Envirologue: What has Neoliberalism Done for You Lately?
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I want this book.
http://www.bwb.co.nz/books/ruth-roger-and-me
Great interview with the author on Natrad this morning.
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TPPA - get informed in Cchch
Jane Kelsey One Night Only At The Cardboard Cathedral!
7pm – Sunday, May 3rd
Cardboard Cathedral, Latimer Square (south-east end).https://www.facebook.com/events/834805423267108/
Professor Jane Kelsey, Faculty of Law at Auckland University, will update us on the ramifications of the TPPA (Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement) and what difference we can make.
The TPPA is a Trojan Horse – a corporate wish list masquerading as a Free Trade Agreement. It has far reaching ramifications on our ability to make laws to protect the health of New Zealanders, our environment, and could allow corporations to sue our government.
http://www.itsourfuture.org.nz/what-is-the-tppa/
Jane is active internationally as a researcher, analyst, adviser and media commentator on globalisation, especially the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, trade in services, and investment agreements.
She is one of the driving force behind the It’s Our Future movement critiquing the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement.Tell your friends and networks anyone who thinks that the TPPA is a good idea.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
I'm glad to hear that. I hope it gets sorted in a timely manner.
Come to think of it, if there's only one thing I need a crowdfund for, it's retraining for a career change before the industry I currently work in goes the way of the TV repairman. Those newly formed IT boot camps look interesting, but the founders have given up on getting NZQA approval, so no Studylink assistance available. I was looking at part-time study but because of minimum EFTS requirements, to get any Studylink assistance effectively means quitting my job, which I can't afford to do yet.
I've ruled out full-time traditional tertiary ed, if I'm only going to end up a serial dropout for a 4th time - and besides I've found that it's devolved from a public good to a perishable good (ie, bums on seats). ICT apprenticeships don't exist yet (Prostetnic Vogon Joyce thinks they're a solution looking for a problem), and as it stands it's far easier for ICT employers to recruit already-skilled people from overseas. WINZ has basically told me I'm overqualified for the jobs they offer, and it seems Workbridge and Emerge have put me into the too-hard basket.
Long story short: there's a skill shortage in the ICT sector, but the career ladder is missing all the rungs at the bottom. I'm still on the bottom rung of the ladder and it's looking ready to fall off without warning. I've come to the conclusion that I'm too ASD/ADD/PDD for a traditional classroom environment, and best suited to an apprenticeship or otherwise on-the-job training approach. The catch is that it's fundamentally a social compact like the post-WW2 GI Bill in America, and social compacts aren't at all cheap.
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andin, in reply to
social compacts aren’t at all cheap.
when those in power have no conscience, they put on the appearance of fretting about the cost of social contracts. As the cost is all that matters.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
when those in power have no conscience, they put on the appearance of fretting about the cost of social contracts. As the cost is all that matters.
Which brings us back to an earlier point I made: that it's far easier for companies to hire people from overseas instead of training people like me up. And sadly it's not just a NZ issue either. The skills shortage we read about in the news is really a skills under-investment, especially for those who aren't suited for university/polytech ed.
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Sacha, in reply to
The skills shortage we read about in the news is really a skills under-investment
Our businesses have got away with that for decades, just like their under-investment in R&D. Take more profit for themselves as dividends and high exec salaries instead. Expect government to pick up the slack for them with public funds. Lazy and immoral.
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Kumara Republic, in reply to
Andrew Dean nails it in his new book Ruth, Roger and Me.
Take student loans. They are celebrated as having opened up education to more people, but Dean writes: "A significant proportion of the growth in tertiary education over the last twenty years has come in areas that were once uncredentialised, or for which the skills were learnt on the job with the costs paid by the employer, rather than borne by the student-employee."
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Sacha, in reply to
Andrew Dean nails it in his new book Ruth, Roger and Me
I want to read that. What's your take?
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
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Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Cartoons inspired by fairytales....
A whole new genre?
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