Borders – edges to keep things in and out (my definition).
Borders – Wikipedia’s definition
As well as our internal state & territory borders here in Australia we also have the big international one
At the moment….or should I say, once again… because of covid cases cropping up……there are internal state/territory border restrictions. They are keeping people ‘trapped’ in their own state and keeping people ‘excluded’ from other states.
And of course there’s the big one – the international one. Closed for the majority of the population since way back very early in 2020. Keeping people trapped in the country and others who so desperately want to return excluded
There are so many reasons why – but sometimes even I wonder ‘why’? Has it done more harm than good – if other countries have not closed up why are we still closed to the world.
Just got a touch of the miseries today….I’m sure they’ll go away as quickly as they came
As for this b…..virus, it’ll go away one day I’m sure – hopefully I’ll still be around to witness it!
Fortress Australia – Why calls to open up borders are meeting resistance. BBC May 2021
Still Waters 
Has it done more harm than good
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Lost the post when I had to sign in. When you state “Has it done more harm than good” I was surprised. Australia leads the planet in its response to this pandemic. Many of us outside Australia regard it as the poster child of pandemic response. More people have died within 50 miles of where I live than have died in your whole country. Two of my relatives have died. My neighbour, a 50 year old mother, almost died, spent a week in ICU and made it out the other side. Death is worse than isolation and limited freedom of movement, in my opinion. And so many people here in Canada with long covid, health issues that go on and on and on. Covid causes great suffering, fear, and a lot of pain to those who loose loved ones. We had people in our care homes starve to death and die of thirst when employees got sick, and/or walked off the job. The military was brought in, it was horrific.
My answer is a resounding no, it has not done more harm than good.
I have been isolated in my house since February 2020, a year and four months, fearing for my husbands life as he had to go to work as an essential worker. Twice there were cases of the virus where he works. We are now both vaccinated, so that constant fear of death is no longer the elephant in the room. I would have paid a ransom to have him home safe and be unable to travel!!
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“a lot of pain to those who loose loved ones”
should read “a lot of pain to those who lose loved ones”
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That’s a hard one. The restrictions have kept you safer than the rest of the world though.
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Cathie i reckon its not just lockdowns and stupid beggars speculating about the future (who gave them exclusive access to the crystal ball) and predicting gloom and misery, but the interminable feed of doom and misery news on other stuff (like climate and extinctions and….) I don’t deny any of the scientifically supported conclusions, but I wish there was more positivity in the reporting. I listened to a TED talk once about communicating climate change stuff and the talker reckoned the way it is being done paralyses people. No one of us can do anything about it, but if it is communicated with views on what could be achieved then people know there is something to do, something to engage with. I’m probably not retelling it well, but believe news reporting shouldn’t just play to headlines that sell (shock horror end of world stuff) but also have a resonsibility to report, analyse, editorialize, deeper and more helpful stuff that makes people (some people) think rather than go ‘oh, again!’ and turn away and forget it. I grew up with the nuclear conflict hanging over us all, Mr Bs grandchildren are growing up believing the world will end in a climate change disaster probably before the end of their lifetimes – and its becoming common for quite young kids to have deep and damaging anxiety issues about it. Greta Thunberg is right when she asked how dare we leave this to them as our legacy. I hope the borders open soon too. I desperately need to go home and spend time with family. Keep safe, do something you do have control over, somewhere within the range you are permitted. Xxx F (and Mr T)
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It has been hard for us, but we are still emphatically among the lucky ones.
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Wikipedia’s definition of borders is only about geographical borders. There are many other borders.
I have mixed feelings about interstate travel, or intrastate as one of esteemed media companies said, but I believe the country’s borders should stay heavily restricted to incoming passengers and if outgoing, don’t come back at taxpayers expense until the world is COVID safe.
With today’s weather I am not surprised you have the miseries.
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I guess Australians have been kept safe from the virus, but have no idea on the impact on your economy, and whether that has done damage. I know of just two people who had very mild symptoms and no deaths, but most people I know worked from home. Only time can tell.
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nanacath, individual damage to some people and businesses, but our economy is doing well on borrowed money at negligible interest rates and our export income.
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You have had a rough run with long lockdowns, fire, flood, bereavement and the normal challenges of life. It’s no w onder youhave a case of the blahs!
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I’m across the “ditch (Tasman Sea)” from Cathy – in New Zealand. Presently the only “object closed” is the international border. You can come in, but you have to have permit/citizenship and add in the minimum 2 week gov’t managed quarantine. Oh, you have to book everything and depending on your circumstances, pay the fee…
I agree with Kylie about what is occurring for you personally…
The cross Tasman bubble did open up until Victoria (where C is) closed that travel mode; and I think NSW has just been stopped as well… you could travel at your peril if a lockdown came under the green zone, i.e. not quarantine either way.
But there were other restrictions, some people broke them…i.e. onward travel to another country.
I’m no longer a world wide traveller but often I feel kind of trapped at the bottom of the world, especially since there are no large tourist groups arriving, including many cruise ships and bus loads of obvious tourists.
I was listening to a podcast this arvo, and the speaker, said “let’s be grateful for the Internet, if it had been a 100 years ago…it have been vastly different, not knowing if another country was in the same arena…learning of the fates of say faraway Europe, some months later when mail arrived on a sailing ship/similar”
Gentle hugs to you Cathy…from Catherine across the ditch
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It’s a tough choice I guess. In my state alone we lost over 8000 citizens and countless more have the after effects. If I had to choose(which our last ruler didn’t allow) I would have gone for lockdown.
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