Climate crisis demands change,but that’s good

Of course climate change technologies will change employment opportunities (“‘Good News’ tries greener views”,October 17). It was ever thus. In the 19th century,not that long ago,coal mines were worked partly by six-year-old children,who suffered under dreadful conditions.

Eventually,child workers were banned but imagine the outcry from rich mine owners who had to pay adults a meagre salary. Slave plantations also saved their owners from paying wages until that too was abolished,despite opposition from churches,politicians and people who thought the old ways were the best. So,climate change costs can be absorbed and new technologies will arise.
Nola Tucker,Kiama

Bridget McKenzie was correct in saying that our global geostrategic situation has changed. With it must change our consumerist,parochial,ego-strategic mentality. Under the prevailing,largely western,capitalist economic system,the Earth,our only home,has suffered untold damage. It’s time to adopt a less selfish,more collaborative,global approach. Choices have to be made that will involve sacrifice on the part of some,so that the common wealth of the Earth can be nurtured for the common good. Those of us who have destroyed,consumed and wasted too much for too long must adopt a simpler lifestyle if the human race is to survive.
Meredith Williams,Northmead

Transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables is daunting,but must be embraced wholeheartedly. Successive Coalition governments have wasted years trying to avoid dealing with climate change. Had that same effort been put into reducing carbon emissions,alternate energy sources would be well established by now,and job training reading available for those facing redundancy in a declining fossil fuel industry.
Graham Lum,North Rocks

VAD empowers us

Catholic Archbishop Anthony Fisher (“Hotly contested bill a matter of life and death”. October 17) thinks that those who choose to use a voluntary assisted dying law are the “sick,frail,handicapped,depressed,poor,powerless and abandoned”. Ok,granted they are sick and frail – they are dying,after all. But “powerless and abandoned”? The opposite is true. Unlike the people of NSW,they have the power to obtain medical help from caring doctors to end their lives when their suffering becomes intolerable. A recent comprehensive review of assisted dying laws in the US,Canada and Europe found that:“In no jurisdiction was there evidence that vulnerable patients have been receiving euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide at rates higher than those in the general population”.
Richard Mills,Leura. Former president,Dying with Dignity NSW

Bob Carr could also learn a lot from end-of-life care in Canada (“‘I sure as hell want it’:Carr backs NSW bill”,October 17). In NSW,we should not have to choose between voluntary assisted dying and palliative care. In Canada,if a person is planning to have Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD),they can continue to receive palliative care. Likewise,if they are receiving palliative care,they are entitled to explore the idea of an assisted death or request MAiD.
Dr Stephanie Short,Woy Woy

How fragile we are

The editorial (“Patience and empathy needed as we re-emerge into changed world”,October 17) sees the COVID-19 pandemic as a challenge to our understanding of who we are. This pandemic,like pandemics of the past,reminds us that our invincibility is a delusion based on the denial of our mortality. Our world is finite and there are limits to how many of us it can sustain. As population increases,and we clear ever-more land,we increase the risk of new zoonotic disease. Pandemics remind us of who we are and hopefully make us more sensitive to how we relate to our finite world.
Mark Porter,New Lambton

The gift of time

One thing not mentioned about volunteering (“Do we need to put dollar value on helping?”,October 17) is that it can provide a way for someone to give their time when they can’t afford to give financially.
Jenny Greenwood,Hunters Hill

Toys ‘r’ suss

It seems the pandemic has been a boon for the sex toy industry with retailers reporting thriving sales (“Voluntary standards for sex toys ‘not safe’”,October 17). But there is a downside to a few of these toys,some have been needed to be surgically removed from rectums and certain sex dolls contain “materials that cannot be cleaned properly and breed bacteria”. And there is the problem of safely disposing electronic sex toys such as vibrators,which are considered as e-waste. Who would’ve thought sex toys could create such concerns?
Con Vaitsas,Ashbury

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