The British are surprised at the submissive reaction of Australians and New Zealanders to our governments' vicious lockdown measures in response to what is, for most, a mild Covid challenge.  This invites the question - are we in the Antipodes any more supine before the power of the Covid State than the Brits are?

The Covid episode has brought forth many ironies.  One relates to the way we (don't) look after our aged, especially the frail aged.  Many governments have implemented a euthanasia regime, yet pretend to care now for the health of the aged.  But governments have actually abandoned the aged for whom they claim to care in their efforts to place the rest of us under house arrest.  No dignity - anywhere.  It is almost a soft euthanasia program by another name.

The fear, even hysteria, among the population over Covid is unprecedented.  Yet there is a precedent for the strategies now being used by governments and others to generate the fear we are now witnessing.  We merely need to look back a few years to the great climate change scare to see the parallels.  Indeed, it might be argued that climate change was the perfect dress rehearsal for Covidmania.