The shame of homelessness

Written By: - Date published: 8:04 am, January 18th, 2017 - 54 comments
Categories: class war, housing, national, racism, useless - Tags: , , , ,

A rich old white idiot, who would only be amused at our anger, has vented about the homeless, in a piece that shouldn’t be rewarded with our clicks.

Businessman Sir Bob Jones wants begging made illegal, saying homeless people are mostly fat and a disgrace to society.

“They’re a bloody disgrace, they’re an eyesore, it’s a disgrace in a modern society that fat people – that fat Maoris as they mostly are – are lying on our streets of our city begging.”

It is true that homelessness is a disgrace.

It is a disgrace to our society which allows it, and our government which is causing it to worsen.

 

edited for clarity and accuracy – Bob Jones didn’t actually make any mention of homelessness. He was ranting about begging and beggars.

54 comments on “The shame of homelessness ”

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  1. Paul 1
    18 January 2017 at 8:12 am

    If you needed any more proof that neo-liberals are psychopaths.
    And they knight people like Jones and Talley.

    By the way, see ZB have taken down the audio of Jones talks with Chris Lynch.

    • mary_a 1.1
      18 January 2017 at 8:32 am

      @ Paul (1) …

      I read the article and was appalled by Bob Jones’ racist and extremely bigoted comments. He’s an absolute disgraceful excuse for a human being! A true low life.

      “By the way, see ZB have taken down the audio of Jones talks with Chris Lynch.”

      Now I wonder why that was? Didn’t want to be held responsible for promoting outright bigotry obviously!

      Jones is as ignorant as they come. You only have to look at the way he uses the word Maori in the plural sense in the article. Jones calls collective Maori “Maoris”, when the word Maori is both singular and plural. He knows nothing. Just a disgusting filthy rich, racist, bigoted, misogynistic, old white prick! A sad man in fact.

      Bob Jones. A home grown Donald Trump.

      • michelle 1.1.1
        18 January 2017 at 10:15 am

        yes and we have many just like him Mary – a in our country pity we couldn’t put them all on a ship like they came on and send them back to their motherland

        • Liminal 1.1.1.1
          21 January 2017 at 11:35 am

          Just who is “they”, Michelle? Recent immigrants or New Zealanders with several generations behind them here? Is it one “motherland” (I can guess to what you are referring) or is it “motherlands”? More clarity please.

      • Peter chch 1.1.2
        18 January 2017 at 6:11 pm

        Try reading your own post. Your rants about a shrill combination of ageist and racist and a whole lot of other words ending in ‘ist’
        Or do you think these evils are OK so long as you adopt apatronizing sneer? Pathetic.

  2. Brutus Iscariot 2
    18 January 2017 at 8:31 am

    Some nefarious editing there by the Herald.

    Jones’ actual words state begging is the disgrace, not homelessness.

    They are clearly distinct phenomena, as seen in the scandals revealing “professional begging” lately in multiple urban centres of New Zealand.

    • Molly 2.1
      18 January 2017 at 10:35 am

      There is a failure to understand that even if “professional begging” was endemic, it would be unable to operate in a country where everyone knew that we lived in a country where support systems were robust and universally available.

      Both homelessness – and begging (from genuine need or otherwise) – exist because we have allowed them to develop, by ignoring fundamental requirements of living and voting in governments that have taken this lack of values as an excuse to not effectively deal with the situations that cause both these occurrences.

  3. NZJester 3
    18 January 2017 at 8:33 am

    (Tittle left out on purpose) Bob Jones is a disgrace. The only fat looking homeless you see are those that have stuffed their clothing with paper from the bins for insulation against the cold.

  4. Glenn 4
    18 January 2017 at 8:53 am

    Senile old man felt left out, the the Mad Butcher had been getting all the attention, so dreamed up something he could use for sound bites.

  5. Ethica 5
    18 January 2017 at 8:57 am

    Bob Jones grew up in the then new state housing areas of the Hutt Valley. The first Labour government had been addressing homelessness by building whole suburbs of quality houses with affordable rent for families like his. Ironic that he too has forgotten his own history.

    • Paul 5.1
      18 January 2017 at 9:04 am

      Like Key and Hosking.

    • Brutus Iscariot 5.2
      18 January 2017 at 9:21 am

      The message is that people back in the days had more dignity. They wouldn’t take a state house AND beg professionally.

      I reckon no more than 25% of beggars are genuine.

      • Molly 5.2.1
        18 January 2017 at 10:37 am

        “I reckon no more than 25% of beggars are genuine.”
        And how many more do you reckon, are quietly suffering and in distress without being visible?

        (And why do you think your arbitrary reckoning is of value in this discussion? )

      • McFlock 5.2.2
        18 January 2017 at 3:57 pm

        I dunno what makes you look like more of a prick: that you pretend to know the circumstances of all the beggars you see, or that your casual reference suggests that 25% of the current number of beggars is an acceptable product of the dismantling of our welfare state.

  6. greywarshark 6
    18 January 2017 at 9:04 am

    Glenn
    Very amusing probably true.
    I looked on google to get info on how old he is – born 1939. So not ripe for alzheimers stats yet, more likely after 80. But true to form, a real neo lib.

    He definitely doesn’t fit with googles background on a past Robert Jones who was knighted for doing something good and useful to humanity.
    Sir Robert Jones, 1st Baronet, KBE, CB, TD, FRCS (28 June 1857 – 14 January 1933) was a Welsh orthopaedic surgeon who helped to establish the modern specialty of orthopaedic surgery in Britain.

    And then there is an intriguing heading –
    The Obituary of Sir Robert Jones, died April 1, 2134. – Metro
    http://www.noted.co.nz/…/the-obituary-of-sir-robert-jones-died-april-1-2134/
    Dec 17, 2013 – Sir Robert Jones, the world’s oldest man, is dead. … Born middle-aged, Jones was teased at school for wearing a smoking jacket and pipe, but …
    A nice bit of satire from Metro.

    A shy fellow, Jones was happiest alone in the Tongariro River tickling trout, emerging from time to time to present his cherished beliefs about sunglasses, grey shoes, cellphones and unattractive feminists.

  7. Paul 7
    18 January 2017 at 9:38 am

    Bomber reminds us of another Herald article where Bob Jones boasted about goading a fellow citizen into suicide…

    This sort of (always male) behaviour is a regular occurrence in the capital. In the 1980s when long-overdue reforms saw the closure of some isolated, scarcely used post offices, a Nelson region goose turned up in a park opposite my office, surrounded by the standard litter of signs, asserting he was starving to death in protest. I bowled across and nailed him with some impeccable logic. “Why starve to death?” I suggested. “Why not get it over with quickly and commit suicide?” So he did.

    One of my daughters working, or more accurately, attending in our office at the time was appalled. “Don’t you feel bad?” she asked me. “To the contrary,” I replied. “Anyone who values their life on the existence of a country post office plainly hasn’t got one. I did him a wonderful favour.”

    …so we have a newspaper who won’t acknowledge their own roll in empowering a sadist who goads beggars into suicide and a radio station that gives a sadist who goads bedders into suicide.

    And yet these corporate mainstream media outlets will scream they are the ethical journalism.

  8. Whispering Kate 8
    18 January 2017 at 10:07 am

    Be sorry for the man, he is half way demented and should have carers watching out for moments like this. Its probably what he has thought all of his life but he now doesn’t have the capacity to keep his mouth shut. He’s got it all wrong, there are heaps around just like him, bigoted demented old men and they’re the ones who are a disgrace. He had a stoush on a plane recently – typical symptoms of mental illness.

    • weka 8.1
      18 January 2017 at 10:38 am

      Are you saying that Jones has a diagnosis of dementia?

      • Anno1701 8.1.1
        18 January 2017 at 10:40 am

        do you think an ego this size would ever accept a diagnosis like that ?

        let alone tell anyone about it

        • weka 8.1.1.1
          18 January 2017 at 10:48 am

          I’m asking because some people here are actively engaging in ageism and I wanted to check first if that was what WK is doing of if Jones really does have dementia. i.e. what is in the public domain.

          • Sam C 8.1.1.1.1
            18 January 2017 at 12:03 pm

            of course he hasn’t got dementia. WK just likes to poke fun at mental illness.

          • Whispering Kate 8.1.1.1.2
            18 January 2017 at 2:01 pm

            Weka – I am proposing that he is unstable – has a sense of entitlement and obviously is not purporting himself in a sane way – he is making a fool of himself in the public arena. Many people who disrupt flights or create mayhem in public places are slightly unhinged, and why not – he is elderly – 70+ and quite in the age bracket to have some senility happening in his brain. I am not knocking aging – this is just facing reality – many elderly people wander about and get into trouble – isn’t that what he is doing. Even the rich and well known become mentally unbalanced – Ronald Reagan comes to mind. They usually get shut away out of public’s way – I can’t see this man doing this any time soon. Somebody said that he wasn’t in the stats for Alzeheimers – he may not be but I know of people in their early sixties who have been given an Alzheimer diagnosis.

            Being kind to him I would say he is eccentric in a dangerous way – hate speech being one of his eccentricities.

    • greywarshark 8.2
      18 January 2017 at 10:48 am

      Whispering kate
      Another wealthy man who drowned in his own spittle, so to speak. Ruined by his wealth and committed to himself first and foremost, he found in the end that he was empty, just full of hubris and drugs – couldn’t find any value in himself at all. Howard Hughes, rich guy forever seeking, never finding satisfaction, contentment, and his own enjoyment of just being human and life.

      http://frontierpsychiatrist.co.uk/psychiatric-disorders-of-the-rich-and-famous-1-howard-hughes/

  9. michelle 9
    18 January 2017 at 10:22 am

    If he is so demented he is not fit to comment on ZB he needs to shut his big fat trap how many kids does Mr Judgmental have to how many different women. I knew his cleaner and she wasn’t just cleaning the house she has a son to the idiot. And his gardener apparently poisoned his plants at his Hutt valley residence this went to court he was a laughing stock here . Many Hutt Valley people(where he use to live) cant stand the prick hence why he now lives in Australia.

  10. Whispering Kate 10
    18 January 2017 at 10:26 am

    If it was ZB then I can understand that – they are just a right wing click bait station and people with a healthy mind do not tune into them. If it was any one of their talk back hosts who did the interviewing its no surprise at all – all bigoted old men and needing meds on a daily basis.

  11. Anno1701 11
    18 January 2017 at 10:38 am

    If he wasnt so stinking rich old Bob would be in a care home with all the other dementia riddled pensioners

    senile and irrelevant sums it up pretty well IMO

  12. weka 12
    18 January 2017 at 10:42 am

    You know if we are going to object to prejudice against Māori, large people and homeless people, how about we don’t then be prejudicial against old people?

    • Trey 12.1
      18 January 2017 at 11:19 am

      Thaks Weka. As someone with a mother that is a “dementia riddled pensioner” and who has lived with mental illness myself can I add don’t be prejudicial to people with mental illness to your old people comment.
      Bob Jones represents everything that is wrong with this country and his age has nothing to do with it as he has been racist and myisogynist prick for at least the last 50 years.

      • AB 12.1.1
        18 January 2017 at 1:11 pm

        Yep. No evidence that Bob Jones has dementia and it lets him off too lightly by making that diagnosis. He has held loathsome opinions ever since he was a relatively young man.
        Dementia is a serious clinical condition that causes suffering and distress in families. Bob Jones is just a thoroughly nasty, though occasionally amusing, narcissist. Best way to rile him is to say what a great writer his brother Lloyd is, and in contrast how rubbish Bob is as a writer.

  13. Andre 13
    18 January 2017 at 10:42 am

    Seeing poor people may actually reduce empathy for poor people and reduce support for increasing taxes on the wealthy. That’s a particularly vicious self-reinforcing spiral. If this study is accurate.

    http://arstechnica.com/science/2017/01/encounters-with-poor-people-reduce-support-for-taxes-on-the-rich/

  14. Draco T Bastard 14
    18 January 2017 at 10:51 am

    It is a disgrace to our society which allows it, and our government which is causing it to worsen.

    Our system is designed to make the majority of people poor so that a few can be very rich. To get rid of that disgrace that you mention requires getting rid of the present system.

    • tc 14.1
      18 January 2017 at 11:22 am

      Which is why the theme of ‘its the best we can do’ is being pushed by the MSM shills backing national.

  15. weka 15
    18 January 2017 at 11:03 am

    Of the first 25 posts in this thread, 5 of them are directly bigoted against old people. As far as I can tell, they’re all from left wingers. Which is ironic seeing as how NZ’s iconic, RW, epitome of selfishness bastard is being criticised for being a bigot.

    Rather than going in and moderating, I’m letting them stand and adding this question instead.

    Why is it ok to be bigoted towards old people?

    Next question,

    Why is it ok to be express class bigotry (in this case ageism) towards people we don’t like or people whose politics we oppose or people whose behaviour we abhor?

    • Bill 15.1
      18 January 2017 at 11:19 am

      The post itself begins with the words “Rich old white idiot…which is kind of endorsing and inviting such commentary. But you’re point’s well made nonetheless.

      Also. From memory, Bob Jones didn’t actually say anything about homelessness. He was banging on about beggars.

      Listening for mention of homelessness in the interview now. Nothing.

      The story is that the same old myth about rich beggars is doing the fucking rounds again.

      And I’m quietly walking away now….

      • weka 15.1.1
        18 January 2017 at 11:25 am

        I thought about that first sentence too. Rich, old, white and idiot are descriptors (three of which are factual). Whether or not it was wise to start a post with them, I still think that’s different than using made up mental health diagnoses to attack old people we don’t like. Or to say that there is something wrong with being old.

        Unless Jones actually has dementia (which would then also be a descriptor) but even then I’d expect to see that done with some regard for not promoting stigmatisation of people with dementia.

        I really don’t get this thing on the left of why it’s ok to be bigoted towards people we don’t like. Isn’t that what Jones is doing?

        • Bill 15.1.1.1
          18 January 2017 at 11:40 am

          I don’t even know about the ‘old’ bit. I’ve an aunty pushing 80 years. She ain’t old and despises old people – ie, she sees it as a psychological state rather than a physical one. A valid and useful perspective to my way of thinking.

          We’ve all come across the “40 going on 80” or “60 going on 20” descriptions of people.

          Consigning (and generally dismissing) people by their wrinkles is just a fucking nonsense.

        • Brutus Iscariot 15.1.1.2
          18 January 2017 at 12:38 pm

          I am thankful for your earlier comment re: his potential age issues. But Fat and Maori are also factual descriptors (although i think he really meant “brown” as he’s unable to distinguish different non-white ethnic groups).

          Anyway, a reasonable proportion of downtown Auckland’s beggars seem to be white.

      • AsleepWhileWalking 15.1.2
        19 January 2017 at 11:13 am

        He seemed to have difficulty accepting that people who are homeless are not necessarily beggars, and vice versa. Easily done when you are divorced from reality.

        The fact is there are a growing number of homeless in NZ, many (I would say most but that’s just a guess) are not begging.

    • Whispering Kate 15.2
      18 January 2017 at 2:08 pm

      I was referring to the talk back hosts on ZB – they are mainly old white bigoted men – sorry Weka but that’s the truth of it – of course the majority of old people are not bigoted – I am just calling it as I see it. Aren’t you being just a tad sensitive about this?
      And by the way I am no spring chicken but I know a bigot when I meet or hear them spout off.

    • Bob 15.3
      18 January 2017 at 2:19 pm

      “Which is ironic seeing as how NZ’s iconic, RW, epitome of selfishness bastard is being criticised for being a bigot.”
      Citation for him being RW?
      He is a libertarian, but has also voted Labour for 7 of the last 10 elections, so unless you are going to class other Labour supporters as right wing also…

  16. weka 16
    18 January 2017 at 11:35 am

    Good grief, don’t look at the ‘poll’ on the Herald about whether begging should be illegal.

  17. Bob 17
    18 January 2017 at 2:01 pm

    With comments like these, I am assuming that the Labour MP’s that Bob Jones donates too at election time will be turning down donations this year on principle?
    http://www.nzherald.co.nz/politics/news/article.cfm?c_id=280&objectid=11317510
    “But while I’ve given financial support to Labour MP friends, I certainly don’t want to see a change of government.”

    • red-blooded 17.1
      18 January 2017 at 2:54 pm

      Are you under the impression that the people commenting on this site are Labour Party MPs, Bob? Have a closer look – some of the strongest vitriol is frequently directed towards Labour. Unfortunate in my view – but then my view is not the view of everyone who comments.

      Perhaps you thought this was a Labour Party site..? TS has been making it clear for years that this is not the case.

      • Bob 17.1.1
        19 January 2017 at 12:16 pm

        I am under the impression that there are people on this site that have close links to Labour MP’s and the Labour Party (MickeySavage, Colonial Viper (maybe not CV so much anymore…) etc) which is why I made the comment here.
        I am fairly sure that I didn’t make any statement about TS being a Labour Party site…but this is a Left Wing site that is based on the broad Labour Movement (https://thestandard.org.nz/about/) so I felt this would be a good forum to remind people here that Bob Jones is a supporter of the Labour Movement, and more specifically Labour Party MP’s. If people are constantly outraged by Bob Jones’ comments (it seems to be an almost weekly phenomenon here), perhaps those that are aligned to the Labour Party might want to vent their frustrations with those that accept money from “NZ’s iconic, RW, epitome of selfishness bastard” as Weka so inaccurately but eloquently put it.

  18. Adrian 18
    18 January 2017 at 2:01 pm

    Fair amount of vitriol levelled at Jones doing his usual windup and some of it pretty unfair particularily about being a state house boy who has forgotten where he came from.
    Jones is apparently one of the biggest donators to Women’s Refuge and various other causes for the less fortunate, which is not something he has advertised but it came from third parties some time ago but I can’t remember where or when.

  19. Brian 19
    18 January 2017 at 3:28 pm

    Odious man.

  20. Carolyn_nth 20
    18 January 2017 at 5:51 pm

    Frak me! In the middle of this NZH page with beggars responding to Jones, there’s an ad asking people to compare home loans, by amount, type and location!

  21. Red Hand 21
    18 January 2017 at 7:26 pm

    I don’t like to hear about Bob Jones getting so upset and angry. Hopefully it won’t be too much for him. A short wick must be hard to live with.

  22. Mrs Brillo 22
    18 January 2017 at 8:06 pm

    One of the many advantages of being old, as I am, is that memory covers so much.

    I have a clear memory of listening to Morning Report the day after the 1987 stockmarket crash. The value of the shares in Bob Jones’s company had sunk like a stone overnight, and there was Jones, all bluster and bullshit, trying his damnedest to talk up the value of his company.

    The note of panic in his voice reminded me of … what was it?
    Professional begging?

  23. Glenn 23
    18 January 2017 at 10:53 pm

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand_Party

    “. Once in power, the Labour Party (prompted by Finance Minister Roger Douglas) actually adopted many of the New Zealand Party’s economic policies, much to the resentment of traditional Labour supporters; indeed, Douglas even wanted a flat tax, but was stymied by the Labour Prime Minister David Lange. Shortly after the election, the National Party dropped Robert Muldoon as leader, and eventually came to embrace free market economics as well.

    After the election, the New Zealand Party quickly deteriorated as a significant political force. Jones, his primary objective of ending the Muldoon government having been accomplished, and disappointed by the Party’s electoral performance in the 1985 Timaru by-election, unilaterally made a decision to put the Party into recess. He later said that with the “Rogernomics” reforms being undertaken by the new administration, he considered his party to be redundant”

    33 years of neolib shit. You’re to blame for todays beggars.. Thank you Sir Robert!

  24. Tanz 24
    19 January 2017 at 2:09 pm

    hope he ends up on the streets, though not very likely. He could help the homeless, but as with Key, not one shred of empathy.