I’m linking to Danyl’s latest because it deals with a myth the left deperately needs to keep on challenging to get the wider working class united and onside. Meritocracy, aka the just world myth, aka ‘you get what you deserve’.
Coddington misses the point completely. We want and need NZers to succeed at the very top levels. Indeed the future of the country depends on it.
But the rewards of that work cannot just be concentrated in the hands of a few: more needs to be accessible by a larger portion of society so that we can generate new successes and create new opportunities for many more. So that our next Sam Morgan, Sir Edmund Hillary, Rutherford does not depend on being born in a privileged family to fully realise their human potential.
Coddington is advocating for the concentration of wealth and opportunity in fewer and fewer hands.
This is a mad attitude for a country with so few people already, and where 1/4 of our most highly skilled and qualified graduates have fled our shores for the long term.
Further to Deborah Coddington’s article.. a lot of us have been on or acknowledge ‘both sides of the fence’ and of course having plenty is a nicer place to be! But for some, whether it be moral, ethical, religious or political conscience or simple plain caring, wealth is just not as enjoyable when fellow human beings are so disadvantaged. The gap is widening so much in NZ that it is easier to be removed from the day to day struggle of the many or to simply choose to turn a blind eye. ‘Let them eat cake ‘ might be the attitude. A country is only as well off as it’s poorest citizen. I often wondered how the wealthy managed to live with themselves in third world countries surrounded by poverty and hardship. Watching NZ’s demise I guess it’s not so difficult after all!
Yep, capitalism itself guarantees that wealth distribution cannot be based upon merit as it’s designed to channel all the wealth created into the hands of the few with political power and/or ownership of resources.
The actual links: Yes, They have more money On John Key
Just linking to the top of the blog doesn’t link to the blog post that you’re talking about meaning that people actually have to guess.
The US is 15-20 years more entrenched in their plutocracy than we are. As a country and as a people we must not follow their example.
The next LAB Government cannot simply be centrist because it must address directly and very strongly issues of economic and income inequality. Of the societal disenfranchisement of huge vulnerable swathes of the electorate. Simply holding off additional rot in these measures is not good enough.
While millions of ordinary Americans are struggling with unemployment and declining standards of living, the levers of real power have been all but completely commandeered by the financial and corporate elite. It doesn’t really matter what ordinary people want. The wealthy call the tune, and the politicians dance.
So what we get in this democracy of ours are astounding and increasingly obscene tax breaks and other windfall benefits for the wealthiest, while the bought-and-paid-for politicians hack away at essential public services and the social safety net, saying we can’t afford them. One state after another is reporting that it cannot pay its bills. Public employees across the country are walking the plank by the tens of thousands. Camden, N.J., a stricken city with a serious crime problem, laid off nearly half of its police force. Medicaid, the program that provides health benefits to the poor, is under savage assault from nearly all quarters.
The poor, who are suffering from an all-out depression, are never heard from. In terms of their clout, they might as well not exist. The Obama forces reportedly want to raise a billion dollars or more for the president’s re-election bid. Politicians in search of that kind of cash won’t be talking much about the wants and needs of the poor. They’ll be genuflecting before the very rich.
Hi CV Our own kleptocratic,plutocratic financier in chief who has a nice house in Hawaii is and will continue to do the same to kiwi land.God help us if he gets in again.
Here is a tremendously insightful article on Egypt’s revolution being sparked by the pressures of 1. Trippling of population since 1960. 2. Oil production paid for the importation of food but same production peaked in 1996 and is heading downwards rapidly along with increasing internal demand for the same .Population increase has hit the wall of a declining resource base: What ever ISM takes over cannot change this fact.
Egypt’s Warning: Are You Listening?
By Chris Martenson
Without persistent (and rising) food imports, Egypt cannot feed itself. It has managed to cover up the shortfall by having enough oil to export, but, like every country, their oil reserves are finite and eventually they’ll face a day of reckoning.
The oil situation in Egypt has only very recently become an enormous and unavoidable issue.
The monthly peak occurred in December 1996 (the yearly peak was also 1996), and oil production is now down some 30 percent since then.
Of course, there are two things that typically chew on a nation’s oil exports: falling production and rising internal consumption. With both of these dynamics in play, Egypt’s exports have been getting mauled, not by one, but by two exponential functions:
Any country that has to import both oil and food is living on borrowed time. It was only a matter of time before something gave way, and apparently that time is now.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that with water shortages and oil running out, governments may be able to hold back the tide of change for a short while but not for long.
Italy has called a humanitarian emergency after thousands of migrants sailed across the Mediterranean from Tunisia, overwhelming authorities on a remote island.
“The cabinet today… has proclaimed a state of humanitarian emergency following the influx of the large number of citizens from North Africa,” the government said in a statement on Saturday.
The statement said that the decision to call an official emergency would enable civil protection officers “to take immediate action needed to control this phenomenon and assist citizens who have fled from North Africa”.
The other side of the revolutions sweeping across the Middle East. As the article you link to points out:
Editorially, it’s not at all clear to me how the poorly defined concept of ‘democratic change’ will really change the equation much, as limits are immune to which ‘ism’ you happen to be running, but I am sure there are some in Washington DC who think ideology can trump reality.
I’m sure that there are some here as well especially in the NACT camp and probably quite a few in the Labour camp as well. Our world is limited and no amount of ideology will change that and yet we still do everything we can to grow the economy.
We will be seeing more resource refugees and more political instability over the coming years and decades.
Yeah it’s just the same old shit over and over. Her hatred of the poor seems fed by an absolute unwillingness to forgo any aspect of her privilages. This impossible neo-lib dream of ‘milionaire-equality’ in turn feeds dispair, hopelessness and selfish individualism amonst my peers – a drunk mate bled my ears last night with “I don’t want a Ferrrari or anything, I just want to be rich.”
That ordinary Kiwi’s buy this paper is depressing in itself.
It’s that same argument that anyone seeking equality is envious. What a great way to slam down justice, by calling it vile and jealous. This one is wrapped up on some bizarre logic.
The most jealous people I know are the richest for whom enough is never enough.
Its the basis of the whole “Keeping Up With the Joneses” mentality.
You buy a new BMW X5, you don’t keep it in your garage for the first day or two. Park it out on the driveway for all your neighbours to check out first.
This is the vile politics of envy,
There goes Deborah Coddington again. Too much uncontrolled energy sparking off her, so that no new neuron activity can penetrate. Someone should chase her around Auckland or where important, successful people like her live.
And these successful people who need so much money to live, what are the attributes and activities that they do for it? Are they top scientists discovering new things to help the planet and mankind, do they run engineering firms making new designs that are energy saving, do they run future building training courses for the human resources of the country, do they study how our activities can nurture our environment etc? No, likely they are managers of other people’s businesses, or owners manipulating the existing environment looking for the easiest way to puff their salaries and please shareholders. Their excess of money does not fund new innovations and useful entrepreneurial activity it fuels trips to Oz to see the latest shows, takes them to fine dinners and wine tastings or makes them so tired they need time out in Hawaii or… the world is their oyster.
To have a successful, happy life doesn’t require huge excesses of money. So if some ask that the top strata cut down a bit so that others with a lack of opportunity can rise, that is not envy. It is down-to-earth practical economics, something that Coddington doesn’t mix with – like oil and water.
I particularly liked the part where you said that having a successful, happy doesn’t require a huge excess of money but many people seem to blindly believe this.
All the crap about the people who give a damn about the poor wanting to drag the rich down to their level needs to be refuted emphatically at every turn, no matter how much derision the speaker of the truth receives – Phil Goff are you ready to step up to the plate?
I tend to be suspicious of people with loads of money because they tend to be disconnected from the reality of most people’s lives, y’know the sort that would ask a person on minimum wage where they went away to for the Christmas break.
Thanks M. The bit about being asked about where Christmas breaks were enjoyed I can understand. Have been fairly hard up, and known of people even worse off, it limits your ability to have friendships with others who are better off even to take part in family gatherings. You can’t afford to travel there, you can’t afford the right clothes even to hire them, you can’t afford a present for a wedding couple.
On and on, and if you can only get minimum wage work, and perhaps that on a casual basis, life becomes a drag. If you are bringing up children, trying to be upbeat, assist them with schoolwork and ensure that they can have the equipment to undertake optional interests, sport music, computers, photography so they can learn and develop their interests and talent in ways that are productive and creative and not have them sinking to self destructive activity is not recognised and honoured. When one teenager’s Japanese class decided to visit Japan I made the decision not to try and raise the thousands needed to go. Cinderella going to the ball thing. At midnight she had to return and in the same situation. Foreign travel was where I drew the line on my effort to give a wide education. Fair enough one might say. But I don’t think anyone else in the class was prevented from going by poverty. To me it wasn’t important, but just another thing that I and my children couldn’t hope to share in.
PS – Both my children are really great people, warm, friendly, responsible, working at demanding jobs, capable, knowledgable good citizens and a credit to themselves – I only helped with the groundwork and tried to direct them along the right paths, and then supported them in their choices. Which turned out successfully. It would have been less stressful for us all if there had been more family assistance though, willing help when occasionally needed not distaste for someone struggling.
At a breakfast meeting of high-powered Maori leaders and National Party MPs and officials on Waitangi Day, Key said it “made sense” to release capital to spend on other things by using PPPs.
“It does make sense, in my view, to fund some assets either by releasing capital from assets we currently own, or alternatively through other aspects of a public-private relationship, whether it’s PPPs or whatever,” Key said.
There was an item on Chris Laidlaw Radionz this morning on free market economics, Keynesian, PPPs and how they just spread the payment of government assets over a longer period – just putting the exchange of cash in a different part of the balance sheet I think. And no doubt paying extra embedded costs along the way.
Radionz news announced academic criticism of cuts to back office government functions.
Sounds like the Russian model. Hand over control of state assets to a few oligarch’s. who knows one day we coul have NZers owning Premier League Football franchises just like the Russians. Sounds like a few iwi would not mind being involved too.
WTF? What was Beck doing in that robe with the Gandalf staff? Even crazier than normal for him. About time he was outed for a sex scandal methinks. You so know he’s packing some pent up homo feelings.
This morning on Sunday Morning: An interesting discussion (if Chris would only stop interrupting) especially regarding whether it is wise or not to cut Government spending during a recession.
“David Hall is the Director of the Public Services International Research Unit at the University of Greenwich in London. In the week that Prime Minister John Key said there was more to be done to make “government bureaucracy smaller and better” David Hall discusses the value of public services and the economic investment they need.”
Damn. Doesn’t seem to be a podcast for this?
Okay, I am going to follow that link, but what I am asking myself as I looked at the newspaper headlines up at the dairy this morning was who the hell is SBW????
Oh, is he some kind of sports person?
Vicky
It’s the best round up I’ve seen of one* of the more interesting non-Egypt related stories of the week.
Skinny is: Security company guy is aiming to get a contract with either, or both, of Bank of America. Reckons he has found out the meatspace identity of the leaders of ‘anonymous’ and that he is going to:
sell this info to people, and
show what a clever clogs he is, and
win fame, glory and possibly riches through his awesome social media skillz based security work.
Unfortunately, anonymous ate this chump and spat out his innards all over teh internets.
I’m not a huge anonymous booster. It is what is and it’s fascinating, but this guy really doesn’t understand what that ‘it’ is. Nor does he understand Glenn Greenwald.
Nor is he secure.
‘Internet security ‘pro’ pisses off “anonymous”, lets them get STUXNET code”
= #PR.FAIL.All.Time.Champs
So that’s the skinny, these links contain the phat, including links to all the delicious innards that got spewed of someone who thinks he’s playing in the big leagues, but got chewed out by ‘anonymous’, who actively pretend to play in those leagues whilst throwing batteries from the stands for the lulz.
*(the other best story is about some weird shit in Pakistan, involving death in the streets and a USian with multiple id’s being arrested and diplomatic blowout and who the fuck is this guy and why is he shooting people in the street and why are the USians so anxious about getting him home stateside pronto bloody quick; it’s a goody, but trust me this other shit is even better)
And the moral of the story is… Do Not piss of Anonymous… But thats a given now if only Labour were half as good at politics as Anonymous are at showing their displeasure..
It’s talking about a potential new centre-right party to stand in Epsom against National and Act, with John Banks saying he’s heard talk of the new party (but denies being involved).
‘…In the aftermath of that event, the U.S. industrial economy nearly reached its end several times between mid-September 2008 and mid-March 2009. If we assume a similar series of events in the wake of $140 oil between late May and late October, then western civilization could commit suicide between late July 2011 (two months after late May 2011…’
If you are able to, taking steps with home water tank systems, vegetable patches, solar water heating, etc. are all going to come in very very handy over the next few years. And make sure you have a reliable easy to maintain bicycle…
CV, can’t afford solar and would like to get a water tank but would have to settle for one for watering the garden. The vegetable garden will be expanded from the small patch it is now and have a bike but would love to own a Mamachari. A woman at the local supermarket had a really good imported second hand one and I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
“He reminded the crowd that National had promised not to roll back any gay-rights policies and the Government had stuck to that promise. He also asked the crowd to consider voting for National this election. ”
Vote for me and I won’t recriminalise homosexuality! Ambitious for gays clearly… This is the least friendly we’ve heard Key, not more ‘I’d let Brad Pitt pork me’ now…a definite run to the right in effect here.
Phil Goff was the first leader to take to the stage and address the crowd, supported by a delegation of about half a dozen Labour MPs, all of whom received a warm welcome from the crowd.
Goff said despite what had been achieved in terms of gay rights there was still much work to do.
“There is still discrimination in the community.”
Goff said Labour had long been the champion of gay rights, unlike some politicians, who he said would also speak today, who just “smiled and waved”.
The Prime Minister John Key arrived about an hour later, with three National MPs, and spoke only for a brief time.
He reminded the crowd that National had promised not to roll back any gay-rights policies and the Government had stuck to that promise.
He also asked the crowd to consider voting for National this election.
Key spent about an hour walking around the many stalls and meeting people.
And it seems that a lot of the “mob” were mostly the media asking about non-GLBT issues:
Prime Minister John Key has arrived at the Get It On Big Gay Out and has been slowed down in his progress through Coyle Park by a large group of well-wishers and the occasional protester.
The PM’s progress has been further slowed by a large general media contingent of reporters and camera people who seem more interested in governmental matters than his presence at the Big Gay Out.
As far as I can see NZ Herald isn’t interested. TV3 is going to do an item on the BGO, and has attached to it the condom poll which voted Key the sexiest polly. Who the frak did they poll for this?
That condom survey was done last year at the same time by memory. Not sure about the right bias of GayNZ. I know some of the people behind the scenes and they can be prickly to say the least. Would love them to come here and explain the whole ‘mobbed’ bs. And who the feck was wishing Key well? Their gay cards should be revoked and they should have to sit in the corner with the Maori Party.
I didn’t say that gaynz generally has a right wing bias. I haven’t noticed that. I was just talking about the writer of the updates. I said: have been wondering about the right-leaning bias of whoever is doing the reports.
So to recap, the Govt is using the Environmental Protection Agency to remove protection from endangered New Zealand fish habitat so that we can build a motorway on it, with the resulting increase in greenhouse emissions.
George Orwell eat your heart out.
So, who else realised when it was announced that the Environmental Protection Agency was, as a matter of fact, actually the Business as Usual Protection Agency?
It was vigourously promoted by Rodney Hide so it was obvious that it wasn’t about protecting the environment.
As far as I can tell the ultimate goal of it is to be an overarching body which supersedes any other agency with an interest in conservation, so when Rodney’s mates need to get around any pesky environmental protections they can go straight to the one-stop-shop and not have to mess around with Iwi, DoC, local bodies, the RMA or anyone else.
The irony is, that the Resource Management Act 1991 was devised by the Fourth Labour government (approved by a cabinet that included the likes of Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble and Ken Shirley, later to become ACT MP’s), and passed by the Fourth National government, approved by a caucus that included the likes of Upton, Luxton, Bradford, and Nick Smith.
From concept, to drafting to final enactment the whole thing was conceived, carried and delivered with the involvement of just about every single neo-liberal luminary who was in office during that period, from Bassett to Richardson.
It is a collective amnesia among the right that they are attacking a law that was passed under the watch of the neo-liberal right. By their heroes, no less
Oh, it wasn’t amnesia but their increasing understanding that the RMA was getting in the way of their rich mates to exploit our environment for their own benefit.
In other words, THC in plant form or as an extract, will still be illegal. What won’t be illegal is if a pharmaceutical company buys THC from a government-licensed provider, puts it in a pill, receives the DEA’s stamp of approval, and sells it a price that will likely be far higher than the price of marijuana.
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Yesterday, I ruminated about the effects of being a political follower.And, within politics, David Seymour was smart enough on Friday to divert attention from “race blind” policies [what about gender blind I thought - thinking of maternity wards] and cutting school lunches by throwing meat to the media. Teachers were ...
Far, far away from here lives our King. Some of his subjects can be quite the forelock tuggers, but plenty of us are not like that, and why don't I wheel out my favourite old story once more about Kiwi soldiers in the North African desert?Field Marshal Montgomery takes offence ...
These people are inept on every level. They’re inept to the detriment of our internal politics, cohesion and increasingly our international reputation.And they are reveling in the fact they are getting away with it. We cannot even have “respectful debate” with a government that clearly rejects the very ...
Skeptical Science is partnering with Gigafact to produce fact briefs — bite-sized fact checks of trending claims. This fact brief was written by Sue Bin Park from the Gigafact team in collaboration with John Mason. You can submit claims you think need checking via the tipline. Does manmade CO2 have any ...
Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Matthew 7:1-2FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY men and women professing the Christian faith would appear to have imperilled their immortal souls. ...
Uh-uh! Not So Fast, Citizens!The power to initiate systemic change remains where it has always been in New Zealand’s representative democracy – in Parliament. To order a binding referendum, the House of Representatives must first to be persuaded that, on the question proposed, sharing its decision-making power with the people ...
Flatlining: With no evidence of a genuine policy disruptor at work in Labour’s ranks, New Zealand’s wealthiest citizens can sleep easy.PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN has walked a picket-line. Presidential candidate Kamala Harris has threatened “price-gauging” grocery retailers with price control. The Democratic Party’s 2024 platform situates it well to the left of Sir ...
The Beginning of the End:Rogernomics became the short-hand descriptor for all the radical changes that swept away New Zealand’s social-democratic economy and society between 1984 and 1990. In the bitterest of ironies, those changes were introduced by the very same party which had entrenched New Zealand social-democracy 50 years earlier. ...
Good morning all you lovely people. 🙂I woke up this morning, and it felt a bit like the last day of school. You might recall from earlier in the week that I’m heading home to Rotorua to see an old friend who doesn’t have much time. A sad journey, but ...
Hello! Here comes the Saturday edition of More Than A Feilding, catching you up on anything you may have missed. Street architecture adjustment, KolkataShare Read more ...
Despite fears that Trump presidency would be disastrous for progress on climate change, the topic barely rated a mention in the Presidential debate. Photo: Getty ImagesLong stories short, here’s the top six news items of note in climate news for Aotearoa-NZ this week, and a discussion above between Bernard Hickey ...
The abrupt cancellations and suspensions of Government spending also caused private sector hiring, spending, and investment to freeze up for the first six months of the year. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The KākāThis week we learned:The new National/ACT/NZ First Coalition Government ignored advice from Treasury that it didn’t have to ...
Another week of The Rings of Power, season two, and another confirmation that things are definitely coming together for the show. The fifth Episode of season one represented the nadir of the series. Now? Amid the firmer footing of 2024, Episode Five represents further a further step towards excellent Tolkien ...
The background to In Open Seas: How the New Zealand Labour Government Went Wrong:2017-2023Not in Narrow Seas: The Economic History of Aotearoa New Zealand, published in 2020, proved more successful than either I or the publisher (VUP, now Te Herenga Waka University Press) expected. I had expected that it would ...
The podcast above of the weekly ‘Hoon’ webinar for paying subscribers on Thursday night features co-hosts and talking about the week’s news with:The Kākā’s climate correspondent on the latest climate science on rising temperatures and the climate implications of the US Presidential elections; and special guests Janet ...
1. Upon receiving evidence that school lunches were doing a marvellous job of improving outcomes for students, David Seymour did what?a. Declared we need much more of this sort of good news and poured extra resources and funding into them b. Emailed Atlas network to ask what to do next c. Cut ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has reported back on National's proposed changes to gut the Marine and Coastal Area Act and steal the foreshore and seabed for its greedy fishing-industry donors, and declared it to be another huge violation of ti Tiriti: The Waitangi Tribunal has found government changes to the ...
In 2016, the then-National government signed the Paris Agreement, committing Aotearoa to a 30 (later 50) percent reduction in emissions by 2030. When questioned about how they intended to meet that target with their complete absence of effective climate policy, they made a lot of noise about how it was ...
Treasury’s advice to Cabinet was that the new Government could actually prudently carry net core Crown debt of up to 50% of GDP. ButLuxon and Willis instead chose to portray the Government’s finances as in such a mess they had no choice but to carve 6.5% to 7.5% off ...
This is a long read. Open to all.SYNOPSIS: Traditional media is at a cross roads. There is a need for those in the media landscape, as it stands, to earn enough to stay afloat, but also come across as balanced and neutral to keep its audiences.In America, NYT’s liberal leaning ...
It's Black Friday, the end of the weekYou take my hand and hold it gently up against your cheekIt's all in my head, it's all in my mindI see the darkness where you see the lightSong by Tom OdellFriday the 13th, don’t be afraid.No, really, don’t. Everything has felt a ...
Ooh, Friday the thirteenth. Spooky! Is that why certain zombie ideas have been stalking the landscape this week, like the Mayor’s brainwave for a motorway bridge from Kauri Point to Point Chev? Read on and find out. This roundup, like all our coverage, is brought to you by the Greater ...
National continues to dismantle environmental protections in the interests of rushing through unsustainable development that will ultimately cost communities. ...
The economy has stagnated and the National Government is having to face the consequences of its atrocious lawmaking, as beneficiary numbers skyrocket past even Treasury’s predictions. ...
Today’s GDP figures combined with the injustice of our tax system will mean more pain for our lowest-income households while those at the top remain relatively unscathed. ...
Te Pāti Māori Member of Parliament for Tāmaki Makaurau is urging a full wraparound of services to intervene quickly with families affected by today's announced closure of the Penrose Mill. Seventy-five people are set to lose their jobs right on the eve of Christmas. "I want to extend my thoughts ...
Sentencing policy announced by Minister Paul Goldsmith today is anything but new, merely window dressing to make up for backwards violent crime statistics under the National Government. ...
Labour Leader Chris Hipkins will travel to the United Kingdom this week to attend the annual UK Labour Party conference in Liverpool and meet with members of the new Labour Government. ...
An imminent decision to increase the total allowable commercial catch (TACC) for snapper would be a direct violation of the first-ever Treaty Settlement and inevitably breach Te Tiriti o Waitangi, says Te Pāti Māori. Te Ohu Kaimoana has sought a High Court declaration to prevent the Minister of Oceans and ...
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has cut grants helping overseas family of victims to attend the next phase of the Coronial Inquiry into the 15 March 2019 Christchurch Masjidain Attack. ...
The Waitangi Tribunal has released an Urgent Report on the Government’s proposed amendments to the Takutai Moana Act 2011. The report calls out Paul Goldsmith’s proposal for what it is: a “gross breach of the Treaty” and an “illegitimate exercise of kāwanatanga”. The Tribunal is recommending the Crown step down ...
The Government must abandon its Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act interventions after the Waitangi Tribunal found it was committing gross breaches of the Treaty. ...
The Government’s directive to the public service to ignore race is nothing more than a dog whistle and distraction from the structural racism we need to address. ...
Concerns have been raised that our spy arrangements may mean that intelligence is being shared between Aotearoa and Israel. An urgent inquiry must be launched in response to this. ...
Aotearoa’s Youngest Member of Parliament, and Te Pāti Māori MP, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke, will travel to Montreal to accept the One Young World Politician of the Year Award next week. The One Young World Politician of the Year Award was created in 2018 to recognise the most promising young politicians between ...
The Greens welcome today’s long-coming announcement by Pharmac of consultation to remove the special authority renewal criteria for methylphenidate, dexamfetamine and modafinil and to fund lisdexamfetamine. ...
Mema Paremata for Te Tai Tokerau, Mariameno Kapa-Kingi, has reflected on the decisions made by the councils of the North amidst the government’s push to remove Māori Wards and weaken mana whenua representation. “Actions taken by the Kaipara District Council to remove Māori Wards are the embodiment of the eradication ...
On one hand, the Prime Minister has assured Aotearoa that his party will not support the Treaty Principles Bill beyond first reading, but on the other, his Government has already sought advice on holding a referendum on our founding document. ...
New Zealanders needing aged care support and the people who care for them will be worse off if the Government pushes through a flawed and rushed redesign of dementia and aged care. ...
Hundreds of jobs lost as a result of pulp mill closures in the Ruapehu District are a consequence of government inaction in addressing the shortfalls of our electricity network. ...
Te Pāti Māori Co-Leader and MP for Te Tai Hauāuru is devastated for the Ruapehu community following today’s decision to close two Winstone Pulp mills. “My heart goes out to all the workers, their whānau, and the wider Ruapehu community affected by the closure of Winstone Pulp International,” said Ngarewa-Packer. ...
National Party Ministers have a majority in Cabinet and can stop David Seymour’s Treaty Principles Bill, which even the Prime Minister has described as “divisive and unhelpful.” ...
The National Government is so determined to hide the list of potential projects that will avoid environmental scrutiny it has gagged Ministry for the Environment staff from talking about it. ...
Labour has complained to the Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission about the high number of non-disclosure agreements that have effectively gagged staff at Te Whatu Ora Health NZ from talking about anything relating to their work. ...
The Green Party is once again urging the Prime Minister to abandon the Treaty Principles Bill as a letter from more than 400 Christian leaders calls for the proposed legislation to be dropped. ...
Councils across the country have now decided where they stand regarding Māori wards, with a resounding majority in favour of keeping them in what is a significant setback for the Government. ...
The National-led government has been given a clear message from the local government sector, as almost all councils reject the Government’s bid to treat Māori wards different to other wards. ...
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Matt Doocey will meet with Trade and Tourism Minister of Australia Don Farrell and Fiji Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica in Rotorua this weekend for a trilateral tourism discussion. “Like in New Zealand, tourism plays a significant role in Australia and Fiji’s economy, contributing massively to ...
The Te Puna Aonui Expert Advisory Group for Children and Young People has presented its report today on improving family and sexual violence outcomes for young people, to the Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, Karen Chhour. The presentation at the Auckland event was an opportunity for ...
The Government is putting more than $18 million towards improving the experience of the criminal justice system for victims, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Minister for Children Karen Chhour say. “No one should experience crime, but for those who through no fault of their own become victims, they need to ...
For the first time, schools can use a purpose-built tool to check how a child is progressing in reading through te reo Māori. “Around 45 schools are trialling a New Zealand first te reo Māori phonics check, known as Hihira Weteoro. It will help kaiako (teachers) focus on what ākonga ...
Two new breakwater walls at Pākihikura (Ōpōtiki) Harbour will provide boats with safe harbour access to support the continued growth of aquaculture in Bay of Plenty, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones say. The Ministers and leaders from Tē Tāwharau o Te Whakatōhea and other ...
Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins today announced an online platform to optimise the use of New Zealand’s science and technology research infrastructure and to link the public and private sector. “This country is home to world-class science, technology, and engineering expertise. Kitmap is set to empower Kiwi innovators, ...
The Government has launched the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund (LEHVF) to promote innovation and offset the cost of hundreds of heavy vehicles powered by clean technologies, Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Climate Change Minister Simon Watts say. “Boosting economic growth and productivity is a key part of the Government’s plan ...
Replacing the RMA Hon Chris Bishop: Good morning, it is great to be with you. Can I first acknowledge the Resource Management Law Association for hosting us here today. Can I also acknowledge my Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Simon Court, who is on stage with me. He has assisted me in establishing the ...
Two new laws will be developed to replace the Resource Management Act (RMA), with the enjoyment of property rights as their guiding principle, RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop and Parliamentary Under-Secretary Simon Court say. “The RMA was passed with good intentions in 1991 but has proved a failure in practice. ...
Legislation passed through Parliament today will provide police and the courts with additional tools to crack down on gangs that peddle misery and intimidation throughout New Zealand, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “From November 21, gang insignia will be banned in all public places, courts will be able to issue non-consorting orders, and ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says the Government has agreed to the rates for the redesigned levy that will fund Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) from July 2026. “Earlier this year FENZ consulted publicly on a 5.2 percent increase to the levy. I was not convinced that ...
The Coalition Government welcomes Police’s announcement today to deploy more police on the beat and staff to Gang Disruption Units. An additional 70 officers will be allocated to Community Beat Teams across towns and regional centres. This builds on the deployment of beat officers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch CBDs ...
Proposals to strengthen the country’s vital biosecurity system, including higher fines for passengers bringing in undeclared high-risk goods, greater flexibility around importing requirements, and fairer cost sharing for biosecurity responses have been released today for public consultation. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard says “The future is about resilience and the 30-year-old ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says an Overnight Acute Care Service opening in October will provide people in Wānaka and the surrounding area with the assurance of quality overnight care closer to home. “When I was in Wānaka earlier this year, I announced funding for an overnight health service – ...
The Government is rolling out data collection vans across the country to better understand the condition of our road network to prevent potholes from forming in the first place, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says. “Increasing productivity to help rebuild our economy is a key priority for the Government and increasing ...
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data for the quarter to June 2024 reinforces how an extended period of high interest rates has meant tough times for families, businesses, and communities, but recent indications show the economy is starting to bounce back, Finance Minister Nicola Willis says. Stats NZ data released today ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay will host Fijian Deputy Prime Minister Manoa Kamikamica and Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for trilateral trade talks in Rotorua this weekend. “Fiji is one of the largest economies in the Pacific and is a respected partner for Australia and New Zealand,” Mr McClay says. Australia and New Zealand ...
Trade Minister Todd McClay will meet with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell for the annual Closer Economic Relations (CER) Trade Ministers’ meeting in Rotorua this weekend. “CER is our most comprehensive agreement covering trade, labour mobility, harmonisation of standards and political cooperation. It underpins an important trading relationship worth $32 ...
The Government is seeking the public’s feedback on two major changes to jury trials in order to improve court timeliness, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. “The first proposal would increase the offence threshold at which a defendant can decide to have their case heard by a jury. “The second is ...
Local businesses and industries need to be front and centre in conversations about how regions plan to grow their economies, Regional Development Shane Jones says. The nationwide series of summits aims to facilitate conversations about regional economic growth and opportunities to drive productivity, prosperity and resilience through the Coalition Government’s Regional ...
The Government is investing $16.8 million over the next four years to extend the Growing Up in New Zealand (GUiNZ) Longitudinal Study. GUiNZ is New Zealand’s largest longitudinal study of child health and wellbeing and has followed the lives of more than 6000 children born in 2009 and 2010, and ...
Associate Education Minister David Seymour says that Charter Schools will face a combination of minimum performance thresholds and stretch targets for achievement, attendance and financial sustainability. “Charter schools will be given greater freedom to respond to diverse student needs in innovative ways, but they will be held to a much ...
New Zealand has voted for a United Nations resolution on Israel’s presence in occupied Palestinian Territory with some caveats, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says. “New Zealand’s yes vote is fundamentally a signal of our strong support for international law and the need for a two-state solution,” Mr Peters says. “The Israel-Palestine ...
Suffrage Day is an opportunity to reaffirm New Zealand’s commitment to ensuring we continue to be a world leader in gender equality, Minister for Women Nicola Grigg says. “On 19 September, 131 years ago, New Zealand became the first nation in the world where women gained the right to vote. ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters is travelling to New York next week to attend the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, followed by a visit to French Polynesia. “In the context of the myriad regional and global crises, our engagements in New York will demonstrate New Zealand’s strong support for ...
“Today, on Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day, I would like to recognise the tremendous effort social workers make not just today, but every day,” Children’s Minister and Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour says. “I thank all those working on the front line for ...
Minister of State for Trade Nicola Grigg will travel to Laos this week to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Ministers’ Meetings in Vientiane. “The Government is committed to strengthening our relationship with ASEAN,” Ms Grigg says. “With next year marking 50 years since New Zealand became ...
The Government has appointed four members to the Ministerial Advisory Group for victims of retail crime, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and Associate Justice Minister Nicole McKee say. “I am delighted to appoint Michael Hill’s national retail manager Michael Bell to the group, as well as Waikato community advocate and business ...
It’s my pleasure to be here to join the opening of the NZNO AGM and Conference for 2024. First, I’d like to thank NZNO Kaiwhakahaere Kerri Nuku, NZNO President, Anne Daniels, and Chief Execuitve Paul Gaulter for inviting me to speak today. Thank you also to all the NZNO members ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden says changes to the Public Lending Right [PLR] scheme will help benefit both the National Library and authors who have books available in New Zealand libraries. “I am amending the regulations so that eligible authors will no longer have to reapply every year ...
Police Minister Mark Mitchell congratulates Police for the outstanding result of their most recent operation, targeting the Comancheros. “That Police have been able to round up the majority of the Comancheros leadership, and many of their patched members and prospects, shows not only the capability of Police, but also shows ...
Environment Minister Penny Simmonds has announced a major refresh of the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) board with four new appointments and one reappointment. The new board members are Barry O’Neil, Jennifer Scoular, Alison Stewart and Nancy Tuaine, who have been appointed for a three-year term ending in August 2027. “I would ...
Cabinet has approved an Order in Council to enable severe weather recovery works to continue in the Hawke’s Bay, Environment Minister Penny Simmonds and Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell say. “Cyclone Gabrielle and the other severe weather events in early 2023 caused significant loss and damage to ...
From today, low-to-middle-income families with young children can register for the new FamilyBoost payment, to help them meet early childhood education (ECE) costs. The scheme was introduced as part of the Government’s tax relief plan to help Kiwis who are doing it tough. “FamilyBoost is one of the ways we ...
The Government has today agreed to introduce sentencing reforms to Parliament this week that will ensure criminals face real consequences for crime and victims are prioritised, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says. "In recent years, there has been a concerning trend where the courts have imposed fewer and shorter prison sentences ...
The first quarterly report on progress against the nine public service targets show promising results in some areas and the scale of the challenge in others, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says. “Our Government reinstated targets to focus our public sector on driving better results for New Zealanders in health, education, ...
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointments of Hone McGregor, Professor David Capie, and John Boswell to the Board of the Asia New Zealand Foundation. Bede Corry, Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has also been appointed as an ex-officio member. The new trustees join Dame Fran Wilde (Chair), ...
New Zealand’s largest contestable science fund is investing in 72 new projects to address challenges, develop new technology and support communities, Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Judith Collins says. “This Endeavour Fund round being funded is focused on economic growth and commercial outputs,” Ms Collins says. “It involves funding of more ...
Thank you for the introduction and the invitation to speak to you here today. I am honoured to be here in my capacity as Minister for the Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence, and Minister for Children. Thank you for creating a space where we can all listen and learn, ...
The Government will provide a $5.8 million grant to improve water infrastructure at Parihaka in Taranaki, Regional Development Minister Shane Jones and Māori Development Minister Tama Potaka say. “This grant from the Regional Infrastructure Fund will have a multitude of benefits for this hugely significant cultural site, including keeping local ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Elizabeth Korver-Glenn, Assistant Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Families on bikes at a July Fourth parade in Houston’s Northside neighborhood.Jimmy Castillo, CC BY-ND Gentrification has become a familiar story in cities across the United States. The ...
Regional councillors have voted to continue work on the plan, despite ministers suggesting they hold off until the government confirms its policy direction. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Benny Zuse Rousso, Research Fellow, International Water Centre, Griffith University Pvince73/Shutterstock The Pacific Islands may evoke images of sprawling coastlines and picturesque scenery. But while this part of the world might look like paradise, many local residents are grappling with a ...
Censorship can be a natural impulse to things we don’t like, but it’s better to know when hateful or offensive ideas exist. Otherwise, they’re buried underground to fester and can crop up unexpectedly. We see this legislation no differently. ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Wenting He, PhD candidate of International Relations, Australian National University The skyline in Shenzhen, the city that is home to many of China’s largest tech companies.asharkyu/Shutterstock According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Pony Ma, co-founder of Tencent Holdings, is once ...
RNZ Pacific The man behind the 2000 coup in Fiji, George Speight, and the head of the mutineers, former soldier Shane Stevens, have been granted presidential pardons. In a statement yesterday, the Fiji Correction Service said the pair were among seven prisoners who has been granted pardons by the President, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jack Wilson, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney JFontan/Shutterstock With the Paris Olympics and Paralympics wrapped up, and leading Australian sports codes coming to an end of their 2024 ...
The Courts have ruled the Crown must cover the costs of customary marine title claims, but where will the money come from? A landmark Supreme Court ruling could once again ensure Māori have adequate resourcing to pursue customary marine title claims, despite the government’s recent drastic raising of the threshold ...
Public broadcaster RNZ might be struggling to stem its falls in radio listenership, but the audience for its website rnz.co.nz is soaring.In the latest Nielsen online audience figures for August, RNZ hit 1.56 million unique readers for the month, up from under a million a year ago and less than ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Susan Hutchinson, PhD Candidate, International Relations, Australian National University Last month, the Taliban passed a new “vice and virtue” law, making it illegal for women to speak in public. Under the law, women can also be punished if they are heard singing ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Ben Green, Research Fellow, Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University When tickets for Green Day’s 2025 Australian tour went on sale, fans joined a queue – a ritual that has been practised for decades on footpaths, on phones, and now ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By David T. Hill, Emeritus Professor of Southeast Asian Studies, Indo-Pacific Research Centre, Murdoch University David T. Hill You don’t have to be in India long to appreciate just how dramatic its electric vehicle revolution is. Whether it’s electric two-wheelers or trucks, ...
In a rare decision, heavy with judicial and political implications, the country’s top court has told the Crown it must give advance financial support to a group of hapū challenging it over the Marine and Coastal Areas Act.The Supreme Court’s intervention, ahead of seven appeals scheduled before it in November ...
A new poem by Freya Daly Sadgrove. ???where you wake is black and very far back behind your eyesback past your whipping branches and backerfar backer than bone and blood ...
The only published and available best-selling indie book chart in New Zealand is the top 10 sales list recorded every week at Unity Books’ stores in High St, Auckland, and Willis St, Wellington.AUCKLAND1 Greene Lyon by Alan Goodwin (Quentin Wilson Publishing, $38) An intriguing new local release. Here’s ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Michael Henry, Physiotherapist and PhD candidate, Body in Mind Research Group, University of South Australia simona pilolla 2/Shutterstock One of the most common feelings associated with persisting pain is fatigue and this fatigue can become overwhelming. People with chronic pain can ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Uri Gal, Professor in Business Information Systems, University of Sydney Last month, OpenAI came out against a yet-to-be enacted Californian law that aims to set basic safety standards for developers of large artificial intelligence (AI) models. This was a change of posture ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Dan Fastnedge, Lecturer in Advertising and Brand Creativity, Auckland University of Technology Getty Images Controversial advertising holds a mirror up to society. It can unite us in laughter or outrage, spark debates that shape our beliefs – and sometimes expose our ...
There are more Marks than women leading NZX companies, RNZ reported this morning. The Spinoff can now reveal that there are way more Marks than bogans. It’s not exactly breaking news that women are underrepresented in business leadership, but RNZ found a funny and inventive way of demonstrating that this ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kate Burridge, Professor of Linguistics, Monash University Shutterstock “Honestly, I can’t wait to have grandkids and spoil them — but I don’t want to be called ‘Granny’” (overheard on the No. 96 tram in Melbourne) “I love it. It’s not ...
The capital’s best chefs and restaurateurs share their favourite local eateries and hidden gems. I have always been fascinated by chefs and restaurateurs. Perhaps it is because of how altruistic they are, existing in a space that seeks to provide pleasure to others regardless of how it impacts on their ...
ANALYSIS: By Matthew Ricketson, Deakin University and Andrew Dodd, The University of Melbourne Until recently, Elon Musk was just a wildly successful electric car tycoon and space pioneer. Sure, he was erratic and outspoken, but his global influence was contained and seemingly under control. But add the ownership of just ...
Ruby Solly on reading Keri Hulme’s Booker Prize-winning novel The Bone People for the audiobook, released this week.Initially, there is only one way to describe this work; an honour and a privilege. I say this every time I get to spend time with the words of our kaumātua, but ...
The Pacific profiles series shines a light on Pacific people in Aotearoa doing interesting and important work in their communities, as nominated by members of the public. Today, Tiria Tiria.All photos by Geoffery Matautia.On a Saturday afternoon at Lower Hutt’s Naenae College, I sat with Mr Tiria as ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Rachel Sutherland, Research Fellow, National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW Sydney Alex Green/Pexels Each year, the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at UNSW Sydney surveys hundreds of people who regularly use drugs in Australia to understand trends in substance ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amanda Tattersall, Associate Professor in Urban Geography and Host of ChangeMakers Podcast, University of Sydney mantisdesign/Shutterstock Over the last decade, several groups in Australia have successfully mobilised against fossil fuel interests. But which ones have gone the distance? The urgent ...
The Treaty Principles Bill is unproductive for New Zealand, says Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Justin Tipa. “David Seymour and ACT are misconstruing history. You can’t have a reasonable debate with a person or party who distorts the truth,” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Sally Patfield, Lecturer, Teachers and Teaching Research Centre, School of Education, University of Newcastle Matej Kastelic/Shutterstock During September, many Australian universities start making early offers to Year 12 students for a place next year. This is ahead of the main rounds ...
You don’t have to live a haunting life of unparalleled grief and sorrow to be a great children’s author, but it helps. Content warning: This article mentions suicide and abuse. It’s always been a cliche of children’s literature, that many of the greatest writers for children dislike children. Even those ...
I see Goof’s bedmate Winnie is the slipperist politian going around. Can see now why the sexiest polititian cut him loose.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4651010/John-Keys-pucker-in-big-poli-kiss-off
http://dimpost.wordpress.com/
I’m linking to Danyl’s latest because it deals with a myth the left deperately needs to keep on challenging to get the wider working class united and onside. Meritocracy, aka the just world myth, aka ‘you get what you deserve’.
Coddington misses the point completely. We want and need NZers to succeed at the very top levels. Indeed the future of the country depends on it.
But the rewards of that work cannot just be concentrated in the hands of a few: more needs to be accessible by a larger portion of society so that we can generate new successes and create new opportunities for many more. So that our next Sam Morgan, Sir Edmund Hillary, Rutherford does not depend on being born in a privileged family to fully realise their human potential.
Coddington is advocating for the concentration of wealth and opportunity in fewer and fewer hands.
This is a mad attitude for a country with so few people already, and where 1/4 of our most highly skilled and qualified graduates have fled our shores for the long term.
Further to Deborah Coddington’s article.. a lot of us have been on or acknowledge ‘both sides of the fence’ and of course having plenty is a nicer place to be! But for some, whether it be moral, ethical, religious or political conscience or simple plain caring, wealth is just not as enjoyable when fellow human beings are so disadvantaged. The gap is widening so much in NZ that it is easier to be removed from the day to day struggle of the many or to simply choose to turn a blind eye. ‘Let them eat cake ‘ might be the attitude. A country is only as well off as it’s poorest citizen. I often wondered how the wealthy managed to live with themselves in third world countries surrounded by poverty and hardship. Watching NZ’s demise I guess it’s not so difficult after all!
Yep, capitalism itself guarantees that wealth distribution cannot be based upon merit as it’s designed to channel all the wealth created into the hands of the few with political power and/or ownership of resources.
The actual links:
Yes, They have more money
On John Key
Just linking to the top of the blog doesn’t link to the blog post that you’re talking about meaning that people actually have to guess.
US democracy needs to learn from Egypt
The US is 15-20 years more entrenched in their plutocracy than we are. As a country and as a people we must not follow their example.
The next LAB Government cannot simply be centrist because it must address directly and very strongly issues of economic and income inequality. Of the societal disenfranchisement of huge vulnerable swathes of the electorate. Simply holding off additional rot in these measures is not good enough.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/12/opinion/12herbert.html?src=me&ref=homepage
Hi CV Our own kleptocratic,plutocratic financier in chief who has a nice house in Hawaii is and will continue to do the same to kiwi land.God help us if he gets in again.
Here is a tremendously insightful article on Egypt’s revolution being sparked by the pressures of 1. Trippling of population since 1960. 2. Oil production paid for the importation of food but same production peaked in 1996 and is heading downwards rapidly along with increasing internal demand for the same .Population increase has hit the wall of a declining resource base: What ever ISM takes over cannot change this fact.
Egypt’s Warning: Are You Listening?
By Chris Martenson
Without persistent (and rising) food imports, Egypt cannot feed itself. It has managed to cover up the shortfall by having enough oil to export, but, like every country, their oil reserves are finite and eventually they’ll face a day of reckoning.
The oil situation in Egypt has only very recently become an enormous and unavoidable issue.
The monthly peak occurred in December 1996 (the yearly peak was also 1996), and oil production is now down some 30 percent since then.
Of course, there are two things that typically chew on a nation’s oil exports: falling production and rising internal consumption. With both of these dynamics in play, Egypt’s exports have been getting mauled, not by one, but by two exponential functions:
Any country that has to import both oil and food is living on borrowed time. It was only a matter of time before something gave way, and apparently that time is now.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that with water shortages and oil running out, governments may be able to hold back the tide of change for a short while but not for long.
http://www.countercurrents.org/martenson120211.htm
Italy declares migrant emergency
The other side of the revolutions sweeping across the Middle East. As the article you link to points out:
I’m sure that there are some here as well especially in the NACT camp and probably quite a few in the Labour camp as well. Our world is limited and no amount of ideology will change that and yet we still do everything we can to grow the economy.
We will be seeing more resource refugees and more political instability over the coming years and decades.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10705861
W T F !!!!!!!
Yeah it’s just the same old shit over and over. Her hatred of the poor seems fed by an absolute unwillingness to forgo any aspect of her privilages. This impossible neo-lib dream of ‘milionaire-equality’ in turn feeds dispair, hopelessness and selfish individualism amonst my peers – a drunk mate bled my ears last night with “I don’t want a Ferrrari or anything, I just want to be rich.”
That ordinary Kiwi’s buy this paper is depressing in itself.
It’s that same argument that anyone seeking equality is envious. What a great way to slam down justice, by calling it vile and jealous. This one is wrapped up on some bizarre logic.
The most jealous people I know are the richest for whom enough is never enough.
Its the basis of the whole “Keeping Up With the Joneses” mentality.
You buy a new BMW X5, you don’t keep it in your garage for the first day or two. Park it out on the driveway for all your neighbours to check out first.
This is the vile politics of envy,
There goes Deborah Coddington again. Too much uncontrolled energy sparking off her, so that no new neuron activity can penetrate. Someone should chase her around Auckland or where important, successful people like her live.
And these successful people who need so much money to live, what are the attributes and activities that they do for it? Are they top scientists discovering new things to help the planet and mankind, do they run engineering firms making new designs that are energy saving, do they run future building training courses for the human resources of the country, do they study how our activities can nurture our environment etc? No, likely they are managers of other people’s businesses, or owners manipulating the existing environment looking for the easiest way to puff their salaries and please shareholders. Their excess of money does not fund new innovations and useful entrepreneurial activity it fuels trips to Oz to see the latest shows, takes them to fine dinners and wine tastings or makes them so tired they need time out in Hawaii or… the world is their oyster.
To have a successful, happy life doesn’t require huge excesses of money. So if some ask that the top strata cut down a bit so that others with a lack of opportunity can rise, that is not envy. It is down-to-earth practical economics, something that Coddington doesn’t mix with – like oil and water.
Damn man, how do you expect the privileged to continue feeling they so special if society allows the masses to start doing better for themselves?
Prism, this is inspired.
I particularly liked the part where you said that having a successful, happy doesn’t require a huge excess of money but many people seem to blindly believe this.
All the crap about the people who give a damn about the poor wanting to drag the rich down to their level needs to be refuted emphatically at every turn, no matter how much derision the speaker of the truth receives – Phil Goff are you ready to step up to the plate?
I tend to be suspicious of people with loads of money because they tend to be disconnected from the reality of most people’s lives, y’know the sort that would ask a person on minimum wage where they went away to for the Christmas break.
Thanks M. The bit about being asked about where Christmas breaks were enjoyed I can understand. Have been fairly hard up, and known of people even worse off, it limits your ability to have friendships with others who are better off even to take part in family gatherings. You can’t afford to travel there, you can’t afford the right clothes even to hire them, you can’t afford a present for a wedding couple.
On and on, and if you can only get minimum wage work, and perhaps that on a casual basis, life becomes a drag. If you are bringing up children, trying to be upbeat, assist them with schoolwork and ensure that they can have the equipment to undertake optional interests, sport music, computers, photography so they can learn and develop their interests and talent in ways that are productive and creative and not have them sinking to self destructive activity is not recognised and honoured. When one teenager’s Japanese class decided to visit Japan I made the decision not to try and raise the thousands needed to go. Cinderella going to the ball thing. At midnight she had to return and in the same situation. Foreign travel was where I drew the line on my effort to give a wide education. Fair enough one might say. But I don’t think anyone else in the class was prevented from going by poverty. To me it wasn’t important, but just another thing that I and my children couldn’t hope to share in.
PS – Both my children are really great people, warm, friendly, responsible, working at demanding jobs, capable, knowledgable good citizens and a credit to themselves – I only helped with the groundwork and tried to direct them along the right paths, and then supported them in their choices. Which turned out successfully. It would have been less stressful for us all if there had been more family assistance though, willing help when occasionally needed not distaste for someone struggling.
Hospitals and courts on hit list for semi-privatisation to foreign multinationals.
Police next, no doubt. A private corporate police force, how charming. Reminds me of Robocop.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4651480/Hospitals-courts-on-partnerships-list
And who did he mention this to?
There was an item on Chris Laidlaw Radionz this morning on free market economics, Keynesian, PPPs and how they just spread the payment of government assets over a longer period – just putting the exchange of cash in a different part of the balance sheet I think. And no doubt paying extra embedded costs along the way.
Radionz news announced academic criticism of cuts to back office government functions.
NB That academic was David Hall in his discussion with Chris Laidlaw referred to above.
Sounds like the Russian model. Hand over control of state assets to a few oligarch’s. who knows one day we coul have NZers owning Premier League Football franchises just like the Russians. Sounds like a few iwi would not mind being involved too.
No doubt Boris Yelstin’s supporters got a tractor factory or two for supporting him in the 1991 coup.
Now the Iwi elite are going to walk away with hydro dams and national parks.
Easy, much more affordable way to “release capital” for government spending – increase taxes especially on those who already have more than enough.
Glenn Beck / Fox News expects Mubarak’s Fall to Mean Chinese Take Over of Australia/NZ
Yeah I do not get it either.
WTF? What was Beck doing in that robe with the Gandalf staff? Even crazier than normal for him. About time he was outed for a sex scandal methinks. You so know he’s packing some pent up homo feelings.
LOL Tigger, maybe it’s a leftover dirty KKK ghosty uniform.
sex scandal? well there was DidGlennBeckRapeandMurderaYoungGirlin1990.com
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/glenn-beck-rape-murder-hoax
This morning on Sunday Morning: An interesting discussion (if Chris would only stop interrupting) especially regarding whether it is wise or not to cut Government spending during a recession.
“David Hall is the Director of the Public Services International Research Unit at the University of Greenwich in London. In the week that Prime Minister John Key said there was more to be done to make “government bureaucracy smaller and better” David Hall discusses the value of public services and the economic investment they need.”
Damn. Doesn’t seem to be a podcast for this?
What do you think the reasoning behind the Herald reporting that SBW has now embraced Islam?
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10705928
Isn’t SBW just becoming a distracting side-show?
As for his religious beliefs – who cares?
Okay, I am going to follow that link, but what I am asking myself as I looked at the newspaper headlines up at the dairy this morning was who the hell is SBW????
Oh, is he some kind of sports person?
Vicky
I can just imagine the talkback when the all blacks get beaten..
“too many bloody pansy muslims in the side, we need more King Country farmers..”
Some Funsunday reading for yall:
It’s the best round up I’ve seen of one* of the more interesting non-Egypt related stories of the week.
Skinny is: Security company guy is aiming to get a contract with either, or both, of Bank of America. Reckons he has found out the meatspace identity of the leaders of ‘anonymous’ and that he is going to:
sell this info to people, and
show what a clever clogs he is, and
win fame, glory and possibly riches through his awesome social media skillz based security work.
Unfortunately, anonymous ate this chump and spat out his innards all over teh internets.
I’m not a huge anonymous booster. It is what is and it’s fascinating, but this guy really doesn’t understand what that ‘it’ is. Nor does he understand Glenn Greenwald.
Nor is he secure.
‘Internet security ‘pro’ pisses off “anonymous”, lets them get STUXNET code”
= #PR.FAIL.All.Time.Champs
So that’s the skinny, these links contain the phat, including links to all the delicious innards that got spewed of someone who thinks he’s playing in the big leagues, but got chewed out by ‘anonymous’, who actively pretend to play in those leagues whilst throwing batteries from the stands for the lulz.
It’s, fascinating.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
*(the other best story is about some weird shit in Pakistan, involving death in the streets and a USian with multiple id’s being arrested and diplomatic blowout and who the fuck is this guy and why is he shooting people in the street and why are the USians so anxious about getting him home stateside pronto bloody quick; it’s a goody, but trust me this other shit is even better)
Wow!, Mr smarty and corporation gets rolled by kids. And the weirdness in Pakistan, one of their own, perhaps?.
Also, another wtf is going on, Luis Posada Carriles aka Latin America’s OBL.
And the moral of the story is… Do Not piss of Anonymous… But thats a given now if only Labour were half as good at politics as Anonymous are at showing their displeasure..
Interesting story on stuff:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/4651477/Intrigue-mounts-in-Epsom
It’s talking about a potential new centre-right party to stand in Epsom against National and Act, with John Banks saying he’s heard talk of the new party (but denies being involved).
Hang on to your hats folks!
‘…In the aftermath of that event, the U.S. industrial economy nearly reached its end several times between mid-September 2008 and mid-March 2009. If we assume a similar series of events in the wake of $140 oil between late May and late October, then western civilization could commit suicide between late July 2011 (two months after late May 2011…’
http://guymcpherson.com/2011/01/third-times-a-charm/
If you are able to, taking steps with home water tank systems, vegetable patches, solar water heating, etc. are all going to come in very very handy over the next few years. And make sure you have a reliable easy to maintain bicycle…
CV, can’t afford solar and would like to get a water tank but would have to settle for one for watering the garden. The vegetable garden will be expanded from the small patch it is now and have a bike but would love to own a Mamachari. A woman at the local supermarket had a really good imported second hand one and I couldn’t take my eyes off it.
John Key at Big Gay Out:
“He reminded the crowd that National had promised not to roll back any gay-rights policies and the Government had stuck to that promise. He also asked the crowd to consider voting for National this election. ”
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4651710/Goff-Key-speak-at-Big-Gay-Out
Vote for me and I won’t recriminalise homosexuality! Ambitious for gays clearly… This is the least friendly we’ve heard Key, not more ‘I’d let Brad Pitt pork me’ now…a definite run to the right in effect here.
I’ve been reading the updates on gaynz, and have been wondering about the right-leaning bias of whoever is doing the reports.
Even Stuff put more focus on Goff and the strong Labour contingent:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4651710/Goff-Key-speak-at-Big-Gay-Out
If you scroll down the gaynz updates, you can see Goff and other Labour MPs were out early. Then for a time there was this headline:
http://www.gaynz.com/articles/publish/2/article_9924.php
3.25: PM MOBBED ON PROGRESS THROUGH PARK
And it seems that a lot of the “mob” were mostly the media asking about non-GLBT issues:
As far as I can see NZ Herald isn’t interested. TV3 is going to do an item on the BGO, and has attached to it the condom poll which voted Key the sexiest polly. Who the frak did they poll for this?
That condom survey was done last year at the same time by memory. Not sure about the right bias of GayNZ. I know some of the people behind the scenes and they can be prickly to say the least. Would love them to come here and explain the whole ‘mobbed’ bs. And who the feck was wishing Key well? Their gay cards should be revoked and they should have to sit in the corner with the Maori Party.
I didn’t say that gaynz generally has a right wing bias. I haven’t noticed that. I was just talking about the writer of the updates. I said:
have been wondering about the right-leaning bias of whoever is doing the reports.
Alot of the new breed of young gay men that report for Gaynz.com are tories 🙂
we rark em up @ the forums
No idea no fucking idea @ all before law reform
Maybe they need to learn esp if Key and his idiots get back in cos sooner or later theyll run out of minorities to blame
On the topic of homosexuality, an openly gay man intends to run for the GOP presidential nomination.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/13/republicans-gay-rights-presidential-race
He probably wont succeed of course, and he is going to cop a lot of crap, but good luck to him.
Nats use EPA to de-protect Horokiri Stream
So, who else realised when it was announced that the Environmental Protection Agency was, as a matter of fact, actually the Business as Usual Protection Agency?
EPA – Environmental Production Agency?
Environment Phucking Agency?
I did, Draco.
It was vigourously promoted by Rodney Hide so it was obvious that it wasn’t about protecting the environment.
As far as I can tell the ultimate goal of it is to be an overarching body which supersedes any other agency with an interest in conservation, so when Rodney’s mates need to get around any pesky environmental protections they can go straight to the one-stop-shop and not have to mess around with Iwi, DoC, local bodies, the RMA or anyone else.
The irony is, that the Resource Management Act 1991 was devised by the Fourth Labour government (approved by a cabinet that included the likes of Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble and Ken Shirley, later to become ACT MP’s), and passed by the Fourth National government, approved by a caucus that included the likes of Upton, Luxton, Bradford, and Nick Smith.
From concept, to drafting to final enactment the whole thing was conceived, carried and delivered with the involvement of just about every single neo-liberal luminary who was in office during that period, from Bassett to Richardson.
It is a collective amnesia among the right that they are attacking a law that was passed under the watch of the neo-liberal right. By their heroes, no less
Oh, it wasn’t amnesia but their increasing understanding that the RMA was getting in the way of their rich mates to exploit our environment for their own benefit.
Phunny!
sigh…
In other words, THC in plant form or as an extract, will still be illegal. What won’t be illegal is if a pharmaceutical company buys THC from a government-licensed provider, puts it in a pill, receives the DEA’s stamp of approval, and sells it a price that will likely be far higher than the price of marijuana.
Sativirex has been made **avail here** but is not subsidised $300 approx a month and you gotta walk over mine field blindfolded to get it
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=126336&fm=psp,tst
This has really fucked me off
The line*John Key got up on stage and told the crowd National under his leadership has a strong record of standing up for gay rights.”
WTF
WHEN!?? WHAT?
And thousands DIDNT rush to meet him I assure you.MY mates told me so and they were there
Lying piece of shit
Did they show the video of Key prancing along like a moron.
I shall ask
😛
As I understand it JK’s strong on Gay rights* was that he hadn’t rolled back any that Labour had actually put in place.
* He has, obviously, rolled back other rights like worker rights.
Iranian authorities are blocking web searches, apparently to prevent the spread of a call to protest on the 25th day of Bahman or Monday the 14th of February.
Bomer’s War on News
Bloody good this week.
Loved the bit where Bomber basically says – Hey Cameron Slater, remember you work for the people of Auckland, not the National Party in Wellington!
ROFLMAO
Yeah that was a good one DTB
Heh I think I might have meant cameron brewer there lol 😛
Draco, didn’t know this existed – thank you. This will be a weekly staple from now on.
Anti-spam: marks, as in full
Being able to watch Stratos and bomber is reason we had tio get freeview- how he dont end up bitch slappin slater is beyond me
he is very witty is the bomber and he is revered in this house