Civil Disobedience !

 Perhaps the coronavirus running rampage through Australia is the ultimate test of what power we hand to our elected government to set the rules that we must obey - and what means they can deploy to make us toe the line.   This whole issue of of stopping the spread of infection has degenerated into a mass of civil disobedience.

The first reaction from the government was to use the state police force to restore order.  Breach of the isolation edict would result in draconian fines of a thousand dollars for individuals and even more for companies.  The media was encouraged to give wide publicity to instances where these fines were issued. That deployed the " fear factor " to force people to obey.

That brought a mixed reaction.   The people who were inclined to obey kept broadly within the rules and when the mood changed others got swept up in the pleasures that were forbidden and this brought a police reaction.   Fines were handed out and will be followed up by action from the state debt recovery office.

The problem is that fines fall heavily on people with tangible assets.  They pay or lose valuabl;e conveniences, while those living hand to mouth suffer indignities like having their driver's license suspended or their car registration cancelled.  In many cases, they continue to drive, unlicensed and unregistered.

Usually the ones fined are a mere fraction of the number breaking the law because the crowd dissipates the moment the police start to arrive.  As a result, the spread of this pandemic continues to claim new victims ansd we continue to encounter closed state borders.

We have been lucky in Australia with a lower death toll than in some other countries, but this pandemic is far from over and we will have another civil disobedience problem when the long awaited  vaccination programme gets under way early next year.

Already, a substantial proportion of the population is vocally rejecting lining up to have the jab.  To be effective, the numbers treated neeed to achieve what is called " herd neutrallity " and that requires somewhere above ninety percent vaccinated.

There is a hard core opposed to any sort of vaccination and the people now likely to opt out are the young and healthy who consider vaccination is more essential for both the aged and the medical community.  Without that herd neutrallity this coronavirus will continued to linger unchecked in sections of the community.

The government is unlikely to use legislation to force vaccination on an unwilling public, although the unvaccinated may be prevented from working in some health sectors.   This is an issue that underscores the entire civil disobedience debate.  What degree of force do we agree to hand our government to implement measures essential for our own good ?