When this is over, we’ll be up to our bad old ways

The German philosopher GWF Hegel said: “The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.” That also applies to the “lessons” from Covid-19. Life will return to normal and we will continue to frustrate, abuse and kill each other, and the planet.

As soon as the odds change we will again be at large and in charge. If we had learnt anything from wars, natural disasters and plagues, there would be no poverty and suffering.

When this is over the rich will continue to get richer, the stock markets will rise again, churches will be filled and politicians will campaign for election. Inequality will persist, racial discrimination will continue, and poverty, disease, hunger and lack will still dog those who are suffering from it today.

Informal settlements will still sprawl across the landscape. Poor education, underdevelopment and rising disparities will still be major issues.

As for nature, it must enjoy the brief respite. Road vehicles and aircraft will make up for lost time. Trillions of barrels of stockpiled oil will have to be burnt and oil production ramped up.

If the pandemic produces any worthwhile gains, I’ll be pleasantly surprised. If it doesn’t, I won’t express disappointment. I am doing so in advance. AL Taylor, Fairways

A chance for redress

The president’s speech on Freedom Day mentioned that “poverty and inequality continue to stalk our land”. This is because the Codesa negotiations shunned addressing imbalances brought by colonial and apartheid policies.

After the coronavirus and its economic consequences there’s an opportunity for the government to redress the imbalances. All the people will have to be provided with similar support to make ends meet.

M Nqoro, Goodwood

Pushing personal agendas

While we applaud how the president has managed the crisis, some on his advisory committee seem to have personal agendas on cigarettes and alcohol.

They do not have evidence that consumption will extend the crisis or place greater strain on health-care resources. They want to push their own dislikes or phobias (to quote Peter Bruce).

One member was reported as saying he would ban alcohol forever.

Is this what SA really voted for 26 years ago: a government of dictators who use a crisis to enact regulations they have dreamt of but could not put into place? Denis Hughes, Grahamstown

Snubbing the Jews of WW2

There is one omission in Nadine Dreyer’s thought-provoking piece — “It’s time to choose the world we want” (April 26): lessons in humanity from World War 2.

While the article notes the death of 6million “civilians” in German concentration camps and features a picture of survivors from these camps, neither the text nor the caption mentions that the victims were Jews.

There were many other victims of Nazi barbarity, including gypsies, homosexuals and Jehovah’s Witnesses. Only the Jews were hunted down, rounded up and systematically murdered on account of their ethnicity.

The Nazis earmarked every Jew for elimination. By the end of the war three out of every four of Europe’s prewar Jews were dead.

The 6-million referred to by Dreyer were not victims of war who happened to be Jewish. The very fact that they were Jewish was why they were murdered. David Saks, associate director, South African Jewish Board of Deputies

In praise of print

I struck gold in last week’s edition of my Sunday Times, particularly in and around the leader pages — a cornucopia of insight on the problems facing us.

I believe it was a wise move on my part, more than five decades ago, to become a newspaper reader.

I read my first newspaper lying on the floor of my parents’ home in a town in the beautiful land between the Kei and Mtamvuna rivers.

A striking memory of that time and place is etched in my mind. I am standing opposite the Bhunga building in Mthatha. There are people everywhere. My hand is tightly held by an older woman. Pointing to Chief Victor Poto getting out of a black sedan, she says to me: “That is the man. He is our leader.”

And today? Exceptional solidarity, exceptional preparedness and, of course, courage will see us through. Singamaphuthi ahlathi linye!

Marion Barrell, Sedgefield

Rules to confuse even Einstein

We have a civil service that struggles with the logistics of keeping the taps running and potholes filled. Now we are introducing complex new rules across even sub-areas of cities and towns.

These are rules that Einstein would struggle to follow. We ask our soldiers, who have been deployed, to enforce different sets of rules each time they cross a suburban border.

Perhaps the government should ask Denel to rapidly manufacture and distribute Kevlar vests and club-proof helmets to go along with our face masks.

With these complex rules we are likely to be dropped straight into a tragic version of a Monty Python skit.

Until sanity returns, does anyone know an Uber driver with an armoured car because my nearest supermarket is across a suburban boundary?

Neil Kisch, Kenilworth

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