Ah, the irony. The man who charged into gunfire at Bondi Beach, hailed as a hero, is now charged with assault. The UK Home Office investigates. An extradition looms. One might think the British Empire had finally collapsed into a farce of its own making. But no, this is merely the logical conclusion of our age: we worship courage only until it becomes inconvenient.
Consider the Victorian era, when a hero was a hero precisely because society had a clear moral compass. Today, we have no such thing. We have a man who saved lives, and we are now debating whether he used excessive force. The same public that celebrated his bravery now demands his punishment. It is a spectacle of intellectual decadence, a symptom of a society that has lost the ability to distinguish between good and evil.
The Home Office's investigation is predictable. The bureaucratic machine grinds on, indifferent to context. Meanwhile, Australia watches, ready to reclaim its citizen. This is not justice. This is a ritual sacrifice of a man who dared to act when others froze. We have become Rome in its decline, where the mob cheers the gladiator one day and calls for his blood the next.
National identity? Ours is now defined by legalism and fear. We are no longer a nation of heroes, but of litigants. The Bondi Beach hero is a mirror held up to our own cowardice. We should be ashamed. Instead, we are busy preparing his extradition papers.
