Posts by Kumara Republic
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At least English class is based on centuries of who one's pater was, what school they went to, etc. In NZ it's based on nothing more than "I've got a big income", which is often as much about luck as it is hard work and intelligence. And knowing that, people seem to think the only way they can maintain their place in the sun is standing on the heads of others.
There's definitely a class divide in NZ, just not in the British sense. What's emerged in NZ is a privatised class divide not unlike that of other Anglo New World settler nations, and in post-Thatcher Britain. You can easily come across millionaire yobbos, as well as cosmopolitan bohemians living on an oily rag.
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Paul Graham's Why Nerds Are Unpopular seems to explain the outpouring of public bile nicely:
Another reason kids persecute nerds is to make themselves feel better. When you tread water, you lift yourself up by pushing water down. Likewise, in any social hierarchy, people unsure of their own position will try to emphasize it by maltreating those they think rank below. I've read that this is why poor whites in the United States are the group most hostile to blacks.
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Saw Balibo last night @ the Embassy, it reinforces what we've believed all along. Indonesia's then ruler, Suharto, was a Cold War ally of the West at the time, and they didn't want to be seen to be factionalising in front of the Eastern Bloc.
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It's a bit like climbing the social ladder - only to pull it up after reaching the top and pouring oil on the walls. And then telling those still down below, "You can climb up with your bare hands if you practice hard enough!"
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They've won the right to another decade or two of windfall profits, and when the chickens come home to roost, they'll just get the taxpayer to bail them out.
Chickens called Waxman, Markey and Waitrose.
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As an example from the most mainstream of the mainstream, the central plotline currently running in the Marvel Comics Universe has a former supervillain becoming a Rumsfeld-esque figure with a disturbing level of control over the US government and its enforcement agencies. He gets there by having a masterful understanding of media manipulation and being seen doing and saying the right things at the right time.
Basically the sort of territory explored by V For Vendetta before it became fashionable to discuss.
There are 2 sorts of freeview - satellite (which will solve your TV reception problem) but has not-so-good HD - and terrestrial, from a local TV tower which will either give you a great signal or crap but has a more bandwidth for better HD - borrow a friend's and see what you get
To expand on these points:
* Satellite Freeview only does DVD-standard SD due to limited bandwidth on the transponder, but has full coverage.
* Terrestrial Freeview can do full HD but only covers about 75% of the country. -
We're not the only ones afflicted with a great desire for recognition.
And on the other end of the scale, there are nations that are fearful of losing their dominance.
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Me too. I've certainly detected something of that insecurity in Singapore, mostly around the issue of whether the world perceives them as a real country, rather than a glorified airport.
An insecurity likely born out of the post-independence race riots, and addressed by imposing a form of soft-totalitarianism and conscripting everyone.
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Don C:
Currently family in the UK *only* buy NZ butter etc. because they, rightly, view our farmers as the least subsidised and most efficient in the world. This attitude will change very fast if they see us as one of the dirtiest countries in the world. Just saying.
It's already starting to happen with fisheries.
And the names Henry Waxman and Edward Markey are ringing louder with each passing day.
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I found this scary piece in the paper yesterday. The thought of one operator owning a chunk of Marsden Point that's, at present, in the hands of two oil companies, should give serious pause. We're already subject to a distinctly uncompetitive market for petroleum fuels, at least part of which blame is to do with the cosy relationship between the petrol company operators and the refinery.
A foreign operator, making money only from the refinery operations, will doubtless push to increase margin to ensure greatest possible return. That is entirely natural, but that doesn't mean it should be allowed. Of course, with National set to gut controls on foreign investment, we may be left with no choice but to lube up a little more and clutch our collective motoring ankles a little harder.
That deserves scrutiny from the Commerce Commission, or what's left of it.