Life is a ceaseless search to find like-minded people and share with them ideas, findings and creations which will benefit all.
Life is also an interminable obstacle course, keeping clear of those whose morality and actions grate. ‘‘Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit,’’ American writer Max Ehrmann said so presciently in his poem Desiderata.
However, at the same time — actually, about 300 years earlier — John Donne tells us ‘‘no man is an island’’, reinforcing the fact we are all connected and have to work together.
So much, therefore, hinges on finding the right people to link up with. Sometimes this requires a good deal of insight and acumen, for not everyone is as they appear at face value, but at other times it is patently obvious who is best to avoid.
Alliances range in size from the vast, spanning several countries and including military and security partnerships such as Nato, to the much more local and immediate, such as your mates in the school playground.
When you are at school, one of the first things you learn is who the bullies are, and who to avoid at lunchtime and after school. Given all the advancements in recent decades in education, technology, peer support and teacher awareness, it seems astonishing that bullying is still such a problem in schools.
Unfortunately, people are still people, and it is not always easy to avoid the bad eggs in a school environment. News of an appalling assault at Waitaki Girls’ High School, which has left a 14-year-old with injuries to her head, is extremely upsetting and worrying. It is the second such attack on the school grounds in a month.
The incident has shocked many in the school community, some of whom have talked about an ‘‘epidemic of violence’’ in schools and have again called out the malign influence of social media as a catalyst for such behaviour.
People with a logical mind and at least an ounce or two of compassion and empathy are far more likely to work out peaceful means of coming to an agreement, or joining forces, with others. Those who are missing those genes may well turn to violence much more quickly and easily to exert some kind of dominance.
It is a depressing prospect when we have unsavoury world leaders such as United States President Donald Trump and his vice-presidential sidekick J. D. Vance holding a live masterclass in playground bullying.
Together, this alliance of European nations against the Russian aggressors will be more powerful and much more a force for good than the administration in Washington DC.
Alliances are useful in more prosaic settings too. As New Zealand’s historical infrastructure continues to crumble, the cost of replacing water pipes, of providing a safe and secure supply and taking away stormwater and wastewater, is becoming too much for individual councils to bear.
As we have now found out, Dunedin ratepayers look likely to have to pay more than twice what they do now for their water in a decade’s time.
There are warnings coming from Dunedin city councillors that residents are not paying enough and, in the words of Cr Christine Garey, the community has ‘‘no idea what’s coming at them’’.
City council modelling shows that a dedicated water company that would take on more debt might keep the increases lower than having water services kept in-house.
It makes good sense that the Dunedin City Council and Christchurch City Council are now exploring possible ways to work together on the provision of those services. Even if the shared aspects are fringe ones, such as joint bidding, laboratory testing, compliance and monitoring, rather than providing the actual water and taking it away, this is a move which could save money through the combined heft of two large local authorities.
Providing all parties benefit, alliances are always a good option. They make the world go round
