You can never have enough...

[Lilith7]

Definitely need something radical. But it won't happen. More than a quarter of the voting age public failed to show up last election. The majority of those who did were seniors, no wonder we got the three handed shake down. Lots of us are increasingly disengaged because we know how futile our expectations are. The promises are drowned by the monolith that is our brand of democracy. We look at those standing for Parliament and we see self interest, career politicians, cowards, and sellswords available for the best price, and very few worthy of our trust.

But we look overseas and see even worse, no wonder we are at a loss when it comes to the challenges we know the community faces.

Each government inherits the challenges of the previous. It is a snowball, and it's all downhill because of the way our society is structured. Profit means more than people. Moteliers see profit, at a level where putting their property at risk is worth it. And let's face it - they would be really unlikely to let their units be occupied by homeless unless it was hugely profitable. With the best will in the world - would any of us take that risk? When we own property and it increases in value as each year passes, faster than we could earn that kind of money, would any of us be willing to sacrifice that profit? No wonder as a society hoarding property is seen as a good thing.

Housing is a limited resource, and an expensive one. It takes time to develop, with layers of officialdom on top of the physical, and that isn't going to change because too many bodies have fingers in those pies.

And trust me, I know how some people live. I live in social housing, I hear the stories, though ours are usually mental health and dementia cases, still hard to live nextdoor to...I know too about blind eyes, corporate neglect and favouritism, shady deals, and the nepotism rife in community housing circles.
And I know that several charity based community housing projects on the drawing board have been shelved because the guaranteed funding by way of government subsidy runs out in June next year, and there has been no hint as to what will come. Even if that resourcing continues, those projects are now delayed by months if not years, simply because planning is an ongoing process, and hold ups magnify delays. So motels will continue to be inadequate homes, moteliers will continue to profit, families will continue to be stressed and damaged, because there is no radical thinking to provide alternatives. No imagination. And more to the point,  no one prepared to sacrifice their bit of the pie to house young mums, or gang associates unless there is a lot of money to be made. Or even mildly demented old people living in their children's garage for that matter. Been in a resthome lately? Seen the way our vulnerable elders are fed and cared for? Especially the ones who can't afford the Rymans and Metlifes...

There are horrors out there we all prefer not to know about. Be we MP or man in the street. With luck our own good fortune will shield us. If not, there by the grace of...

The evils of greed based Neo Liberalism will very likely be with us for some time to come. And when we look back at the work done in the UK just after WW2, & prior to that, in the USA in the late 30s which helped ordinary people enormously, it shows that better conditions are possible when the will is there to create them - not perfect, but far better than what we now have.
Its a brilliant thing that this country now has three charity hospitals; wonderful that there are still enough people caring & aware enough to create them - but its shameful that we need them. And I think its a particularly bitter irony that Sweden set up its wefare system based on ours at that time.

I've come to believe that having too much money is every bit as bad for humans as having too little; we need to perhaps find some way to curb greed  - perhaps an income ceiling as well as a floor wouldf be no bad thing. Every country should, as far as possible emulate those Nordic countries which consistently feature at the top of those 'happiest countries' list; the ones which have high taxes to cover things like education, health, welfare etc etc.

And I veer between thinking that BloodyRogerBloodyDouglas & his merry mates should all be tried for crimes against humanity - or given medals for the lesson in what evils slither out from under the rocks when unbridled greed is encouraged...

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Yes Mica I should not have ranted on here - but this generation of motel kids - some have been in a motel for 5 years - deserve far more - paying up to $4500 a week to multiple motel owners who have become multimillionaires after investing very little buying up old run down motels that would have struggled to get $300 a week - not sure why somebody worked demand the PM resigns for cleaning this horror up.
The Ministry have now admitted that the suicide office closing was yet another attempt to use our most vulnerable as a political football - closing the office was never on the table but incorrect info was released to Verall - don’t understand it .
Anyway a real good story - a young family had minutes to get out as the river flooded their house when Gabrielle hit - she put a lead on her cat - headed to Ahuriri to a friend - the cat slipped the lead and bolted as soon as the children opened the car door - as soon as Facebook was up and running she posted on every page she could find - was absolutely devastated as her cat was lost so far from home .Over the year since Gabrielle she has posted regularly just in case .Two weeks ago she did one of her regular posts and a lady contacted her - she had been feeding a cat under a nearby school for about 9 months -  had contacted SPCA - the family have since moved to CHB - so she left a message on the angels phone who had been feeding her cat calling her cat and talking to the cat in the way she worked normally talk which the lady put near the food - the little cat responded and for the first time came towards the lady - the little cat had travelled across SH 1 - across three railway crossings - through the busiest junction where traffic heads to Taupo - there was a photo in the paper of the children with mile wide smiles with the cat heading home
Hope Popeye is on the mend

 Jan, don't apologise - all of us need to vent sometimes, & in here is a afe place to do so, besides as Hunni says, it makes us all think....& some of us swear at the stupidity of humans..

Lovely to read of the litle cat finding its humans again. 

And on the subjest of cats - & dogs... daylight saving is a thing unknown to both Madame Le Cat & Madame Le Dog. They see no good reason as to why the human was still sleeping - or attempting to - at nearly five minutes past their breakfast time!
And proceeded to let the human know at various intervals during the alleged 'extra hour of sleep' we can look forward at the ending of daylight saving...the meows grew ever weaker & more pathetic the longer time went on as the poor,deprived little cat endured the throes of imminent starvation...encouraged by that damned dog, which is slightly worrying. 

If those two join forces I'm doomed...