Posts by BenWilson
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Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to recordari,
When 51.5% of your own voters favour an opposition policy over your own, it's pretty clear there's a problem.
Yeah, I'm not convinced the problem isn't stupid NZers, TBH.
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Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Sacha,
Ask the 'opposition'
Sure, they're lame. But that doesn't force Kiwis to vote National. That's the worst part about all of this, that polls are suggesting these guys are going to improve their majority, despite not one single thing having improved on their watch. I can't understand it, and I think it comes down to not enough people shaking better sense into their friends who are proudly saying they will vote National just because Phil Goff is a numbnut. Or proudly saying they won't vote at all. Vote frikken Green if Labour isn't left enough for you. I think we're not shouldering enough of the blame ourselves, as a people, if we just let National do this.
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to "chris",
I've been profoundly inspired by your posts of late.
Thanks! Nice to hear.
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to "chris",
Sorry for the rant.
Not at all. Good ideas in there.
Not having to save up week to week or fortnightly to pay utility bills is a weight off minimum wage earners’ minds
Not sure about that. They do have to save up for the entire month to have anything to spend at the end of the month. Most importantly, since few employers pay in advance, your first month at work is going to be really hard, if you're really at the bottom of the pile.
To take this to extremes that I've actually endured as a contractor, getting paid once every 4 months was really, really hard. You have to save a lot of money up or you will end up sucking up a lot of debt, or really tightening your belt at the end.
It develops foresight, which is something the status quo is currently lacks the scope to.
Perhaps it does (not really sure about that), but it does causes hardship. Foresight doesn't tell you when your car is going to die, or you are going to be hit with a huge dental bill.
enabling our population to reach budgeting maturity, and most simply freedom
They've had millenia to work this out, and just haven't. It's one of those compulsions I don't really feel bad about. Some freedoms just should not be allowed. The freedom to be enslaved, for instance. Which is not hugely different from the freedom to take on too much debt.
There are arguments of personal responsibility all around allowing people to enslave themselves. I think they all suck. Similarly, the freedom to ruin yourself economically is another of those freedoms that I think has simply had its day. You can blow everything up to a point, some base minimum, but there should always be something saved up for old age or destitution.
btw, I don't think this money should necessarily only be in cash. It could be that some proportion in higher risk, higher return asset classes is allowed.
For the rest:
-I don't think dams should be privatized, even if there was a share issue to the population. I just think that if they are to be privatized, then it should be via a share issue.
-Pegging the dollar makes a LOT of sense. It's worked for China.
-I totally agree with a tax free threshold.
-The Chinese government's ability to think long term is well worth thinking more about. -
Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Rich of Observationz,
under National's non-nanny nanny state
I'm thinking of it as a nonny state now...
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Hard News: Is that it?, in reply to "chris",
I'm not sure if people are still routinely paid fortnightly in NZ but it would seem that monthly payments dramatically enhance peoples' money management abilities.
It had that effect on me, but only via the school of hard knocks. That's not really the kind of thing I was meaning. People struggling to pay for things for a whole month to teach them discipline.
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Hard News: Angry and thrilled about Arie, in reply to Rich Lock,
Ponder this, we should.
It's not a trivial problem. I don't think putting it down to pure jealousy of youth is really on the money. A lot of it comes to a real disconnect in thinking processes. As adults, I mostly see a world for kids which is much easier, because they have so many things I didn't. But at the same time, I can see that feeling valued as a child now is much harder. I think the two are connected, that an easier world can be a harder world at the same time.
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Hard News: Angry and thrilled about Arie, in reply to Rich Lock,
How about you stop dealing out summary justice and treat all your suspects with humanity and respect, regardless of who they are or the alleged offence?
Yup, I know of plenty of people who aren't autistic, who have been roughed up badly by the cops, and then persecuted for years with charges hanging over them. Once they get it in their heads that you're a villain, it becomes us-vs-them.
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Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to 3410,
What we really need is one of them Jamaican sound system trucks.
Indeed. Or a dozen of them. Mind you, I can hardly think of any part of Auckland you could do that, which wouldn't end up with the police arriving to bust up any unlicensed fun that was being had.
I like shandy.
In an age of responsible driving, it's a much underrated drink.
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Hard News: 2011: The Year Of What?, in reply to Rich Lock,
Party at your place, then? Bring a bottle?
That's the spirit. There will be a few of these soon, as the RWC comes on.
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