The Combine after covid

My first article

So far my efforts to opt out of the Combine have been reasonably successful. What I count as a success is when I can stop doing something, or never start, without being unduly hassled - or even arrested!

I learnt this during the covid era. I managed to avoid serious problems by not being silly about face masks, hand gel, lockdowns, etc., etc. I never complied with whatever edict was then in force. But neither did I cause difficulties for whoever had to apply these unnecessary regulations

Once, when I was stopped at the door of a restaurant because I was not a ‘permitted person’, I left immediately without a fuss. It was easy to excuse the young waiter who was clearly embarrassed at having to refuse to seat a customer. The real culprit was the owner or manager who told staff to enforce this ridiculous rule.

Similarly, whenever I was turned away from a shop for not wearing a mask, I usually went quietly. Mostly these interventions were made by courteous staff. Once or twice I experienced what I can describe only as abusive behaviour. I still left, but to this day I have never gone back to such places. Covid or no covid, I dislike rude people.

A few times I was stopped by the police at one of their covid checkpoints. I might or might not have been driving outside the lockdown perimeter at the time, but I was always treated in a civil manner by the officers of the law.

Whether they were shop assistants, receptionists, or Gardai, the people who enforced these absurdities during that awful time were generally polite. At least that was my experience. On the few occasions when I came up against overbearing rudeness, it was usually in a medical setting. But more on that another time.

I learnt quite a bit during the covid era about how the Combine operates and, more importantly, how to ‘decouple’ from it. I am still learning of course, as readers will see.

Here are a few of the topics I hope to cover in Traitor to the Combine.

• Health insurance

• Smartphones

• Public Services Card

• Print and broadcast media

• Household waste

In future posts I will describe in detail what I have done in these and other areas. As I hinted at earlier, medical-related issues will probably be a recurring theme of Traitor to the Combine. So expect lots about my interactions with doctors and hospitals, before and during covid.

But this is not just about me. I will also be looking at topics of which I have no direct experience. An example is home education. Our children are long past their schooldays so that is not something I know much about. But maybe you are a younger parent thinking of taking your child out of school? Or perhaps you have already taken the plunge? Either way I hope you will share your experiences with me and other readers.

Traitor to the Combine is a work-in-progress - in fact, not even a work-in-progress - more like a tentative dip in the shallows. Who knows what else is in that big churning ocean beyond the seashore? I hope we can find out together!

So it’s not just home education. If you have ideas or opinions about any topic I am grappling with, or should be grappling with, please leave a comment here or contact me direct via my web site.

That’s it for now. More next time.