The Right Dishonourable

Our politicised age is one of black and white thinking, deeply felt tribals loyalties, and hunting traitors who denounce the faith. As with previous eras of sectarian strife, there is a fixation on purity of actions, speech, and even conscience.

This does not sound like something that can be solved by taking inspiration from a faddish diet with a cumbersome portmanteau name. But flexitarianism may be the model we need to pursue moral progress sustainably.

When Laurel Hubbard put her hands on the barbell at the Pacific Games in Samoa in July, she would have been keenly aware that many dispute her right to compete in international weightlifting as a women.

Hubbard, who took home two golds at the games for New Zealand, is at the centre of a row over whether trans women athletes have an unfair advantage over their cisgendered rivals. Controversy had already flared up when Hubbard qualified to compete at the Commonwealth Games in 2018 after meeting International Olympic Committee requirements to keep her testosterone levels below a given threshold for a year.