Reverse Robin hood

26 comments on “Reverse Robin hood ”

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1. mickysavage 1

   15 August 2009 at 9:08 am

   This is really appalling. Another example of spin and subterfuge where we are given the impression that something good is happening but the reality is there is a transfer from poor to rich and a cut for the poor.

   The beehive release (http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/kiwisport+initiative+good+young+people) states

   “This funding boost will increase the opportunities for young Kiwis to get involved in sport. The Government wants to see more Kiwi kids participating in sport so that they get the health and lifestyle benefits of better physical fitness, as well as the chance to be part of a team, find mentors, gain a taste for competition and winning, and get more involved in their communities.”

   I guess it does only if you ignore the bottom half of the population.
2. IrishBill 2

   15 August 2009 at 10:37 am

   gain a taste for competition and winning?

   Perhaps they have no interested in the bottom half getting a taste for winning.
3. Eric C. 3

   15 August 2009 at 10:42 am

   That’s what happens when people vote for the Sheriff in Robin’s clothing.

   John Key is so nice.
4. Nicola 4

   15 August 2009 at 10:44 am

   Didn’t he pull funding from SPARC?
5. Ianmac 5

   15 August 2009 at 10:54 am

   “taste for competition and winning,” One of the disincentives for continuing in sport for young kids is the too early contact with competition. Of course you play to win. Not much point in not trying. But the managers/coaches get in on the competitive side and they see the implications of playing with their best team so that “we” win the whole competition. What happens to those who are not the best players? They drop out as soon as they can. Hence the huge number of kids who do not play sport. Cause and effect.
6. RedLogix 6

   15 August 2009 at 11:13 am

   New Zealand is in an inward looking, grasping mood; this sort of ‘reverse Robin Hood’ move actually improves John Key’s ratings.

   Yes most people might give a slight lip service to fairness and equity, but under the bonnet there is a totemic attachment to ‘rich man’ Key. It’s the same thing that drives sport fans who feel good when their team wins, and suffer a loss of mood and self-esteem when it looses. On a rational level it makes no sense, but one only has to look at the national madness called the All Blacks to realise how deeply this grips us. Most people derive their sense of self-worth from external clues, relatively few are able to self-actualise consistently on their own terms and values.

   Stories like this boost Key’s popularity because people want to feel that their leaders look like a ‘winners’, that they do ‘winner’ things. Deeply buried in most people at a primitive level is the sense that winners take all, that those who have will be given more, those without will be taken from. This is how our mammalian mind works, it is our evolutionary heritage.

   It is also why complex and advanced societies only develop and thrive when they are underpinned by a moral philosophy, potent and pervasive enough to moderate and develop our rational, human capacity for justice and equity.
   • mickysavage 6.1

     16 August 2009 at 9:14 pm

     Did you see tv3’s poll results tonight? I am struggling to come up with a rational meaning for this. Your comments are making, regrettably, some sense.
     • RedLogix 6.1.1

       16 August 2009 at 9:37 pm

       Sorry micky. But this is the generation raised on the amoral values of talkback radio, reality TV and the ‘free market’.

       They will gorge on the bitterness before they spew it up.
7. TightyRighty 7

   15 August 2009 at 11:15 am

   what a bunch of whiners. so we have the lardass lovers from the obesity action coalition telling us the only the fatsos can lose weight is to read stuff online and get educated by watching tv. then we have IB saying this is just a sneaky way of helping out high-decile schools at the expense of low decile schools based on some back of the envelope calculation by a principal in papatoetoe. then Ianmac parroting the “competition is bad” line. and the country wonders why we can’t cut it on the world stage. that principal wouldn’t be one of the ones afraid of league tables would he IB?
   • Eddie 7.1

     15 August 2009 at 11:27 am

     wow, really trying to cram all the lines in there, tighty

     but I think the main point you’re making is you think it’s a lie that Key has taken money from poor schools to rich ones. Well, that’s what the experts are saying, you got any counter evidence? Or just bluster?
     • TightyRighty 7.1.1

       15 August 2009 at 11:52 am

       being a principal in papatoetoe does not an expert make eddie, nor does it qualify for the term experts. the policy has just been announced, shouldn’t we give it a bit of time before deciding it’s a failure or a reverse robin hood attempt? what else is Working for families if not a robin hood attempt on the incomes of GLBT’s and peoples whose life choice is to not have children?
       • IrishBill 7.1.1.1

         15 August 2009 at 12:00 pm

         Tighty, the principal is effectively the GM of the school. He’s he one who oversees the budget and has ultimate responsibility for the accounts. I’ll take his word on the dollars over yours any day.

         Rather than try to smear the messenger why not just admit that your preference is that the poor can go fuck themselves? You’re a selfish right-wing prick and you should embrace that fact. You almost got there with the second half of your statement. You need to stop living in denial and shame.
         • TightyRighty 7.1.1.1.1

           15 August 2009 at 12:08 pm

           “rather than smear the messenger why not just admit that your preference is that the poor can go fuck themselves?” nice one IB, smearing the messenger is only when i do it, right? you rabid piece of socialist dung, my problem is that i feel i pay too much tax to support to support to little being done. if you don’t like the way i think fine, but don’t expect me to agree with your positions, just because some principal in papatoetoe is mouthing the words you want to hear. i know what a principal is douche bag, i know what they do. all im saying is to let the policy work for a little while rather than rabidly attacking it. how many people are now not obese because of your precious labour ex-governments obesity education programs? nobody could tell you that, though the proof is in the pudding with old horomia. he can’t even toe that party line.

           Oh, I live with a sense of pride that i go out, earn my crust, grow my business, and pay my tax. Denial and shame never even enter my thoughts, as i have to many things to be thankful for. there is no way i would ever deny or feel shame for them. you may want to, and you can live that way for all i care, but i won’t. dick
           • bobbity 7.1.1.1.1.1

             15 August 2009 at 12:40 pm

             Reading what the principal at Papatoetoe said I must admit a WTF moment.

             “Papatoetoe High which is decile 3…used the money to employ a sports co-ordinator and a sports administrator who were invaluable”

             I’m sure they were and I’m sure they did a good job but how many decile 7-10 schools have funding for a sports administrator and sports coordinator ?

             I really don’t care how the money is split up as long as we get as many kids into sports as possible, everyone tends to forget the real unsung heroes of NZ sport – the parents and club members that are out there every week training, refereeing and fund raising for kids – and never expect a cent from anyone. These people come from all walks of life and don’t give a fuck about the petty left/right politics espoused on this and similar blogs.
           • IrishBill 7.1.1.1.1.2

             15 August 2009 at 1:04 pm

             Fair enough, I was a bit abusive. Shouldn’t blog on a hang-over. Nice to see you can give it back though.

             Let me be very clear on one point you make. I don’t want to hear that low-decile schools are having cash taken off them. That’s just wrong.
           • TightyRighty 7.1.1.1.1.3

             15 August 2009 at 1:12 pm

             To IB above. Fair enough too. I don’t think anybody does does. Unfotunately for you this policy is only a few days old, so the screams of “poor bashing” just don’t wash yet. all im saying is, give it a chance, and if your right in six months, then hats off to you.
           • mickysavage 7.1.1.1.1.4

             15 August 2009 at 2:48 pm

             It seems the policy direction is crystal clear. The funding formula is based on a grant per pupil. No allowance for the deprivation index is being made. A student of Kings College is deemed to require just as much support as one attending Aorere college.

             This may be “fair” in the view of some but all it does is sabotage existing programs and it means that poorer schools will get less.

             It is not rocket science. I do not see the need for the venom in some of these posts.
           • bobbity 7.1.1.1.1.5

             15 August 2009 at 4:43 pm

             “I don’t want to hear that low-decile schools are having cash taken off them. That’s just wrong.”

             But it’s OK that medium or higher decile schools are funded less per pupil than lower decile schools ? Why ?

             “A student of Kings College is deemed to require just as much support as one attending Aorere college.”

             Leaving aside the fact that Kings is private why would a student at a high decile school not require as much support as one attending a low decile school ?

             Let me be very clear – I don’t give a fuck how the money is divided up as long as we get as many kids into sports as possible – I would suggest that achieving this has more to do with parental support and peer pressure than any activities by the government of the day.
   • BLiP 7.2

     15 August 2009 at 12:12 pm

     Classic National Inc tactic to avoid the issue – attack the messenger.
8. djp 8

   15 August 2009 at 11:30 am

   “It’s like watching Robin Hood in reverse.”

   I wish.. that would entail returning stolen property
9. ghostwhowalks 9

   15 August 2009 at 11:57 am

   What concerns me the most is the line that the money ‘came from other campaigns’.

   Yet as the report says “nearly all the secondary school money comes from an existing $5.3 million annual grant, which pays for sports co-ordinators”

   So he ( actually its Tolley but the newspaper needs the shorter headline) does the reverse Robin Hood but also gets the Sheriff to do it for him.

   But dont hold your breath for some sharp questions at the post cabinet meeting press conference, there will be a new round of repackaged proposals probably from Ryall who is appearing on Q+A.
10. henry olongo 10

    15 August 2009 at 1:22 pm

    This is a crappy policy. Monkeys (no pun intended) like Tightywearinrighty will ape the party line about competition but this policy will just reinforce what is already in place in terms of inequality. Will corporate media jump all over this one? No fuckin way it’s a googly which tightywearinrighty tried 2 play to cover. Tickets please!
    • TightyRighty 10.1

      15 August 2009 at 2:49 pm

      nice one henry, you think this is about competition? no this is about lardass kids now being able to participate further in sport at school. but it’s crappy according to you with no reference to why or how it could be improved. why don’t you just take your monkey insults and run back to the trees with them, your obviously bananas.
      • Tigger 10.1.1

        15 August 2009 at 10:32 pm

        TR – wow, you’re really down on those who are a little weighty than average – if you want to point fingers at lardasses then you really need to start with Key…
        • TightyRighty 10.1.1.1

          18 August 2009 at 4:17 pm

          or Gerry Brownlee, or Annette King, or Michael Cullen, or Shane Jones, or Paula Bennett. whatever, it’s about the kids tugger
      • mickysavage 10.1.2

        16 August 2009 at 9:18 pm

        This talk about the left being anti competition is a load of bollox. Many of us prefer winning, especially in politics, it is just that instead of celebrating the fancy halfback all of the time we think the hard working prop should also be celebrated.

        The right’s talk about “winners and losers” has nothing to do with a team doing well, it is all about individuals in the team being rewarded disproportionately, even though the other members of the team deserve just as much respect.

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