No age is expendible
Each death is tragic and may need not have happened except for Covid.
When these deaths are reported, the Ministry of Health doesn't report ethnicities or causes of death, however age brackets are often stressed, e.g. "both people were aged over 70". I have concerns this could lead
to unintended misconceptions that "it's okay to die if you are 70".
There are numerous intangible values of each life such as time with whānau, undertaking hobbies, enjoying sport, working and fun, as distinct from a human capital value or lost earnings.
One amazing result of modern medicine is the extension of life expectancy. Much is due to improvements in cardiovascular mortality and management. In parallel, there has been an increase in healthy life expectancy. Disturbingly, although the gaps are closing, there remains a major gap in life expectancy for Māori and Pacifika.
To determine the full impact of Covid, we need to look at total mortality.
Imagine that you are 85 years old. How many years might you lose to Covid if you died tomorrow? For males, six years, and for females, seven years.
Getting Covid is to be avoided no matter the age. As Maurice Chevalier said, "old age isn't so bad when you consider the alternative".
Professor Harvey White, cardiologist, Epsom.
A productive budget
Simon Wilson (NZ Herald, March 22) lists seven "big things" for inclusion in the next budget. Six of these are largely redistributive rather than any creation of wealth.
They reflect Wilson's socialist world view although his seventh point suggesting addressing taxation bracket creep (an Act policy plank) is eminent good sense.
Wilson has omitted from his list any mention of Budget strategies designed to directly encourage productive investment.
Our most productive income-earning sectors of agriculture and tourism should not be overlooked. The May 2022 budget should include favourable taxation policy for their qualifying development (agriculture) and Covid-19 recovery (tourism) projects, which would do a great deal more good than Wilson's free e-bikes and transport subsidies.
Larry Mitchell, Rothesay Bay.
Pacific security
Sasha Borissenko's assertions (NZ Herald, March 21) that making laws will stop Putin invading the Pacific are naive and dangerous. The Kremlin had been the target practice of every economic sanction, diplomatic attack, legal action, peaceful protest, speech of condemnation and asset freeze from more than just Western countries and none of it has stopped or slowed Putin's advance in Ukraine by one inch. Surely the wisdom of Winston Churchill has taught us better, "You cannot reason with a tiger while your head is in its mouth!" The only language Vladimir Putin understands is "Might is right": military force in other words. I'm not suggesting New Zealand row out to meet him in battle. No. They would laugh, Russia is a little bit bigger than us and could defeat us in a lunchbreak. Instead, if you want to beat an army, get an army. Our best hope is the Anzus Treaty involving New Zealand, Australia and the United States. Wellington and Canberra must ensure our relationships with Washington are in good shape so the United States would honour the treaty and defend us. Then Putin may leave us alone.
Bradley Mihaljevich, Titirangi.
Fanciful dreaming
Sir Peter Gluckman's Koi Tū report (NZ Herald, March 23) may make interesting reading with admirable goals but such talk of urban farms, rooftop gardens, birdlife and forested corridors leading to denuded maunga where all the trees have been removed is unfortunately quite fanciful.
Since the John Key government removed tree protection and promoted massive immigration with associated development, trees in Auckland have been chopped down at a terrifying rate. Most new developments don't even have space for a tiny lawn, let alone a single tree. Even worse, our maunga are being stripped with some ridiculous notion of clearing out "exotics" even though the tui love to feed on cherry blossom and other such trees, not to mention the beauty they provide to humans.
Birdlife has already disappeared from many suburbs, not to mention crucial insect life too. Enough of the dreaming, we need to stop killing mature trees particularly in public reserves and build more intelligently and sustainably.
R Howell, Onehunga.
Market forces
It is wrong to suggest that New Zealanders chose to ignore the lessons of economic history (NZ Herald, March 21), There was never any popular support for the adoption of radical free-market reforms during the Rogernomics era.
The reforms were imposed on New Zealanders despite widespread public opposition by a cabal of free-market zealots within the Labour party of the time in what amounted to a coup d'etat.
There was never any popular support for the New Zealand experiment in radical free-market capitalism.
We now live with the result in a legacy of economic failure, ever-widening inequality, and social disintegration.
William O'Donnell, Sandringham.