Life interrupted – 15

In Victoria, we have had more than 20 days of double donuts and for the first time since February there are zero active cases of Covid-19. In August we had 7000+ active cases so the turn around is remarkable.

The borders are opening up, we don’t have to wear masks outside anymore (thank goodness). Christmas can go ahead, all be it with reduced numbers; Bunnings is open, you can sit in a cafe and shop for things that aren’t essential.

I saw my sister for the first time in months and I’ve been able to go to a friend’s house as part of their social bubble. The sun is shining, people are relieved and grateful for the opportunity to do something normal.

But the world is still on fire. And if for five seconds you forget it there’s a few thing to remind you.

South Australia went into lockdown for six days and then lifted it again when they found someone lied to contact tracers about his relationship to a pizza shop. Even more surprising their outbreak was caused through hotel quarantine, exactly the same as in Melbourne. I mean it’s like all the other states with their smug return to normal were not paying attention at all.

In the US they had an election and the person who lost won’t concede and keeps claiming fraud and votes being illegal. The US always painted itself as a beacon on the hill for freedom and democracy, it’s terrifying to watch its descent into chaos.

Twelve million people in the US now have Corona Virus. The death rate is one of the highest in the world. Sweden, which went for some kind of herd immunity model have had 6000 cases in a single day. In the UK they have re-imposed lockdowns, as well as all over Europe.

Australia while relatively covid-free (touch wood), everyday we seem to be governed by a more and more morally corrupt, hypocritical and partisan federal government. But hey you’ll get a few dollars in your bank account because of tax cuts – the fact the mostly help the rich is just details.

There are allegations of war crimes committed by our soldiers in Afghanistan to just make you feel sick to your stomach. The horrifying report alleges 39 murders were committed by SAS soldiers during the Afghanistan war. It’s hard to read, and even harder to understand how we ended up here.

Meanwhile, the government had to pay out 1.2 billion dollars of our money in the failed and illegal Robodebt scheme that is linked to the suicide of 2000 people. Ministers should have lost their jobs but if there is one thing this government excels in is lack of accountability.

It’s the end of the year and I’m tired. The lack of distraction means there’s been nothing else to think about other than how messed up stuff is. While this makes things larger than they would probably be normally, it’s also given me time to clarify exactly where I stand politically and a whole bunch of other stuff as well.

And that might just be about the only good thing to come out of this year.

(I’m going to keep the life interrupted series going but it might be dispersed with other new topics now… Stay tuned and thanks for reading).

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