I spent a big part of yesterday writing an article calling for the resignation of Daniel Andrews, premier of Australia’s second-most populous State, Victoria. It’s done, it’s ready. But I’m not going to publish it yet. My call didn’t come from anything that anti-Andrews people are complaining about. It’s not political. My call is simpler. Daniel Andrews asked Victorians to give him six weeks of Step 2 lockdown, so they could reopen their retail economy in full, and be able to safely travel around the State without fear of Covid-19 in a Step 3, starting on October 26th. And Victorians agreed. That meant a continued night-time curfew, one hour of exercise a day, and a social bubble for those living on their own. And…
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The Cancerous Impact of Covidiot Pressure on Victoria’s Covid-19 Response
Adam Parker
Posted on October 5, 2020
It’s 50-50 now whether Melbourne, Australia, will move into Step 3 lockdown—what I call the “Step of Freedom”—on October 19th (or October 26th as originally planned). It was meant to be a time when all retail throughout Victoria would reopen, when hairdressers and beauticians would once again thrive, when limited gatherings between friends would occur in homes, when outdoor cafes and eateries would once again seat guests and when all intrastate travel restrictions would be waived. When Victorians would walk the streets without the spectre of uncontrolled Covid-19 reaching for their lungs. The Covidiots didn’t care. And Victoria’s premier Daniel Andrews ultimately succumbed to their political and media pressure: removing the 8pm-5am curfew too early, bringing forward Step 3’s date and sending mixed messages…
In 2012, a confluence of events in the burgeoning Social Media space inspired the coming together of one of my favourite articles.
It was just one of those unintended moments when a book, a magazine article, a nightly news piece and one of the world’s most anticipated stock market floats gelled. The icing was having it picked up by one of Australia’s award-winning weekly newspapers.
What’s uncanny, is that eight years later, Netflix has seen fit to produce a powerhouse of a documentary called The Social Dilemma. Watching it just now, I nearly fell off my chair when I realised I’d not only foreshadowed its very underpinnings, I’d read and quoted one of its key participants.
So, rather than transcribing it here, I thought I’d simply post it as it appeared in the paper below. A pinch and zoom capable device may make it more readable if need be (the irony). I hope you enjoy. Its message is more relevant than it’s ever been.
© 2020 Adam Parker.
Picture credit: © 2012 The graphics team at the award-winning AJN can make anyone’s prose pop.
Tagged: Facebook, Jaron Lanier, Netflix, Propaganda, Social Media, The Social Dilemma
While the message that follows is intended for an Australian audience, all readers should feel comfortable grasping its gist by Googling any terms unfamiliar. It’s a message of relevance to you too. Dear Australia, If fighting Covid-19 were a business meaning the fewer the virus’ cases the better, with the State of Victoria reducing 725 daily cases on August 5 to 41 today, September 7, that’s a 1,768% productivity return in just 1 month: a unique success in the Covid-19 world war. So, folks, if you’re going to barrack against Victorians leading up to their kick off of a bumper pre-Christmas trading season in around 50 days, you’re not only going to find yourself on the wrong side of history, you’re going to find…
They just won’t go away. The Covid-19 hoaxers. The anti-mask libertarians. The conspiracy theorists. Then there’s the media pragmatists who take a salary to promote the policy of letting Covid-19 take a Darwinian path through society. In epidemiology, the profession of disease incidence, transmission and control, they call this theory “Herd Immunity”. Adherents believe that the eradication of Covid-19 is impossible, therefore the world must simply live with it and let nature do the rest. Note that phrase, “live with it”—what an unfortunate term. Covid-19 killed 25 Victorians today. Way back on the 27th of March I wrote about herd immunity versus lockdown as it applied to the Covid-19 pandemic then unfolding across the globe, and I framed the debate as a one of…
Tagged: Covid-19, Eradication, Herd Immunity, NewsCorp, Sky News Australia, Vaccination
The phrase “Covid-19 Wave 2” is now official in Australia. It began in the south-eastern State of Victoria three weeks ago as a result of allegedly negligent community transmission of the virus through security breaches in the hotel quarantining of returned overseas travellers. Victoria is reaping the impact of Covid-19’s Reproduction Number—its R0—a figure I wrote about in March. Covid-19 is as close to a sloppily efficient biological weapon as they come. It punishes societies without tight population controls, meaning the Free World. Each case can potentially infect 2-6 other people. Victoria’s Wave 2 came with an R0 above 2. The State’s chief health officer is hoping for an R0.5. Only in that way can 500 daily infections halve and halve repeatedly, to maybe…
Tagged: Covid-19, Eradication, Scott Morrison, Wave 2, Wave 3
Some Examples of Businesses Doing it Right During the Covid-19 Re-opening
Adam Parker
Posted on May 19, 2020
In my last article, “A Micro Approach to Stopping Covid-19 Killing Your Business”, we looked at three activities nearly every business can undertake to set themselves up for a successful Covid-19 re-opening. I wanted to follow it up here, with some fantastic examples I’ve come across of businesses doing what I meant in this regard, because all come from everyday enterprises, across varied industries and all have one thing in common: Their mindsets are about service because they all know cashflow comes from customers who trust them. So, first up let’s recap those three activities nearly every business can use to transit out of lockdown: Regain consumer faith—Show that you’re COVIDsafe. Get an email address from every customer—but not for marketing. Put your reputation…
Tagged: Business, Covid-19, CovidSafe, Re-opening
Merely three months after the World went into lockdown under the threat of Covid-19, countries are already rebooting their economies. All the while, the same pandemic remains on the loose, while no international coordination or planning exits. We’re all now herds in an abundantly risk-fraught cattle drive. It’s billionaire moguls in Australia, the UK and the United States, like Rupert Murdoch and Kerry Stokes, who are pushing their local business and retail lobbies onto the 24-7 airwaves. Both men own or influence troubled media conglomerates and in Australia last week, Murdoch lost a billion dollars to his own cable company, Foxtel—a monopoly no less—whose lifeline hinged on the country’s National Rugby League. Stokes’ Seven Network broadcasts the similarly shelved Australian Rules Football. Both sports…
Tagged: Business Survival, Covid-19, CovidSafe, Just in Time, Public Relations
Here’s something inspirational I came across today, from a visionary leader and founder of the California-based board and wargame company, GMT Games, Gene Billingsley: A quote from one of my heroes, legendary UCLA basketball coach John Wooden. He used to preach to his players ‘Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with doing what you can.’ It sounds so simple and yet it is profound, both on the basketball court and in life. Fear, worry, doubt, focusing on our weaknesses, seeing how big or fast the enemy or opponent is—all these things can paralyze and keep us from moving forward, assessing our strengths, and using them to do what good we can in any circumstance. So I want you to understand, in a period…
Tagged: Business, Covid-19, Globilisation, Motivation, New Economy, Old Economy
It was a small compound nestled among the hills of a fir tree wood. The air still had a crispness to it though they were a few miles inland from the sea. The van arrived. More like a truck really. A cab with an immense windowless compartment in the rear. The doors to a broad single-storied building opened. First men and women in white coats appeared. Then followed a staggered procession of a wretched humanity. A subdued gaggle of the mentally ill and the intellectually impaired. The white coats helped them aboard, latches were locked sealing them inside and a low wail among them began. The engine revved taking them down a road. It would be a short while before the driver turned his…
Tagged: Coronavirus, Covid-19, Economics, Geopolitics, Herd Immunity, Lockdown
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