Posts by Jackie Clark
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What I like about the bigger avatars is that finally I can see the photos some have used for theirs - like Kyles. Love that dog, Kyle!
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<sigh> When I first saw it's loveliness, I almost cried, mostly from happiness that it was back up really. I'm addicted to you people - like Megan said on Twitter, it's like crack, but your brain grows while you're doing it.
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Like many countries we have a resident demographic bulge on the way as our boomers age - over 65s will double over the next two or three decades.
Someone else can provide overall detail, but to me it's part of the reason we need to have these conversations about social arrangements now rather than rushing them at the last moment. And there are public discourses happening anyway - like the 'breeding bludgers' ones that seem to be colouring perceptions of what others are saying.
There's one problem with having discussions about population explosions, and over use of resources, and that is that these phenomena are largely occurring in countries that are beset by poverty and internal strife. It is an interesting discussion, Sacha, but I'm kind of with Gio. It's not really one that NZ needs to worry about on any practical level, unless we are prepared to go into places where these problems occur the most and tackle them head -on. Pragmatically speaking, we can only deal with what's happening in our backyard. We have an aging population that doomsayers predict will be unsustainable in a short period of time. I would think that people - supported, healthy families - would be helping us by having more children. And of course, that's not happening. Most people are still only having two or three kids. And herein lies the rub. This thread was originally about beneficiaries bashing, and in particular the habit of some in this society to blame everything on solo parents. In my little corner of the world - the one where I work, not the one where I live - as I have said, there are a fair number of solo parents. Some send their kids to kindergarten, some do not, so I can only talk about the ones I see, every day. None of them have large families. What they do have, occasionally, is blended households. Families that are related, living together (either in the family home, or with Mum and Dad, or with siblings, or cousins) so that life is more sustainable. There is always someone to look after the kids. This is not your standard nuclear family setup. So you are right - it is all about perception. Because I suspect that this is what people are seeing, if they look. Large numbers of people with large numbers of children. And of course, that perception isn't helped by the MSM who show houses like that where the Kahui twins lived. That was an extended family situation. It's like a mirage. You think you're seeing something that you are actually not.
In Mangere, certainly, there are young people having children - in fact, I think I read somewhere that in Manukau City there is a baby bulge happening. That's all good. And my interest is not in keeping the population down, but in supporting people, in my very small way, to give their children the beginnings of a great life. So that they grow up to be competent, capable, productive people who contribute their riches to the world in a meaningful way. Because I don't think it's the number of people that matters, but the quality of the people. -
That where I live in West Auckland nearly entirely resembles Jackie's town (well OK, less Maori, more PIs and Asians), only shows that there is mobility in this city.
Ha! No Asians around here, and very few Maori that attend here, Ben. Pretty much all PI families. (Just a technical point, you understand).
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The speakers on the PAS go round and round, round and round, round and round. Just thought I'd add that to be helpful :)
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Oh Sacha. People have lots of children for so many different reasons. Might be religious. Might be culturally expected. Might just be that they want alot of kids, as in the case of one of our mother's who felt her own mother abandoned her emotionally, so she wanted alot of kids. She has 8 - the last of whom are twins. Now, she and her husband are self employed. They bring in quite a lot of dosh. Imagine if he or she died. Imagine if their business turned to shit. You see, Sacha, the problem is that unexpected stuff happens all the time. So if you say - right, the State will support you if you have three or less children, but if you have more, you are on your own, what ends up happening is that a huge number of people get penalised because......why, again? I don't know, Sacha, I've tried to explain why you can't dictate the numbers of chn people have. Mostly because people just won't have it. I understand where you are coming from - we do need to think about the way we use our resources. But that isn't going to happen by preaching about it to people who, by and large, are just trying to survive day by day. You may be opposed to eugenics, but unfortunately, your arguments seem to suggest that you aren't.
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Oh he is, Islander. He's a very cool 4 year old. Cool as a cucumber.
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Ooo. Of course. I have been thinking of combinations of letters that make different sounds than they look, for him. He's a completely self driven learner, and he likes a challenge.
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edumacational
Jeez. Wot sort of techer is we leetig lose in our skools?
Ha! Nothing wrong with a bit of edumacation. Funnily enough, one of our boys who is very into his writing at the moment (he writes his mother letters - " Mum, can I use the computer after school today? "Etc) and I were doing some reading work today. Cos he said to me he wanted me to write hard words on the board, and he would read them. Interestingly enough, we ended up talking about different words that mean the same thing. Afraid, he knew. Scared, he knew. Frightened, took him a while. And then he said to me "You've spelt that word wrong, Jackie. It should be just an i, not all those other letters. Why is the g there? " he wanted to know. Exactly. I rest my case.
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I know she's not a Kiwi, but I LOVE her. Her being Eska Mtungwasi.