Up Front: Cui bono?
128 Responses
First ←Older Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 Newer→ Last
-
Emma...fucking awesome and very timely post....trust your health is stable. :-)
Peter and I were chatting to an Welsh fellow in the Far North a couple of weeks ago. He was on his way to some conference and was going to talk about workplace bullying and discrimination towards minorities...especially those with disabilities.
He spoke about ATOS and the work testing system...and the high rate of suicides among those living with disability and those struggling with illness.
He was idling under the illusion that all was rosy for this group of people here in Godzone.
He had no idea that Kiwis had NO legislated entitlement to health and disability care and support.
Because it was on the radio that day, he had heard that we have 'issues' with mental health services.
He had no idea that our government set aside over ten years of legal wrangling, making discrimination towards those with disabilities legal...and passed legislation denying those people any further access to the Human Rights Commission or the Courts.
He had NO idea that here in Godzone we have a two tier system for supporting those with long term impairments....ACC and MOH. The privileged and the scum.
He had no idea that OUR suicide rate is a world beater.
In the short amount of time available, I made a valiant attempt to enlighten him.
To be perfectly honest...I'm completely fucking over this.
-
Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
I dread the future,
Mate...methinks the future is the now.
-
Joe Wylie, in reply to
Mate...methinks the future is the now.
Hey I remember that future:
The future is now, but it's all going wrong
Bodies queue for nothing, but it's to nothing they belong
People say prayers and some work hard
If you give them all your money, they'll give you their hearts
This town ain't getting like a ghost town
It's getting like hell...Oh, what a perfect day
To think about my silly self
My feet are firmly screwed to the floor
What is there to fear from such a regular world?The The - Perfect, 1982
-
It's all about the votes. Voting is dominated by a very wealthy party, very well off, no sweat on campaigning $.
-
Yes and no Tom. Certainly our present system favours those with the means and the morals which permit them to manipulate the public into voting for them. Those morals then allow further obfuscation and manipulation to put in place ideologies which would otherwise be unacceptable to most New Zealanders.
However, we have in our recent past also elected a party which then took actions which were contrary to what the citizenry expected of it (Rogernomics). Any party can do it.
Our present mechanisms of state fail to prevent any group which has the numbers from basically doing whatever it wants to do. We have no upper house. No senate. No effective head of state. No checks or balances. Our system ran on a sort of gentlemen's agreement. The gentlemen are gone, the agreement is gone and there is nothing to stop the thieves from ransacking the country. Which is happening under our noses. -
Tom Johnson, in reply to
They have Peter Dunne and the young man from ACT. They are the votes that create the majority for most of their visionless legislation.
-
Ian Dalziel, in reply to
Mate…methinks the future is the now.
Tomorrow never comes...
:- ) -
Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
(Might have to vote for Winston to ensure it is still there then, though)
At the moment he's trying for equality on Northland Superannuitants getting Bay of Islands ferry rides out of their gold card. Let's face it, we don't got buses unless you count the 7am bus doing SH1 from AK to Kaitaia. Gotta mention too, the Geotech guys are on our one way bridge at Taipa. Looks like we are getting the 2 lanes he is holding National (with all their NZTA promises) to. Wonder if we get the other 9? I'd like a tarsealed road please. I must add Hilary, My vote for Winston in our By Election was strategic to berid National as many up here did. It worked.
-
Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
Let’s face it, we don’t got buses unless you count the 7am bus doing SH1 from AK to Kaitaia.
BusaboutKaitaia Timetable for Town, Pukenui and Ahipara routes.
Reasonable fares, and as an added bonus the buses run on 50% bio diesel made from refined cooking oil. Smell really yummy!
-
Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
It also strike me that whenever I read threads like this the people working at the desk at the support organisations really want to help, but it is a management structure and policy dictated from the minister down that the system either work well or do harm. It’s not the actual system or the people in it that are the problem but rather the way the system is administered.
One of my new heroes at The Northern Advocate always brings to our attention some of the "usual" at W &I up here.Yes, the system is boxes to tick, but honestly ,why have we lost compassion now?
-
Joe Wylie, in reply to
...the buses run on 50% bio diesel made from refined cooking oil. Smell really yummy!
While I haven't been able to find definite figures, all the evidence seems to be that most of NZ's biodiesel is from animal sources, e.g. meat industry by-products. While Solid Energy had grandiose plans before they went bust to buy up tracts of Canterbury for canola production, all the current production growth appears to be disappointingly meat-related.
-
Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
These guys have their own refinery...processing used cooking oil donated by local businesses.
http://busaboutnorth.co.nz/about/ and their parent group http://www.cbec.co.nz/
And yes...Kaitaia has more eateries per metre than any town we have visited...were we takeaway junkies we'd be in seventh heaven.
All happening in the Far North!
-
Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
BusaboutKaitaia Timetable for Town, Pukenui and Ahipara routes.
Reasonable fares, and as an added bonus the buses run on 50% bio diesel made from refined cooking oil. Smell really yummy!
So I see the 7 .11am to Kaitaia returns at 5.50pm and I guess the extra on Tuesday helps but I see (and have picked up until someone stole music recently from the car) people hitching to and from W & I because they have to attend seminars. Taipa is a 15 minute drive in a vehicle at around 100km/h from our house. I’d need a car to get to the stop as the bus routes don’t do our area at all. I am lucky I don’t need one. Here’s a wee example of car trouble, (slightly off topic )
A friend lends his car to someone to get into town (some say, nice friend), later that night the person is stood over by someone else wanting to borrow it,( and that person is of interest to the Police). Car gone. Next thing, car shows up at the police station. Police have it for weeks (a forensic thing ) and when they finally realise the car is the wrong one ,they send it to a storage facility. Car costs $360 to get back. Police don’t pay ,my mate on ACC has to borrow money to get his car back. No body has that extra money up here. The car would have gone to Auction 3 days later if he didn’t borrow it. Jus’ sayin’
So yeah, thanks for that , nice to know there is more than one bus through Taipa ;) -
Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
All happening in the Far North
The new fish and chip shop (and wet fish too) is the same guy who had the Coopers beach one so that should be good quality. Other than that, the Sushi bar is all good too. I'm glad you like it Rosemary. I try to support the coast as it's closer. Anyway you look at it, for me, it's superior to Auckland. NO traffic problems, no traffic lights ,no parking fees. Pristine beaches etc etc etc. Ooops! off topic, .....
-
Lilith __, in reply to
Solid Energy had grandiose plans before they went bust to buy up tracts of Canterbury for canola production, all the current production growth appears to be disappointingly meat-related.
I'd be surprised if there's much canola still being grown in Canty. Dairy, dairy, dairy.
-
Joe Wylie, in reply to
I'd be surprised if there's much canola still being grown in Canty. Dairy, dairy, dairy.
Here's what seems to have become of Solid Energy's Canterbury oilseed venture:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/cropping/72713156/oilseed-rape-goes-from-biodiesel-to-a-food-oil-crop -
Lilith __, in reply to
Really glad a cropping venture is doing well in Canty.
-
mark taslov, in reply to
WINZ is darkly classic “Catch 22” material–staff are personally rewarded for denying what their “clients” seek rather than providing it!
what was in earlier times Social Security is now a sadistic bureaucratic punishment maze
I think pinning this on WINZ and bureaucracy is something of an oversight. I applaud Emma’s sentiment, however I feel that the issues underpinning the treatment of beneficiaries are consistent with those measured out by society as a whole. I understand that most posters here are white collar workers and independent contractors and have little grasp of life for blue collar workers in New Zealand.
In our family, my wife grades fruit where she is subject to random mandatory drug testing, her work place regularly subject to visitations by the drug dogs. I work online and have done so for 5 years (not as a Nigerian Prince as previously suggested by a regular poster here – but this attitude is indicative of the wider issue). I have dealt with zero hour contracts and I have been required on a regular basis to provide the company that I now freelance for with photographic evidence of my genitals confirming that I am the gender I claim to be – in order to keep the channels for earning money open.
So with specific regards to unemployment beneficiaries; attending a seminar or meeting or two doesn’t seem at odds with the larger trends within our culture i.e that everyone is guilty until proven innocent, that our bodily fluids, our bodies and our right to previous expectations of privacy are now the property of those with either the money to support us or those who provide us with the opportunity to support ourselves.
Sorry to sound like a Strangelove knock off but this is now the world we live in. Which isn’t to say that it shouldn’t be fixed, but in order to do so, meaningfully, we may need to widen our scope beyond a couple of ministers and a department or two and address the wider cultural and societal issues and attitudes, both nationally and as part of the international community we are aligned with.
-
Sofie Bribiesca, in reply to
, but in order to do so, we may need to widen our scope beyond a couple of ministers and a department or two and address the wider cultural and societal issues.
We gotta start somewhere. If we can find just one Minister ( it would be nice if it was the Prime) that wants change, that person could effect change. I'm kinda hoping Dunne is getting the epiphany he needs with regards Cannabis at the mo. He's one person who could make big strides in Government on this subject. I do agree the world is going to hell in a handbag and daily it coughs up more unbelievable shite, and most on a benefit are at the bottom of the pile although your genitals photographic display must be there too, I agree it's uphill but surely we gotta get to the first few to climb out of the stinkin' pile.
What you mention your wife goes through reminds me of what so many others experience daily , and that's just for being the wrong type of human. The world is turning most into the 99% and it's only the top 1% that are on easy street. -
Kumara Republic, in reply to
I understand that most posters here are white collar workers and independent contractors and have little grasp of life for blue collar workers in New Zealand.
I have white collar potential but all my pay rises to date have been government-mandated - in other words, I've only ever been on the minimum wage due to various complicating factors. And it doesn't help that I'm in the kind of work that's being left in the dust by technology.
I found out the hard way that traditional tertiary study isn't the right path for me - especially when I could be nearing my lifetime EFTS limit - and that I'm overwhelmingly suited to a vocational on-the-job approach to training. The catch is that on-the-job training needs the sort of investment in time and money that's commonly dismissed as an old-fashioned expense in a deregulated labour market like New Zealand's. I've tried "networking" my way into a career change, and all I've gotten so far is the same old inspiration porn.
Why bother training the untrained when it's supposedly easier and cheaper just to hire migrants who already have skills? Left unchecked, you get the kind of fomenting resentment that's driving support for Donald Trump and Nigel Farage on the right and Bernie Sanders and Jeremy Corbyn on the left.
-
Rosemary McDonald, in reply to
If we can find just one Minister
Nevermind Dunne....what about Te Ureroa, Pita and the matriarch Tariana?
Held/hold real potential legislative power over the Natz....and what did they do?
Well...what did they do?
Staying in the Far North (and why not:-))...the Maori Party and Hone Harawira seem to have failed to capture the loyalty of the whanau, but, Kelvin's no bullshit defence of the underdog is capturing hearts and minds.
Labour...if they ever get their heads around how to secure votes... could be onto a real winner there.
-
mark taslov, in reply to
We gotta start somewhere. If we can find just one Minister ( it would be nice if it was the Prime) that wants change, that person could effect change.
I guess that what I’m getting at here though is that regardless of any legislation that may be implemented, it’s the administration of that legislation that will remain the core aggravation. It’s all very well proposing a UBI or any stop gap measures for that matter, but if that in turn leads a much larger demographic being subjected to the same indignities as our current beneficiaries already suffer then I don’t see that as a great improvement. This isn’t just about the money, and throwing more money or rejigging specific rules will do little to alleviate the wider issue. They could give us all the money, sooner, but in all likelihood the authorities would continue treating us in a sub- human manner and in the end one may suggest that our proposals are little more than fire fighting an apocalypse.
As I see it, the fundamental here is our increasing lack of respect and regard for our fellow earthlings, and that arguably begins with better education and ends with more stringently protected rights for workers and non-workers alike. It’s all very well being a vocal proponent of the three Rs, as some here are, but if that comes at the expense of producing a kinder more respectful, more humane culture, then we’re just sending more lambs to slaughter – expect this downward spiral to continue unchecked.
With regards to unemployment figures and jobs, via the internet there are numerous opportunities now available, we are no longer limited to working for companies based within the country, we no longer require full physical mobility, the job market has changed irrevocably, so referrals to those kinds of phenomena (as have been bandied about) need no longer occupy the position of relevance they may have once enjoyed.
As clarification, I chose not to use WINZ to supplement any shortfall in my income, for reasons made abundantly clear by other posters- the indignities our authorities perpetuate widely, on a daily basis. My experience with WINZ was under the previous Labour and National Governments and I’m sorry to say neither presented any marked differences to me beyond the rebranding exercise.
I do appreciate that not everyone enjoys the luxury of having this kind of choice. My refusal to submit to their hoop jumping has occasionally caused me to go hungry, but I’ll continue to persevere with the status quo. As there is literally no higher rung within earshot, and while our cultural dictates remain focused on demeaning our weakest, the poorest, the least materially endowed, the losers, the unwell, the outsiders, of anyone for that matter, then the difference between the othering that WINZ offers to the employable and what employers of the LCD are offering as alternative remains largely indistinguishable and academic, give or take a few dollars here and there.
To be fair to Emma and everyone contributing I'm not jumping in to contend any of the suggestions I have seen presented here, I just don't see the issues faced existing in isolation from our general societal sentiments or at the very least those sentiments expressed consistently by New Zealand's media/ government/ celebrity clique.
-
oops, sorry Rosemary, my reply to Sofie, anyway, that’s me have a great year people!
-
Kumara Republic, in reply to
With regards to unemployment figures and jobs, via the internet there are numerous opportunities now available, we are no longer limited to working for companies based within the country, we no longer require full physical mobility, the job market has changed irrevocably, so referrals to those kinds of phenomena (as have been bandied about) need no longer occupy the position of relevance they may have once enjoyed.
In other words, the 'gig economy'. Nice work when you can get it.
-
mark taslov, in reply to
gig economy
No not exclusively, my last work provided full time contracts and had difficulty finding teachers willing to sign up for that. There is all sorts of work and plenty of opportunities available, long or short term, contracted or freelance, poorly remunerated for the most part but there all the same,
that the article defines hosting an online shop as a 'gig' where as a bricks and mortar version would be seen as a business. While the article appears to largely ignore the fact that many RL industries are and always have been a 'gig' for most players involved, 'gig economy' as used in the article to describe the more encompassing and 'online economy' is lazy pigeon holing from the Guardian. Like the RL job market the internet presents an array of opportunities.
Post your response…
This topic is closed.