Posts by jh
Last ←Newer Page 1 2 3 4 5 Older→ First
-
"it is a good thing for a society to be made up of people from different races, religions, and cultures" does not explicitly make clear the mix of that society. I might answer yes to that question myself but I would still rather feel I belonged to a group with a common identity and a right to the geographical entity known as New Zealand.
I remember thinking as the numbers of Asians increased "well it is good that they will be a sufficiently large population to stand up for themselves", now I watch with alarm as the numbers increase with no end in sight and the advantages (from my standpoint) are elusive.
Since the last post by Spoonley "What Diversity Dividend?" the Savings Working Group Report came out and they said (among other things):“The big adverse gap in productivity between New Zealand and other countries opened up from the 1970s to the early 1990s. The policy choice that increased immigration – given the number of employers increasingly unable to pay First-World wages to the existing population and all the capital requirements that increasing populations involve – looks likely** to have worked almost directly against the adjustment New Zealand needed to make** and it might have been better off with a lower rate of net immigration. This adjustment would have involved a lower real interest rate (and cost of capital) and a lower real exchange rate, meaning a more favourable environment for raising the low level of productive capital per worker and labour productivity. The low level of capital per worker is a striking symptom of New Zealand’s economic challenge.
” -
Southerly: Tower Insurance Have Some Bad…, in reply to Christopher Dempsey,
From a past president of the South Island branch of the Property Council
“Obviously the developers couldn’t buy the local politicians and public officials off fast enough in Dallas Fort Worth to overcome the zoning impediment – but they have been trying as this article Fed Up: Texas Monthly November 2007 illustrates. It goes on pretty much everywhere of course – but only illustrates how zoning tends to assist in inflating prices and stalling supply responses.
-
Where would we be had the Canterbury Association not allowed private title?
-
Nothing about it on Cambell Live or Close Up. Perhaps not time or maybe they have to balance interests around the country or maybe the Tower adverts?
-
Maybe I missed this but could you argue that to repair your house you have to move it?
My fiend has just been red stickered as she is near a Port Hills bowling alley (large rocks) which come down after the biggest quakes. One got a bit close but the house only has cracking. That loop hole might apply to her?
-
Did anyone read Phil Ur's post on the
Red Snakes in the Frog pond: -
True xenophobia is a genuine phobia and needs treatment?
-
Fair enough to talk about immigrant numbers (even including the number zero). It's even been suggested to me that we should accept the fact that a significant proportion of New Zealanders are xenophobic, and devise a pragmatic immigration policy that will frighten the xenophobes as little as possible. I don't personally agree with that, but it's a valid point to raise for discussion.
If it is xenophobia, then we need to know what form this takes.
1. My Grandfather used to say that if the Chinese invaded "all they would need to arm them selves with is frying pans". Think sack of rice over NZ with a cut at the bottom.2. Combine populous China with our most self aggrandizement obsessed property developer,political party funding, PR firm and advertising reliant media.
3. I don't think people fear the hard working "brainy" Chinese (one's surgeon); it's (for example) those from a much tougher planet who have seen the future and are buying 1,2,3..x properties.
4. A Chinese friend looked at my garden and said "if a Chinese family lived here (that) would be covered in vegetables and they would be selling them at the market". I find that disturbing (rightly or wrongly). One side say's "we'll that's a lot better than going on the dole"; the other say's these are advantaged people, trained in a landscape we have never known and now allowed to graze on our easier pastures. Perhaps it is saying that's what we need to be doing (or that is us... holding up a mirror and saying "we'll we are really just peasant's too")
5. In addition there is the (perception of the) clannish nature of some of the Asian communities. I once asked an Indian man what he did in the evenings back in Delhi; did he go out and drink coffee with other men, or drink alchohol? "Oh No! I have 40 family members living in my house...." work and socialising were combined for him. We have an individualistic culture but groups of Chinese are like (almost) Exclusive Bretheren.
6. NZ had a lot of "freebies". Not just the welfare state but there was a sort of security to the big back yard. Now it is a commodity > farmer sells to developer ..and the government and the media say "all is Good".
7. Our whole society is underpinned by a paradigm of progress that is a miss-match with common sense and what our eyes see. -
Is it racist to worry about mainland Chinese given the type of society they come from (ie we can be guaranteed some very bad eggs)....?
I'm thinking blue babies, head in suitcase etc. -
I can't believe how badly NZ First has blown the immigration issue.
the issues as I see it are
1. We were a prosperous nation when we had a small population and even poor kiwis could retire to a beachside town and live in a small batch like dwelling.
2. The government talks about needing skills to grow the economy. I'm sure that's partly true but a lot of the skills needed will be in the construction industry (building houses).
3. Immigration agents are lock pickers On what basis did Nai Yin Xue gain residency ….business? (One of 6 Chinese language newspapers)
An Economics lecturer at Waikato University posted research that showed (in his opinion) that the benefits of immigration are "over stated" he said that many who come in on the Business category end up in dairies etc. His analysis was summarily dismissed by David Cunlife.
4. In Christchurch and other cities we wring our hands about growth, infrastructure, infill housing, sprawl, traffic. Some people are getting very rich and some are suffering . Those who champion property rights are the last to champion the rights of an existing resident to sunlight, should a plan change to facilitate growth.
It is mainly the $20Billion property industry who benefit (and back the two main parties). Our globalised property market is a sell out of the local population.
5. House prices track net migration. Given the unaffordability of NZ housing it deserves a mention.
6. There is no agreed principle as to what constitutes an ideal number of people. I was skeptical of an economists claim that (the South Island) reaching one million was a "great achievement". I'm sure that needs qualifying. People say that we don't have "neeeearly enough people!" and pull a figure like 10 million out of the hat.