Clive Bibby: My “Eureka” Moment

It must be clear to readers that l struggle at times to understand the real reasons why people react to certain situations the way they do. 

I am quite prepared to acknowledge my own limited abilities to see through the deceit and fraudulent posturing that seems to bedevil much of what we have grown up believing is essential to our existence as a orderly society - trust in the law and peaceful coexistence with one another.

I become frustrated when society itself seems to have abandoned the traditional hallmarks of nationhood based on equal opportunities and concern for the genuinely disadvantaged. Instead we seem hell bent on destroying everything that our forebears fought and died for that has survived the test of time simply because it had been proved to work. 

No more are we all subject to the same law that used to bind us together. We appear fixated with passing disingenuous legislation that will ensure we are separated based on the origin of our birth and even that privileged position will be available only to a select few. “We are all born equal but some are more equal than others!”

Although l have recently joined the ranks of this county’s senior citizens with its attendant baggage of declining health and limited physical capabilities, l continue to resist the possibility that my mind is failing in similar fashion. It will undoubtedly happen but thankfully, not yet.

I try to compensate, as others of my age do, with constant attention to the world around me and the responsibilities we all have to ensure our time as kaitiaki is not wasted on frivolous activity. There is much we can and should be doing.

I suspect that my personal “eureka moment” is not a sudden realisation about a single subject but more one based on a lifetime of experiences especially those dealing with my fellow human beings. Consequently, my understanding is a multi faceted realisation that humanity is probably doomed to fail due as much as anything to self inflicted wounds and a preponderance for WOKE crusades. 

And before the editor of our local newspaper and his doctrinal believers choke on their muesli, l hasten to add that l am not talking about CLIMATE CHANGE or those other threats to our existence - the responsibility for which has been unjustifiably laid at the feet of human activity.

I refer to our inability as a species to recognise the dark side of our own nature - particularly in our dealings with and responsibilities for each other.

How can we expect to deal with the evil regimes of China, Russia and Iran from a position of strength (which is the only thing they respect) when we, as a sovereign nation, appear intent on following this path of self destruction that is manifest in a government drunk on power.

If we don’t change, our condition becomes terminal.

We must return our own house to order before we can do anything about helping others to do the same with theirs.

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.