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Quite often I see people claiming that “islands do better”. I think it far more likely that policy, not geography, is the decisive factor. Aus / NZ had great pu
by darkteflon 6y ago
Quite often I see people claiming that “islands do better”. I think it far more likely that policy, not geography, is the decisive factor. Aus / NZ had great public health policy and competent - arguably near-flawless - execution.
If we attribute success or failure to things - like geography - that are beyond our control, it excuses us from taking responsibility for what’s happened. For some governments, that’s a convenient fiction.
- LatteLazy 6y agoI agree completely. I think for all the faults of the Australian government, they took leadership and made hard decisions and it paid off. The UK and US did the opposite: do little, do it as late as possible, ignore issues until ignoring them becomes impossible.
- darkteflon 6y agoReminds me of a great quote by Albert Bartlett: "The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our inability to understand the exponential function." Hyperbolic, perhaps, but directionally correct imo.