Posts by Kumara Republic
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Hard News: Getting dressed for the party, in reply to recordari,
You read that and are left thinking "that's logical", and yet that very fact makes it seem less likely to be taken seriously or acted upon.
Knowing how Prostetnic Vogon Joyce operates, that's sadly true. His head is too far buried in the tar sand to consider anything resembling a Plan B.
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Hard News: It Began ... in Chicago, in reply to recordari,
YMMV, but it's not necessarily why I'm not.
Sounded like they couldn't decide whether to make it a rock song, a disco song, or a new wave song. No worries, let's throw it all into a blender!
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OnPoint: Everything has changed until 2014, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
unless you really think a large part of Australia’s economy isn’t a minerals sector New Zealand just can’t emulate no matter how much magical thinking goes on. (And anyone who thinks Oz is a low-tax paradise should share with the group how much stamp duty their paid on their house.)
Not to mention the third layer of state-level government. And payroll tax on company profits. Even if said magical thinking somehow involved ACT and the Libertarianz mounting an armed coup, it still wouldn't solve much.
A big part of the problem is that NZ over-relied on the cargo cult of Mother England's food basket. When that turned out to be a mirage in 1973, all NZ did was swap the British cargo cult for an American one, and even that's on shaky ground.
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While there have always been factions in the NZLP, one hasn't seen factionalism until they've been to an Aussie Labor AGM.
On tertiary ed, fees and loans issues aside, we seem to have no trouble producing the know-how. The real problem lies with keeping the know-how here, attracting it back or otherwise making it work for us - Baker vs Straker was just a microcosm of it.
And some writings from 10 years ago still ring true. The focus of the latter article ran a now-defunct website, TheVisibleHand.net, to counter the Roundtable propaganda machine that was in full force at the time.
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Up Front: Where You From?, in reply to dyan campbell,
You knew Bryan Adams went to Argyle AND Sutherland
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Looks like Chris Trotter has his chosen one for Opposition leader. Draw yor own conclusions.
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OnPoint: Everything has changed until 2014, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
"New Zealand does not have a debt problem, we have a growth problem." - John Key, 2008.
And NZ does have a debt problem all right - credit cards, mortgages and what-have-you - largely private. But the only guaranteed solutions are either nanny statist or Icelandic/Irish in nature.
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I've lived in Dunedin, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin, Palmerston North, and back to Wellington, in that order. I can safely conclude that I'll be in Welly for the long haul.
Dunedin - still have many family members down there, and going back there for university was good while it lasted, with such a high concentration of brains. Not all that many jobs though, unless you're with the university itself or Cadbury or the agri-sector.
Wellington - grew up in Karori during most of my school years. Moved back in 2002 and haven't looked back since. It's likely the concentration of intellect that draws me to the place.
Christchurch - Dad was laid off in a bank merger, and transferred south to take up a job in the health sector. Easily the least satisfactory of my teenage experience - sent to a very prestigious 'Merchant & Ivory' college which turned out to more like Kath & Kim High. And that didn't include the skinhead element.
Palmerston North - Dad took up a job at Massey, moving north with him. Having finished varsity, this was a mere transit lounge for me before moving back to Wellington.
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Hard News: Limping Onwards, in reply to Lew Stoddart,
Framing, man, framing. It’s not ‘job stability’, it’s ‘an economy that works for you’; and it’s not ‘asset sales’ it’s ‘ownership’ or ‘a stake in your country’ :)
Precisely. The message has to be be thought-provoking without coming across as pontificating. That's where Jenny Shipley fell short when she was in Govt.