AT THE outset I wish to state my position.
I am double vaccinated against Covid-19, had no hesitation whatsoever, had no adverse effects, as was the case with all other previous immunisations against polio, measles, mumps, chicken pox, yellow fever and all other jabs prior to going travelling.
And I am booked for a booster shot.
Having said that, I understand the reality of normal human anxiety.
As a career psychotherapist of four decades, I have heard pretty much everything that any human being has suffered and have suffered a fair bit of it myself.
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The dilemma we face is that of all human history – ‘me’ or ‘us’.
History is filled with examples of societies that collapsed while others sustained themselves for thousands of years.
Those that collapsed put the individual before the community, and those that sustained themselves did the reverse.
Australia’s indigenous inhabitants are prime examples of societies that sustained themselves.
Their wisdom put care of the earth and deference to the community first, ahead of preference for the individual.
The key is an ethical issue that philosophers have written about for thousands of years – the ‘public good’, or the highest good for the greatest number.
Democracy is supposed to be based on the same principle.
It should be about ‘us’, with ‘me’ coming an important but close second.
If we insist on reversing that principle, we risk collapse as a nation and society.
The signs are already with us.
Self-interest in politics, economics, social interaction, wants versus needs, ‘my ideas’ versus ‘revealed wisdom’ – we have become dangerously and immaturely ‘precious’.
That’s about ‘ego’ versus ‘soul’ or, if you think ‘soul’ is too airy-fairy, think ‘common sense’.
It makes sense to be part of the whole – caring for you is good for me.
Numbers provide safety but individuals can be easily picked off and destroyed.
‘A three-fold cord is not easily broken’, the saying goes.
We need to be careful not to allow corrosive voices and movements among us to divide and destroy our community.
If you become aware of something that sounds divisive, please call it out.
John White
Toodyay
