitled to encroach on individual freedom to reduce drink driving.  Proponents of this libertarian view would say that the right of governments to limit the freedom of unvaccinated citizens hinges on the question of whether unvaccinated people pose a risk to others.  It is a fraught issue.

Additionally, we often think of controversial issues in a very binary way; there is my view and the opposing view, and the people who agree with me are right and the people who don’t are wrong.  However, most controversial issues are complex.  This complexity contains areas of grey, with arguments for and against on both sides.  Within these areas of grey there is often room for us to find common ground.  In Rotary we try to promote goodwill and understanding.  Hopefully we can deal with some of these pandemic challenges by finding areas of common ground.  Otherwise, Boré fears what might happen.

We thank Boré for another great cartoon.

Complex problems.

The writer H.L.Mencken famously wrote,

‘For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.’

Ready for the three R’s again.

Ronnie Barker has been taking a look at the Government’s timetable for reopening.  He believes the priorities need to changed.

Ready to fly again.

With international travel bubbles now only weeks away, nobody is keener to get back into the air than Pip Ritchie.

Global security.

Doug sends us this report;

The English are feeling the pinch in relation to recent geopolitical events, and have therefore raised their security level from "Miffed" to "Peeved."

Soon, security levels may be raised yet again to "Irritated" or even "A Bit Cross." The English have not been "A Bit Cross" since the blitz in 1940, when tea supplies nearly ran out.

Terrorists have been re-categorized from "Tiresome" to "A Bloody Nuisance." The last time the British issued a "Bloody Nuisance" warning level was in 1588, when threatened by the Spanish Armada.

The Scots have raised their threat level from "Pissed Off" to "Let's get the
Bastards." They don't have any other levels. This is the reason they have been used on the front line of the British army for the last 300 years.

The French government announced yesterday that it has raised its terror alert
level from "Run" to "Hide." The only two higher levels in France are "Collaborate" and "Surrender." The rise was precipitated by a recent fire that destroyed France 's white flag factory, effectively paralyzing the country's military capability.

Italy has increased the alert level from "Shout Loudly and Excitedly" to
"Elaborate Military Posturing." Two more levels remain: "Ineffective Combat Operations" and "Change Sides."

The Germans have increased their alert state from "Disdainful Arrogance" to
"Dress in Uniform and Sing Marching Songs." They also have two higher levels: "Invade a Neighbor" and "Lose."

Belgians, on the other hand, are all on holiday as usual; the only threat they
are worried about is NATO pulling out of Brussels.

The Spanish are all excited to see their new submarines ready to deploy. These beautifully designed subs have glass bottoms so the new Spanish navy can get a really good look at the old Spanish navy.

Australia, meanwhile, has raised its security level from "No worries" to
"She'll be alright, Mate." Two more escalation levels remain: "Crikey! I think we'll need to cancel the barbie this weekend!" and "The barbie is cancelled." So far no situation has ever warranted use of the final escalation level.

-- John Cleese - British writer, actor and tall person.

Post script:

If I am being honest, I was planning to write an addendum about how John Cleese did not actually write the above piece.  Then I came across the following cartoon, and I recognised myself in it.  - Ed.