Life Versus Lifestyle – Approaching Life AfterLockdown

It seems that one way or another, Victoria is going to pop out of #Lockdown. Probably not in the way we would have hoped. And so for everyone pushing for #AfterLockdown in Victoria and for the wider society, there are two questions you must confront: One –

‘What do you feel is an acceptable level of Preventable Infections you are willing to live with, before being forced BACK into #Lockdown? and
Two –

What is an acceptable level of Preventable Deaths you are willing to live with?

Because that’s ultimately what we’re looking at here. And the degree to which you will accept more infections or more deaths is going to be almost wholly influenced by your current living conditions. If you are without income, struggling to pay rent or a mortgage, or worried about being able to feed yourself or your family. you will choose ‘survive now’ over ‘survive later. That’s the very difficult choice you are confronted with and I fully understand why you would choose ‘survive now’. That’s a Life decision.

If however you are confronted with a Lifestyle challenge – not able to go out and entertain or catch-up for parties with friends or take your (insert favourite toy here) out for a ride, then that’s much more difficult to justify. Your choice could be framed in the following way ‘It’s not fair that more people aren’t willing to die so that I’m allowed to take my yacht out with friends’. Because that’s what it is.
The #AfterLockdown Victoria (and other parts of Australia and the world) is going to be very different. If as a society we’re willing to pay the costs of a healthcare burden that will continuously come back to bite us, then the question starts to shift – if we want to pay for the healthcare costs and risks, what will we stop funding instead?

Life versus Lifestyle – #Afterlockdown

Terrorism the Games wild card

Jan 31, 2010

In a recent article in The Age, Clive Williams of Macquarie University’s Centre for Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism suggested that athletes booked in to attend the Commonwealth games in India need to consider a terrorist attack as a potential wildcard. Whilst an interesting perspective, I’d like to suggest that a potential terrorist attack at…

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For Valentines Day, its Tigers all ’round

Jan 10, 2010

If my information is correct, the 14th of February is the start of the New Year and instead of the usual flowers and chocolates, you might be wise to invest in another gift for your heart’s desire Because Feb 14 is the start of the Chinese New Year – the year of the Tiger. So…

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What can we expect in the next decade?

Dec 28, 2009

Had any thoughts yet? I have – plenty and judging from the number of media inquiries it appears lots of other people are also curious to know what might lie ahead in the next year or next decade. I’m putting my thinking hat on so that we can consider what 2010-2019 might hold, the second…

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Copenhagen Consensus is likely – just not the type we want.

Dec 7, 2009

I’m tipping that Consensus will be reached at Copenhagen this week. Alas it will be a consensus for more talking, thinking and commitments to agree to a proposal to set a time for a discussion around more concrete targets. In otherwords, a commitment to not commit. The politicians waver whilst our planet is being poisoned.…

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Counter Mantra to Christmas Credit

Nov 30, 2009

The cycle of consumption rears its head as it has done for quite some time. Consumption is neither good, nor bad, it ‘just is’ and right now the majority of media exposed potential consumers are being lured, enticed and occasionally conned into parting with their hard earned money to satisfy needs and whims. Some consumers…

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What kids can teach us about Goal Directed futures

Nov 16, 2009

Our son has just celebrated his fifth birthday and although we don’t make a huge fuss about milestones (the kids get a party every second year), there’s no doubt that he is learning about desired future outcomes and goals. I doubt he is different from most kids in his ability to spot something and declare…

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How Will You Prove You Are Who You Say You Are?

Oct 21, 2009

Here’s a little something I’d like you to think about. Are you really who you say you are? And, how do I know that I can trust you? Identity Theft is one of the most debilitating crimes a person can suffer for it strips away the very core of your own belief system and that…

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Can GM food rescue the planet’s appetite for Food?a

Oct 15, 2009

‘World – we have a problem’ (apologies to astronaut James Lovell). We are killing ourselves with food and it’s happening at both ends of the continuum – millions starve each day whilst a gluttony caused obesity epidemic is killing others off in different ways. We have a growing global population requiring sustenance, whilst Climate Change…

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2009 September rainfall – still ‘above average’?

Sep 30, 2009

Anyone looking at the final rainfall figures for Melbourne’s rainfall might be heartened by the news that the final result was about 10mm above the September average. Compared to last year’s disastrous result where we had about 12mm, it was over 50mm better. But I wonder if the final result, and the current ‘average’ isn’t…

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Marcus Barber at ANTOR discusses the future of travel

Sep 23, 2009

Strategic Futurist Marcus Barber discussed the future of travel at the ANTOR session at The American Club in Sydney, NSW on the 24th of September. Along with Angela Smith from Roy Morgan Research, Martin Kelly from Travel Trends and Gail Rehbein from the Australian Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility Marcus proposed some of the emerging…

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