Life is Plagiarism

The sunny weather continues in this little corner of the Dis-United Kingdom - yet with enough of a cool, gentle, breeze to render the burning of the sun almost imperceptible.
After a morning's labouring on our little plots, Nosher and I relax into our old deckchairs in the shade of his allotment shed, drinking chilled fruit juice from his solar-powered fridge.
'I hear that Raj Persaud is being given a hard time at the GMC disciplinary hearing over accusations of plagiarism in his published work' said Nosher, sounding unusually well-informed.
'As he is probably the the country's best-known psychiatrist, I suppose accusations of plagiarism and bringing the medical profession into disrepute were bound to attract a lot of heavy calibre criticism' I responded.
'Even so' Nosher continued 'the curious aspect of this is that, even if the charges are found proven, Persaud has not actually caused harm to his patients by his actions, instead the charge is to about bringing the profession into disrepute. It's about tribal self-esteem and public image.'
This seemed a leap of the imagination too far, even for Nosher.
'Are you saying that plagiarism doesn't matter?' I asked.
'I'm saying that it's a fact of life' he replied 'I'd go as far as to say that life is plagiarism - it's just that usually there aren't people chasing us to claim originality for the words or phrases that we utter or write. Except where money and/or reputations are at stake, or perhaps academic originality.'
'Does that excuse Persaud's conduct?'
'No, it doesn't - but on the other hand it shouldn't mean the ruination of his professional career. If he is otherwise an exemplary doctor it would be stupid to deprive society of his skills.'
'Well, if the charges are proved' I said 'let us hope he is punished appropriately.'
'Sitting on the fence as usual!' chided Nosher.
'Sometimes sitting on the fence is the only fair and impartial thing to do' was my ripost.
More from www.overthegardenfence.blogspot.com soon.
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Best wishes for a fulfilling day.