Posts by Lilith __
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Up Front: Dropping the A-Bomb, in reply to Hilary Stace,
There are parents in the Deaf community who do pre-natal testing to ensure a child who is also Deaf. Is that intentionally causing disability?
Deafness is rather a special case I think, as given the right context/community, it makes relatively little difference to the opportunities for the child.
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Up Front: Dropping the A-Bomb, in reply to Moz,
It’s all very well to talk about whether bringing people with presumed low quality of life into the world, when every single person we bring in lowers the quality of life for everyone else.
You are perfectly right. Overpopulation is one of those elephant-in-the-room issues. On a more personal level, there are women who abort a pregnancy because they can't feed another child. It's a tough issue.
China's One-Child policy, while environmentally responsible, has created all kinds of evils in practice. -
Speaker: The problem of “horror tenants”…, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
I can’t speak for Auckland, but down here in the South Island where we get freezing-cold winters? I’m sure it does
Christchurch research suggests otherwise.
I was talking about having a good heat source for winter - a logburner or heat pump. And insulation to keep the heat in. It's not really the same issue.
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Up Front: Dropping the A-Bomb, in reply to Sacha,
There are some great ethical minefields about using the food supply to fix what we don’t like.
I really don’t think so. Surely we can value people with disabilities without valuing the disability itself?
Is society poorer for not having children with rickets or polio?
[ETA: oh snap, B.]
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PS I have a disability. I don't think it makes my life not worth living, but if there were some way it could have been avoided?
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Up Front: Dropping the A-Bomb, in reply to Hilary Stace,
There is some very strong opposition in some segments of the disability community to compulsory folic acid supplementation, eg in bread, as it can be interpreted as being eugenic to (growing new) people with neural tube impairments.
Surely nobody actually thinks we should intentionally cause disability (either by action, or through inaction, as is the case with folic acid)?
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Speaker: The problem of “horror tenants”…, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
Otherwise, as Moz points out, the market doesn’t yet value energy-efficiency measures.
I can't speak for Auckland, but down here in the South Island where we get freezing-cold winters? I'm sure it does.
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As I understand it, landlords can claim the cost of a new heating system back through depreciation (as it’s a chattel). This may need to be paid back to IRD if the house is subsequently sold for a higher value. ( source )
Bottom line, the landlord can’t lose.
And their property will be more attractive for tenants and may command a higher rental.
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Capture: Still Life in Mobile Homes, in reply to Jos,
horses’ hooves
Keep your photos away from flying hoofs!
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Speaker: The problem of “horror tenants”…, in reply to Lucy Telfar Barnard,
At present, the only incentives for landlords to install such heating are decency; the potential to attract better and longer term tenants; and the possibility of charging more rent.
Government subsidy, tax-write-off, increase in value of property.
