Be grateful brilliant minds are behind our Covid-19 response
Shame on Mike Hosking and Heather du Plessis-Allan for trying to implant into our minds that the medical profession and the Government have got everything wrong in this fight against Covid-19. I have listened to the people they are quoting and find them both very selective of their comments. They must be the only two people saying these things and they are only journalists, thank goodness there are better minds attacking this problem.
Tony Barnett, Pukekohe
Is alcohol really essential?
It speaks volumes about the values of our society, when threatened with economic and social collapse, and struggling against a disease that attacks the lungs, that alcohol and tobacco are considered essentials.
Jane Margaret Livingstone, Remuera
Support of the state
The business editor at large of the Herald gives us a good talking-to (“State support cannot mean a return to the 1970s”, April 12): “Right across the political spectrum, we’ve seen a remarkable and rapid acceptance of economic policies that would have been previously condemned as socialist — even by the Labour Party. Muldoon’s legacy should serve as a reminder of how not to run a centralised economy. It’s a reminder that won’t be lost on students of NZ political history, like Finance Minister Grant Robertson. But even with the best intentions there are risks for any government trying to manage an economy so comprehensively. The biggest of those is that its bureaucracy can stifle the kind of business innovation and growth which will be vital to NZ’s chances of, not just surviving this downturn, but thriving out the other side.” There’s an unnecessary comma in that last sentence, but it’s worth pointing out as well that Muldoon was a National Prime Minister who ran a centralised economy which froze wages for the benefit of the ruling class. By way of contrast, a Labour Prime Minister in the latter 1930s ran a centralised economy which legislated a justly-praised welfare state for the benefit of working people.
Dean Parker, Ponsonby
Intentions important
Replying to my letter about euthanasia and murder, Chris Elias says of me, “he’s mistaken if he thinks doctors have never intentionally killed people . . . a little too much morphine, given to relieve intolerable suffering, has predictably caused death” (April 12). This conflates two scenarios. Giving morphine with the sole intention of relieving pain (but knowing death is likely) is quite different from giving morphine with the intention of causing death. If the patient survives with less pain, the first doctor has succeeded but the second has failed. Intentions are always important in moral discussion.
Gavan O’Farrell, Lower Hutt
Human nature unchanging
Martin Hanson (April 12) refers to the “Archaic Morality” of the Catholic Church. Human nature does not change, so we discard ancient wisdom and teachings at our peril. I, for one, have no wish to live in a Brave New World.
John Hampson, Meadowbank
Re-setting of society’s values
There were two particularly interesting articles in last weekend’s Heralds .On Saturday, Fran O’Sullivan urged NZ’s “uber-rich” to consider what they could contribute to help their country in this time of crisis. On Sunday, Diana Clements addressed those in much more modest circumstances. Both articles suggest a resetting of society’s values in the face of Covid-19. In stark contrast was a Sunday article. It was the story of a young adult who had quickly climbed “the property ladder”. The article conveyed to us that, at this time where other businesses are struggling, property investment is the way to go. After all, rents still come in. In this article, the underlying values are simply those of pre-Covid-19. Work hard. Go it alone. Success is getting up the property ladder. Notably, there is no intimation of how hard renters are working while striving to meet their obligations.
Susan Healy, New Lynn