COVID, UKRAINE, INFLATION, FLOODS

Life is tougher at this point in time than it usually is.

There are many reasons for this, but four stand out as cornerstones of perils that impact our lives.

First of all, we have COVID.

It hit us without warning and dominated our lives for two years. We had no previous experience upon which to base our response. After all, the last great killer virus was the Spanish Flu of 1920. That’s a century ago and there are no survivors to tell us of their experience. So we battled valiantly to curb it, made some mistakes, suffered prolonged isolation & economic hardship and watched it foster divisions in our society, particularly when State Governments severely criticised one another while all had a bad relationship with the Federal Government. But, in the end, we won and we express gratitude to all who led us to a place of general safety as we now plan how to better handle the next virus that will inevitably hit us soon and for which we are not adequately prepared.

Our second crisis is the war in UKRAINE.

The most pointless conflict in the history of humanity. Created by Putin, a psychopath, who hugely underestimated Ukraine’s Zelensky, the world’s most revered leader. We mourn for the people of Ukraine who are suffering enormously. We share their pain as the war has severely diminished the world’s food and energy supplies and contributed to the curse of inflation. It has also revealed to us the weakness of world leaders who sit gutlessly on the sidelines, pointlessly wringing their hands, because they tremble in fear of a nuclear World War 3. That’s a carbon copy of the scenario that caused World War 2.

Number 3 is INFLATION.

This continues to rise and have a huge impact on our cost of living, particularly for those on fixed incomes. It seems to be out of control internationally and this is only partially attributable to Ukraine. Its major cause is unrestrained capitalism where far too many in the arena of business are raising prices for no reason other than to make huge profits and take the heaven sent opportunity to blame it on inflation. It is as huge a fraud as I have ever seen and it has been made even worse by wealthy people and their political clones implementing policies that claim it can be fixed by tax cuts for the rich which will ‘trickle down’ to the poor. Never in history has wealth ever trickled down to help the needy. It is simply a myth that is intended to make its greedy proponents look like good citizens. Tax cuts are undeniably a welfare hand out to the upper crust. Corrupt in the very extreme.

Last, but by no means least, are FLOODS.

They are frequent and more severe than we have usually experienced. And they are again hitting us hard right at this moment. Climate Change is a contributing factor but necessary action on it is not the complete answer as it will take decades of world wide cooperation before it will reduce the impact of climate on our weather. Our immediate aim must be for our entire community to be better prepared in every possible way. Very important must be to have decisive action taken by governments to financially help people have their homes demolished or moved from flood plains to higher places. Right now, it is almost impossible to insure a home that has been flooded and this, cruelly, makes the home unsaleable. The same applies to farmers and their herds and crops. It is a task we cannot avoid.

So, what is our overall challenge in finding solutions to all four challenges.

Firstly, we must be rid of the ancient and stupid ideologies that plague the closed political minds of both Right and Left. We need to foster an open minded implementation of a belief in THE SHARED GOOD. It is quite simple really as it is based solely on commonsense.

Secondly, let us never ever lose HOPE.

Lastly, let’s rejoice that, whenever there is a crisis, many good people get together to help one another. This is shown by the wonderful community spirit that is prevailing in the current floods. It is heart warming to witness the generosity and goodwill that is being shown all over Australia right now.

May it continue in better times as the future of the world is in the hands of those who turn up.

And please help me to remain solvent by buying all 3 of my books on nation building that you will find right here on my website. They make wonderful Christmas gifts.

THE MAN ON THE TWENTY DOLLAR NOTES is about the life of Australia’s greatest nation builder, Flynn of the Inland.

DINNER WITH THE FOUNDING FATHERS tells the compelling history of the giants who founded Australia in 1901 by leading 6 very independent States into Federation.

A BEAUTIFUL SUNSET which is a challenging novel about a Christian who handles terminal illness positively, a very topical subject now that all States have passed legislation to make Voluntary Assisted Dying legally available to all who choose to use it.

Half of the royalties of my books go to ACTS, the community service arm of the Aspley Uniting Church, of which I am Chairman. We send cash gifts to needy people who usually are not members of our congregation and are hit by floods, droughts, fires, domestic violence and elder abuse, all of which are huge national challenges in which we can all participate.

Grace and Peace.

Everald Compton.

The Perilous Politics of Reconstruction

The fact is that few people are ever happy with the way that any disaster is handled. It is simply inevitable that the aura of Anna’s splendid leadership through two disasters will steadily fade as reconstruction proceeds. Her image problem will be made worse by the fact that millions of Australian’s now identify closely with the enormous death toll from the tragedy that has hit Christchurch, the consequences of which will make Queensland’s problems seem to be less important.

Which brings us to the manner in which Reconstruction will be carried out in Queensland (and in north-eastern New South Wales, north-western Victoria and Darwin — all of whom have been omitted from the Federal Government’s plans for spending the Flood Levy, because they seem to be overly concerned about winning seats in politically volatile Queensland). Continue reading “The Perilous Politics of Reconstruction”

“We’ll all be rooned” – said Hanrahan

Devastating floods have hit us hard. Their waters are slowly going away, but they will surely return in force as the current cyclones are already indicating. Nevertheless, we are not going to be ‘rooned,’ as was predicted by a character called Hanrahan, created by Father Patrick Joseph Hartigan in 1921.

“If this rain doesn’t stop we’ll be rooned, and then the bush fires will come and the banks will fail.” Hanrahan was a pessimist, but he did accurately pinpoint the inevitable cycle of Australian disasters — a skill that seems to have escaped our current leaders. Continue reading ““We’ll all be rooned” – said Hanrahan”