7 August

I think Australia has 'Americanised' significantly in the last 40 years. Take our approach to the pandemic. 40 years ago a pandemic triggered a public health response, where large teams of experts were mobilised to fight the outbreak and bring it under control. Today a pandemic triggers a political response, with no coordinated public health planning, a long list of rules for people to follow, and the police and military to enforce the rules. Society disappeared, we're now a nation of individual customers living in an economy.