Who are you in this new world: the Evil, the Coward, or the Hero?

Believe it or not, "First World Problem" (FWP) has it's own definition: "a usually minor or trivial problem or annoyance experienced by people in relatively affluent or privileged circumstances especially as contrasted with problems of greater social significance facing people in poor and underdeveloped parts of the world" (Mirriam-Webster)

Here is an example of a first world problem - you complain that you can't go and sit in your local cafe to have your latte because you are unvaccinated.

That's a cringeworthy first world problem. Lots of people around the world would look at you blankly if you asked them what a latte was. They don't have cafes where they live. Many of them don't have clean running water. In those humanitarian terms, our outrage at not being able to go to a restaurant to eat is somewhat offensive.

When we look back through history, the differences between political regimes is undeniable. Some regimes provide favourable conditions for all of their citizens; equitable treatment regardless of social, political, or medical status. Others, however, thrive only in circumstances where the privilege of some comes with a price for their fellow man.

That is where New Zealand is today. We are on the cusp of a new era in Godzone - one in which two classes of citizens are being deliberately pitted against each other. Right now, the underclass in general (being the vaccine-free 'purebloods') is concerned because they have lost a few privileges. But oh, how quickly we have all moved past being concerned that thousands of people have lost their means of income, their learning opportunities, their careers, their security for the future, their homes, their assets.

To my fellow purebloods - it's time that we put this into perspective. You have been quarantined in the ghetto. Your circumstances will determine what you can and cannot access. Forget about your latte - you need to find a means to generate income, a new doctor, a new dentist, health services, living quarters, and communal networks. If not for you, then please help others.

As for the rest of New Zealand - those who now make up the vast majority, the privileged - now is the time for you to make your decision too. That decision may well frame your future. And remember this, we are keeping score and there will be reprisals! 

There are three kinds of people among you. Which kind of person are you?

Are you the Evil - Privileged, uncaring that some of your fellow citizens are being treated as second-class, and lacking the intellect and moral fibre to recognise the issues at stake? Perhaps you even secretly enjoy it, thinking it brings you some sort of eliteness that you would never otherwise have attained in your mediocrity.

Are you the Coward - Privileged to have the right to full freedom on the basis of your vaccination status, recognising the issues at stake but lacking the courage to protest? Your kind knew there would come a reckoning - and couldn't face it.

Or are you the Hero - Privileged to have the right to full freedom on the basis of your vaccination status, but recognising the issues at stake and refusing to support the regime that created the inequitable treatment of citizens? The Heroes, like Irena Sendler (pictured above) - a Polish social worker who helped save some 2,500 Jewish children from the Nazis by smuggling them out of the Warsaw Ghetto and giving them false identities, will gladly risk all for others. They are the ones who would lay down their lives for their brothers - and protest against the odds for their fellow man's sake.

Are you with us, New Zealand? Or are you against us? Your actions will speak far louder than your words.
Time has run out. We are where we are, and now you need to decide where you will be when history comes looking.
I pray you choose wisely - for our sake as well as yours.