A superbly crafted note hit my inbox yesterday from a community member who asked to be referred to as “An Appreciative Subscriber.” The email reads:
Maybe I’m becoming soft in my advanced age, but these words by Matthew Kruger drove me to tears:
“For anything worth having is accompanied by the risk of its loss. All that gives life meaning is destined to pass away. And it is exactly this exposure and inevitability, or rather an acceptance of these facts, that makes possible a life of freedom.”
I had the good fortune of having a child with a severe life-span limiting disease. While I railed at the universe at first, this child taught the family the value of living life to the full, savoring every experience and crystalizing what is most important: the free and joyful connection with others. We could have put restrictions in place, so that she would be “safe from infection”, maybe live longer, but at what cost?
No school sport, no dance class, no teenage parties, no university?
My heart goes out to the young people who have had these experiences snatched from them so that their elders can feel safe. What we’ve done is to steal life from the young in order to extend life for the old.
My youngster chose to work throughout the pandemic and to see her friends. Both her doctor and I were nervous, but somewhere along the line she picked up the virus and is now antibody positive. She could’ve had a bad outcome, taking an ICU bed from a more “deserving” individual.
If we are to believe the armchair moralists, we should have berated her for risking her life for something as frivolous as a coffee with friends or going to work. We should now force her to take an unnecessary (in her case) medication, because others are afraid.
I feel sad for people like Adrian Gore and Piet Mouton. They may be good businessmen, but they seem to have a very limited understanding of what it means to live a meaningful life. Instead of reaching for education (not propaganda), understanding and peace, they fan the flames of medical fascism. The idea that people are disease vectors and we should live life accordingly, is abhorrent.
Nothing about life is guaranteed, not the length, nor the quality. Each individual deserves the freedom to choose how they want to live theirs.
This is why we have a constitution: so that Cyril, Piet and Adrian can’t decide for my family which experiences are meaningful, what medicine is “good” for us and how much risk we are willing to take on.
With gratitude for the balanced platform you provide!
Naas Pieters, who also hails from my boyhood hometown in KZN, topped his note on yesterday’s contribution “from one Newcastalian to another…” He wrote:
The Halberstadt comments are really meaningful and contribute extensively towards showing up the pathetic nonsense that is being spread around. On the other hand the Thompson comments are the diametric opposite and actually contribute to the confusion and the extension of the pool of false news: his basic assumption is that once vaccinated, you are protected against being infected by others or infecting others and all that is false news. Currently the greatest advantage is that the vaccines basically reduce the severity of the disease with concomitant advantages. All the recommended precautionary measures are still required.
And some more responses – two positive, one negative – to yesterday’s note on ethics from the Canadian community member…..Business broker Peter Tychsen is a fan…
What a fantastic response from Antoinette Halberstadt. Thanks for sharing!
Far too often the real agendas, backgrounds and ethics of these deniers are overlooked.
Steve Murphy wrote..
Three cheers to Antoinette Halberstadt!
She showed more ethics in her rebuttal, than the “fired” professor in her 5 minute monologue!
And a community member from Australia, who shall remain nameless, was short and not so sweet, writing….
Fuck off…..
Ouch. At least she didn’t add my favourite next line….”rude letter to follow…..”
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