The Stage 7 of the moon phase with Capricorn rising hop scotch traffic light level of Covid response happiness is in effect and no one really knows what the fuck is going on.
The complexities required of moving from ‘Jacinda & Grant will save you, stay home’ has moved to 6 pieces of information for essential workers to navigate during an Omicron Pandemic that shuts down supply chains to get a RAT test so they can go back to work quicker and sicker.
While juggling kittens and chainsaws.
The Second Stage of Omicron is ‘You’re on your own kids, see everyone who survives on the other side, don’t forget to vote Labour’.
Now we find out what 30 years of the neoliberal experiment has left us with, can the free market amputation of the State protect us or has it all been one giant ideological Frankenstein experiment that has left us with a grotesquely underfunded State too anaemic to protect its people?
Let’s find out over the coming months as the State shrugs in the face of an Omicron Tsunami and says, ‘goodluck’.
After this has hit and passed and destroyed lives, let’s ask why we don’t fund a bigger State with a more progressive tax system eh?
Brace for impact comrades.
Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.
If you can’t contribute but want to help, please always feel free to share our blogs on social media.
Yep, two years of lockdowns and mandates and when the going is about to get the toughest it’s been by way of infections and hospitalisations, the govt basically say’s “every man women and child, you are on your own … oh and we haven’t got RATS for everyone, so if you’re asymptomatic and you kill granny…sorry bout that”.
Good luck everyone!
I agree with you I must admit to being confused that as thinks get worst the government seems to be baling out . Are they trying to avoid blame or do they just have no answers .
They have had excellent support from the bulk of the population but I feel that support starting to fade . I am surprised at the support for the protestors . I think much of that is a support for someone sticking to the government rather than how they are doing it.. I feel that people will be thinking of it as a template for protest again 3 Waters inflation rent rises pay and conditions in health and education as they restructure. There is a lot of pe t up anger out there it seems
Like compliance and restrictions, pumping more money into the government just means more spending on shit. Whether it’s a blue or red government the never-ending increased funding just goes on bureaucrat inflation that even on an off-year must peak at 15% per annum.
Personally the solution is the exact opposite. Given them less so that departments have to have a come-to-Jesus meeting over “wants” and “needs”. Do we really need an army of PR consultants, diversity officers and climate advisors in every fucking government and local government department. Hint: It’s a rhetorical question.
It stems back to basic behaviorism – do not reinforce negative behaviors with positive outcomes. If you cuddle a dog after it shits on the carpet, then it continues to shit on the carpet.
After all these years you still don’t have a coherent definition of money and have the cheek to ask people like me what alternatives to capitalism I have. Get fucked.
A diversity officer in a corporate/government department are you Sammie? Rather than sling insults perhaps you can counter the argument above?
More Taxes and a bigger State.
Sure that’ll work; more stupid and bigger cock-ups.
Well it might work if we could get some real public service and parliamentary reform.
What we have now is a Public Service Act that is full of good intentions, with the same old faces who’ve grown up during the neo-liberal reign expected to drive the reforms.
Short of sending them to some Chinese style re-education centre, I don’t see much happening.
We are still free loading on the systems a bigger State once built up for us. Watching as they crumble from the neoliberal corrosion.
State = access to services [high functioning health system, good education pre-school/secondary/teriary, national infrastructure, police, judicial systems, parks & reserve management etc, etc, etc]
All the things that are pre-conditions for a cohesive, educated, decent society.
Yes please.
Well look, what exactly do you want the government to do? It’s all fine and dandy to say you want explicit instructions for each and every possible outcome that may affect each and every situation a citizen may face. The reality is the government has done as much as it can (RAT’s aside). They’ve got us very well vaccinated, they’ve explained that wearing masks in public offers the best protection. They’ve given us a set of protocols around what to do if you’re feeling unwell etc. The reality is it is up to us now. Common sense says the virus needs contact between people to spread. So limit your contact with people, keep your hygene up. And hope for the best. No government will keep Omicron from spreading once it’s in the community, and no government can come hold your hand every day and guide you through each decision you’re going to have to make in the course of your day.
RAT’s aren’t the silver bullet they’ve been made out to be. They’re handy in certain situations. But if you think every citizen is going to be testing themselves with a RAT every day before leaving the house….that’s not going to happen even if RAT’s were available. And given the cost of RAT’s I’ve seen quoted, even if freely available they would not be used by many people, and not very regularly by those that do buy them.
You must be bloody kidding.
Much of my family are unvaccinated. It’s not their employers* who waging war on them, it’s the state. The only reason we can pay the bills are because there are still parts of the economy out there that the state hasn’t stuck it’s fascist Pfizer loving fingers into.
It’s the state stopping our kids from playing sports and the state that has closed off libraries and public services to us.
We’ve just been raped by the state, why would we want to make its dick bigger?
* Some employers are; the ACT party loves the mandates because it’s another way to increase the employer-employee power imbalance.
The elephant in the room with you Righties is that you cannot/will not acknowledge how well NZ has done in the fight against the ravages of covid because of your strongly held belief that business comes before people. Shame on the lot of you for what is simply your greed.
Regarding the MOB at parliament and the constant whine in social media about ‘freedom’.
Looks like they are a tiny minority. Most people seem to have been vaccinated and thus a small but vocal 5% of people feel that strongly.
“Overall, 96 per cent of eligible people (aged 12 and older) have had one dose of vaccine and 95 per cent have received two.
For Māori (eligible and aged 12 and older), 90 per cent have had their first dose and 86 per cent have received two.
For Pacific peoples (eligible and aged 12 and older), 97 per cent have had their first dose and 95 per cent have had their second dose.
Meanwhile, 46 per cent of the eligible children aged 5-11 have had a dose of Covid-19 vaccine.
Twenty seven per cent of eligible Māori and 37 per cent of eligible Pacific children in this age group have had their first dose of the vaccine.
Today’s new border cases arrived from India (9), Japan (1), Malaysia (1), Pakistan (2), UAE (5), UK (2) and the US (2).”
source, Granny Herald.
Now its every woman, man and child left to cope with the virus. I listened to the gobbledegook on the live announcement today and wondered how many people firstly without computers/wifi, elderly who are not tech savvi are going to be able to get help or negotiate the minefield of aps to work their way thru the system to finally get help when they are gasping their last breath. Lordy me its a worrisome times we are entering into. I was shaking my head trying to make sense of of it. Yes, I am in my senior years but have rudimentary skills on the computer. I guess I just have to wing it on a prayer and hope for blessed intervention when the time comes.
As Martyn says “Brace yourselves for impact Comrades”
Martyn, you are always good for a laugh ‘You’re on your own kids, see everyone who survives on the other side, don’t forget to vote Labour’. All the more funny for being so utterly true. We were discussing tax this morn and you know, you arent wrong about the desperate need for tax reform.
This is the UK currently’
Personal Allowance Up to £12,570 0%
Basic rate £12,571 to £50,270 20%
Higher rate £50,271 to £150,000 40%
Additional rate over £150,000 45%
(Dont forget to double the amounts for comparison to NZ$)
Here’s NZ
p to $14,000 10.5%
Over $14,000 and up to $48,000 17.5%
Over $48,000 and up to $70,000 30%
Over $70,000 and up to $180,000 33%
Remaining income over $180,000 39%
Their VAT is 20% but it isnt put on anything the poorest need, see: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-of-vat-on-different-goods-and-services#sport-leisure-culture-and-antiques
Pensions are paid tax free and if you’re an old codger you can earn up to NZ$25K (incl pension) tax free.
I’m beginning to think you are onto something MB . We should all be demanding equal rights with the citizens of the UK under the ToW!!
But seriously, there is something very wrong here comparing the 2. We need to turn our tax system upside down, get back to basics, our local town of 40K funds an art gallery for pity’s sake. Time for us to do things sensibly. Look after the poor, go after the rich and tourists. Stop wasting money on nice to haves and identity politics. Pretending we’re a first world nation when we should be sitting between the developing and developed nations. Keeping the lights on and the trains running.
Comments are closed.