2022 Is The Third Act of the 2020 Trilogy That No One Asked For; SSMR

Welcome to the first edition of a little thing (Saturday Social Media Responses) I’ll do on Saturdays where look at some topical 7 (because this is weekly) social media posts and have my say on them. By the way, I’m using Twitter mostly because they embed nicely. Also I’ll give ‘worst post’ of the week and then I’ll give in 20 words or less on a topic not necessarily mentioned in the 7 posts.

Mandatory Things Should Be Free

Bike helmets should also be free.
Life jackets too.
And baby capsules for cars, they should be free. https://t.co/4ug6cFOB9z
— james macpherson (@jamesmacpherson) January 5, 2022

I usually agree with James Macpherson but not on this occasion. He sarcastically implies that all ‘life-saving’ things should be free and gives examples of such items. The issue is that the reason Rapid Antigen Tests for COVID-19 should be free is not because they are life-saving but because they are mandatory. So he makes a good point that life-saving things don’t necessarily have to be free but that’s not all that is at play.

The fact is the issue is that the tests are mandatory. People are required to have them when they have symptoms or when they are used as a condition of entry to venues. I say the same with masks. If a government is going to make us do something, which I don’t believe they should, they need to provide the means to do that. Otherwise it makes no sense to blame people when they don’t have the means to do so.

Now, I get the argument that people have the ‘means’ to get the items even though they’re not free but there’s a difference when they are mandatory it needs to be given so that it can be fully implemented theoretically. Why? Because practically, there could be the mandated items but the costs are too high to purchase.

It’s very different to seatbelts or life jackets because they’re not mandated for everyday life. You don’t have to go in a car or on a boat. But you do have to have a test when you have symptoms.

Also, this kind of issue of getting mandatory items but needing them to get the items, an endless paradox, is exactly why there are so many jokes made about it. Here is one such example.

So You Did It, ScoMo?

Mr Djokovic’s visa has been cancelled. Rules are rules, especially when it comes to our borders. No one is above these rules. Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from COVID, we are continuing to be vigilant.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) January 5, 2022

Okay, ScoMo. You told us something we knew. Why are you involving yourself in this issue? Did you make them cancel Novak Djokovic’s visa because a few angry Blue-Checkmark Twitter users said some words? Rules are rules, yes. But rules aren’t laws. Rules have constantly changed so much over the past two years. Do masks work or not? The rules did a complete 180 on that issue.

If no one is above the “rules”, why is he and other celebrities allowed to Australia but no other normal foreigner? The irony is real.

What do border policies have to do with COVID-19 death rates? Nothing. A rate is a percentage; in this case, the percentage of deaths in relation to cases. You may reduce the number of total deaths by not letting people in. But all that does it artificially make the deaths figure look good. You can say you have less deaths but not a lower percentage. All he is doing admitting that Australia hasn’t done well with COVID-19 but just had less COVID-19 to deal with in the first place.

A Good Joke; Not Sorry James

Nothing says "comedy" like using the story of Novak's medical exemption as an excuse to kick a 79-year-old woman. https://t.co/QtJtcFYy9p
— james macpherson (@jamesmacpherson) January 5, 2022

Hahahahaha. That’s a good joke. And it’s another time James and I have differed. Firstly, on the joke itself. It’s good. All the lefties hate Margaret Court because she is a Christian and stands up for her faith. So it’s funny to portray her as a vain person (which she isn’t) who would “relieved” that she wouldn’t be the most hated when she goes to the tennis. Now of course the implication is that Novak Djokovic is the most hated person because he is standing up to the forced vaccination institutions and Twitterati.

Now to James, it is comedy. He may not like but that’s comedy. I think people have kicked Margaret Court so much that it really has become a joke about people hating her. And it is a tad condescending to mention her age; it’s quite irrelevant.

Okay. This One Isn’t Funny

Australia reacts… 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/jOj4FEv82t
— Sportsbet.com.au (@sportsbetcomau) January 5, 2022

Now how is this one not funny but the previous one funny? It’s the arrogance of saying “Australia” and that everyone in Australia would react the same way. Someone may laugh at Novak Djokovic but not everyone. Plenty of people weren’t happy at the straight-faced flip by the governing authorities. He was out earlier this year. Then he was in two days ago. Now he’s out, pending an appeal.

How Do We Love As Christians?

Now these clothes with these kind of words have gone around for a while but it came up on my Facebook News Feed so I’d thought I’d respond. The Bible commands us to love our neighbour as ourselves; here’s one version of that command below and it’s Jesus talking.

And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”
Matthew 22:39 NIVUK

Now that’s it; love your neighbour. That’s all. There’s no need to specify any other characteristic of our neighbour. To add a qualify like the poster has, you’re only inviting issues. Why does it not say ‘white’? Why does it not say ‘cricket player’?

I know why it only lists those people. It’s called intersectionality. All of it has to do with the woke anti-Christian which seeks to divide people based on irrelevant characteristics. I could go through why each label is wrong but by addressing the whole ideology, it means that whatever they put, we know it’s not about loving people but dividing people to appeal to the fallen world.

Just quickly, what “love” do they mean? The Biblical sacrificial love? Or do they just mean approval?

Who Cares, Dark Age Man?

Morrison saying people who test positive by rapid test should contact their own GP is not meaningful for many twentysomethings. Like telling them to contact their regular blacksmith
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) January 6, 2022

Seriously? Having a doctor and talking with them is like the talking to a profession from the dark ages? Seriously, these people on Twitter must be on another planet. And who else would you talk to anyway? Like I said, are doctors something from the dark ages? What is the alternative?

Except, there are a few things to point out. Blacksmiths have been around for centuries and they still exist. They may not be a famous profession but they most certainly exist and they weren’t something exclusive to the dark ages. Also, blacksmiths were never like doctors. Doctors always were of a far different level to those who shape metal; far more personal than a blacksmith.

Also, why do we even care? It’s not like you “twentysomethings” care about older Australians who don’t use smartphones or the internet. So why should we care about them? And it’s not like you’re marginalised in society; so many things are done to suit young people

Scotty From Marketing Strikes Back

Yesterday I tweeted this government takes credit for everything and responsibility for nothing. Since then the PM said the Djokovic visa issue was a matter for Victoria. Then he took credit when entry was denied. This is getting ridiculous.
— Barrie Cassidy (@barriecassidy) January 6, 2022

He’s a legend of the ABC, Barrie Cassidy. I disagree pretty much with everything that comes out of his lips or Twitter feed. But people like him always have it spot on for the PM. ScoMo is Scotty From Marketing. He will do anything for a vote; he flip flops and as Barrie said, takes credit for what he wants.

He’s let the states implement segregation and paid lip service to both sides; those for and against segregation. He said masks won’t be made mandatory nationally and he’s let the states do it despite the fact that masks don’t work against COVID-19. And now, as Barrie pointed out, just two days ago he passed the buck on to Victoria and played neutral about the tennis saga, yet yesterday seemed to make it out that he was the one who made the call to kick Novak Djokovic as I said before.

Worst Week’s Post- Just Lies

What part of it do some still not understand? No-one is safe, unless everyone is. And our economy is not safe, unless health is protected.
— Dr Sandro Demaio (@SandroDemaio) December 30, 2021

What don’t we understand? Your lies. This is why Twitter is a cesspool. People write 200 or so characters of nonsense and no one takes the time to think how logically inconsistent the post is. Well there is me doing 20 words or less but I actually do long form things because you usually can’t summarise a proper logical idea in a Tweet but you can summaries your thoughts.

Anyway, it’s just illogical to say that “No-one safe, unless everyone is” because that literally implies that someone is safe. If you are safe, you are safe. You are an individual and you are safe. If you are unsafe, you are an individual and unsafe. None of this means everyone else is the same or the opposite. It’s just collective authoritarianism to drive people into becoming lemmings to say things like this. It’s not like there are issues where the whole population matters (e.g. democracy) but not when it comes to safety.

And your economy can be in good shape if your health isn’t protected. Look at the USA during the Trump years. They were doing so well economically yet they are one of the most obese populations in the world. Maybe that’s why people die with COVID-19 because they are overweight. Oh wait. They censors don’t like that. Apparently it’s because they haven’t had a vaccine which people have had three times and still died with COVID-19.