Fear and loathing in NZ
THE office has endured a slow pace for the last couple of weeks due to fear of swine flu and school holidays. Not that we have actually suffered swine flu -- that we know about -- but because it's imminent and we're waiting for it to manifest like an anxious floodplain dweller might wait for a spring tide.
NZ has 2525 confirmed swine flu cases up from 2477 on Wednesday. But there are suggestions the number of community cases could be up to 30 times higher. H1N1 creeps closer with each passing hour.
In any case, the airlines are tightening their boarding policies and now the schools are open after two weeks winter holiday we might expect infection rates to rise. (Epidemiologists in the UK recommend closing schools to stop the spread.)
Regarding the other source of fear (devising entertainment for an opinionated three year old and her brother), I'm pleased the schools have reopened, and the negotiations with my wife over school runs and after school care can cease. Yet it is strange to note how work-hours and school-hours are similar only by being Monday to Friday.
Even in these days of choice and personal empowerment, you still have to choose between a proper career and taking care of the children because the school day is so disimilar to the work day. This is a worldwide problem, not just an NZ one.
Yet on a positive not the NZ economy seems to be weathering the international storm. Inflation is low and falling (despite food rises and the massive escalation in flat white prices) and house prices are holding steady.
It might be a great time to sell up and move out here. Mike Ferguson and his partner Lara are certainly an inspiration and illustrate just what you can achieve in NZ compared to the UK. A plot of land in a beautiful setting is within most people's reach.
Yet New Zealand does have its dangers and irritations. I was struck by the amount of violence reported in the press and how that might affect long-term perceptions of the country.
It seems the papers are given to highlighting NZ issues at the exclusion of the rest of the world, focussing on road accidents and violent crime. It's a mistake in my opinion. Normalising violence by reporting it can only lead to more voilence, and to greater fear.
And it's not necessary. There is plenty of more important international news out there able to fill the column inches, and only some of it's frightening.
William Knight
William, what makes journalists focus so much on doom and gloom. Is there something put in their water at journalism school? JT
Posted by: Domestic Executive | Jul 25, 2009 at 08:47 AM
I guess.
It's like the proverp, "No news is good news," expect they teach it as: "Good news is no news!"
But if you think about human nature, we're always looking to the future and planning to avoid bad outcomes. Insurance, harvest, weather etc. naturally we want to hear about all the bad things so that we can plan for them.
With an entire world to draw events from, it's only ever going to be bad things!
Posted by: William Knight | Jul 25, 2009 at 09:43 AM