Posts by BenWilson
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Hard News: Occupy: Don't call it a protest, in reply to Rob Stowell,
I'm curious why a land-tax is preferred over capital gains. Any ideas?
My guess, CGT is easy to avoid - never sell. We do already have land tax, it's called rates. I'm not entirely sure I think it's so cool, though. It's taxing something that isn't money, and could have perverse outcomes, forcing people off land, just because they don't profit from the land.
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Up Front: Casual, Shallow and Meaningless, in reply to Emma Hart,
I've been pondering this, and why I'm pretty sure that, while I suck at small talk, I feel I'm pretty good at this. I don't think it's just the alcohol. And it's why I so enjoy PA gatherings, too, because I'll be able to find some of this.
They're pretty amazing. It's quite something to be able to skip small talk because you meet people who have deeply shared experience, despite possibly having never actually met. Never had anything like it before.
Mind you, even at Great Blends, you don't know most of the people, until you know them.
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Hard News: Occupy: Don't call it a protest, in reply to Kumara Republic,
On the other hand, Fred Bastiat had a point when he wrote “where goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.”
Heh. Or smugglers.
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Field Theory: A moment of national significance, in reply to JacksonP,
All Blacks manager seems to agree with us.
Good on them. I made a mental note of every haka, and decided that the All Blacks won them all, except for one. What a difference to the score line.
I loved the dueling war dances that I got to see personally in my only attendance - Fiji vs Samoa. I think rugby needs more of that sort of thing, and the other national teams should come up with something. Waltzing Matilda was a pathetic comeback by the Ozzies, it's not like there's no indigenous people in their country to call upon for inspiration. They just act there there aren't, and not to their credit.
Hell, it looked to me like the All Blacks are making up new Hakas every time. It's good fun, a good spectacle, a good rarkup, and I really dig it.
They do a similar thing in Muay Thai. You can tell guys who have trained in Thailand because they do a lengthy ritual before a fight. It's quite intimidating, focusing, and just plain interesting. Sports are rituals, after all. More!
But we'll need public spaces in which to meet each other, and events that give us common cause.
More!
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Hard News: Occupy: Don't call it a protest, in reply to kei rivers,
Ben - they're not mutually beneficial.
Perhaps not, but it's a better aim than "Free" which doesn't even have to imply any kind of benefit other than to the ideological placation of a very small sector of the population. It is perfectly conceivable that we could have mutually beneficial trade with the USA, without it being "Free".
I like what Anne said better than Bernard, but that might be because I don't support an itemised list right now.
I think you're right in terms of the movement, which is still building momentum and consensus. But Bernard is putting up a list of things a sensible opposition could campaign on right now for the election, which is really, really soon.
Welcome, by the way, to PAS. Hope to hear more from you, Kei.
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I guess I'd leave out #7. Not because I disagree, but because it's more ideological than helpful. Trade discussion is a massive part of the economic picture and the USA is a massive part of that, so flouncing doesn't seem likely to help. But it might help if we stopped calling them free trade discussions. Mutually beneficial trade discussions might make more sense, since it's not like tariffs and subsidies are the work of Satan, to anyone except neoliberals.
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Bernard's suggestions are very reasonable.
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The French have been fined for confronting the Haka? That is fucking ridiculous. I thought it was the one time the Haka didn't confer an unfair advantage to the All Blacks.
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Up Front: Casual, Shallow and Meaningless, in reply to Sacha,
Do they know who they are?
VERY important question.
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Field Theory: A moment of national significance, in reply to Russell Brown,
It gave us common cause and it brought us out onto the streets together. I think that will have enduring benefit for our city.
I hope it endures, but I don't think that's going to happen by itself. It's great that it got people out and about and socializing. But it's a bit sad for NZers that we need the RWC, and an All Blacks victory, to make it happen. This level of public engagement could happen all the time. Why doesn't it? Why don't we go out just to mingle, experience, hang out. It can't be about cost, because it doesn't have to cost.
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