I Constable

 

Recently I watched ‘I Robot’ again. This Will Smith movie is based on Azimov’s book of the same name; it’s a classic. At the risk of doing a spoiler, the tale is of how helpful domestic robots begin to turn on their masters and violate the three laws of their Prime Directive. Initially they seemingly act at random but as the story develops we see that all these robots are linked to the central controller, which has become corrupted and is independently pursuing its evil agenda. How prescient of Azimov to imagine life in the 21^st century. The movie has a happy ending and so will this century but there’s plenty of time for the plot to develop.

In late January Dutch Police broke up anti-lockdown protests in several cities across Holland. The level of unprovoked brutality is shocking in a democratic society where people are exercising their God given rights to freedom of assembly. In September a peaceful rally in Trafalgar Square, London, was interrupted and dispersed by riot police. Later in the afternoon Doktor Heiko Schöning, an invited speaker from Germany, was arrested at Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park. Free Speech? – I think not. There is a creeping malaise among police forces everywhere asked to enforce crazy rules that have no scientific justification. These protectors of our community are being put in a very difficult position – mindlessly enforce the ridiculous or follow common sense.

Occasionally when my computer crashes I must resort to the time honored procedure ‘Turn it off and on again’. It’s always a pain to lose work in progress – God forbid that the hard drive gets corrupted, but it’s also a relief to see the familiar Windows screens appear again. (Such momentary relief does not extend to images of Bill Gates). There might similarly be a way in which our police constables can reset and ‘go back to first principles’. Perhaps all it takes is to remind them of their duty by asking them ‘Are you under oath?’ Doctors have largely forgotten their Hippocratic Oath by wielding syringes without informed consent, but maybe, before striking out with their batons, police officers can pause long enough to realise that ‘Protecting the Community’ and ‘Enforcing the Law’ are two different things.

There is no Will Smith hero we can rally behind today. We are individually and collectively called to this role. It is for each of us to use out talents as best we can for the common good. Science can be a great help to us and many healthcare professionals have bravely spoken out having found, through extensive trialing, that there are ways that we can naturally protect ourselves both nutritionally and through the repurposing of approved drugs. Through the dedicated and consistent pursuit of truth we will win back control of our lives and the support of our law and order servants.

Since many doctors seem to have abandoned their Hippocratic Oath, each one of us should adopt it for ourselves and apply it to all areas of life. Whether tolerating opposing views, extending unconditional positive regard to others and diffusing tension let us all pledge to First Do No Harm. Nothing works more powerfully than modelling the behaviour we expect from officers sworn to our protection. All will be well.