Marama Davidson warns of growing ‘wicked divide’ between haves and have-nots
A ‘wicked divide’ is growing between the haves and have-nots, says Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson, and it’s all down to the housing boom.
Property prices in New Zealand have shot up nearly 20 percent in the past 12 months, data from the likes of Trade Me and the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand shows, completely ignoring the shocks sent through the rest of the economy by COVID-19.
In fact, some have blamed the measures taken to keep the economy afloat by the Reserve Bank for fuelling the housing market, with cheap lending being spent on buying houses off each other rather than investment into businesses and the productive parts of the economy.
“Things were bad before the election, but through COVID and the extra-cheap money that has been flooding in… that has helped to cause runaway house prices,” Davidson told Newshub Nation on Saturday.
“I don’t think any of us before the election knew that we were going to be looking down the barrel of runaway house prices. I do think there is an opportunity – and the Prime Minister has shown that she can listen and review the situation – to reflect on all the tools, all the tools in the toolbox that are available to us.”
The Homelessness Minister is 100% right to be frightened by the wicked divide that is looming.
After every major pandemic, there is social unrest.
“So when our Sickness, and our Poverty Had greater wants than we could well supply; Strict Orders did but more enrage our grief, And hinder in accomplishing relief.”
That’s how the British poet George Wither explained a spreading rebellion against social-distancing rules. Seeing quarantines and lockdowns as unfair and tyrannical punishments, people were taking to the streets. The year was 1625, the place was London, the disease was plague.
The peasant revolt in the 1300s, the civil unrest in the 1600s and the civil disobedience in the 1900s, the strict measures required to snuff out pandemics always makes the lives of the poorest unliveable.
And when life becomes unliveable, there is social unrest.
History teaches us this, we KNOW after pandemics comes civil unrest so to watch the growing ingredient list that will spark that unrest climb here with such speed demands a political solution.
We have yet to hear what that solution will be.
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Do you really think the bulk of middle class NZ will rise up because some are homeless or are put into poverty by high rents.
Over the last years the retirement age went from 60 to 65 . No uprising.
Benefits were slashed by National and no changes were made by any Labour government . No uprising.
Assests were sold jobs were taken and lives ruined and a few got very rich. No uprising.
Those on the benefit have been cheated of their rights and lied to . No uprising.
As the Roman Empire collapsed the people were kept happy by more holidays and bigger events at the Arena . History has a record of repeating itself.
Things do have a habit of reaching a boiling point eventually as the middle class get their ass kicked when houses become unaffordable to buy and bosses keep refusing wage rises.
In a post today I saw someone got a lousy .50c wage rise .
83000 middle class on mortage differals the middle class are loaded with debt i think you should class them as the precariot
Too true.
We don’t have the outrage of the French, the anger of the Thais or even the blind optimism of Trumps Americans.
We are like fat kept pets.
We deserve to be walked all over and are.
The middle class will just keep moaning, bitching and back stabbing and doing what they do bests keeping us with the Joneses. It will be the poor who will rise up and we are building this pool of peoples under neo liberalism.
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