Election thinky thoughts
Well, New Zealand has gone and elected a right wing government.
Whether they stay sort of centre right and try to aim for some balance in their policies or whether they go further to the right and tip their balance in favour of business and the rich and away from the workers who also make up an essential part of the economy remains to be seen.
I tend to be pretty centrist in my views.
I think it's important to have a welfare system that supports people who become unemployed until they find another job. I think that there could be some merit to work for the dole schemes, I have seen people blob around on the unemployment benefit and take a long time to get the motivation to move on.
Supporting businessses so that they can grow is also important. I don't have a problem with small businesses being able to employ people for trial periods like the National Party has been suggesting. Lets face it, companies have been able to do that anyway with casual workers and short term contracts. Having things like minimum wages technically keeps things balanced for everyone. Workers earn enough that they can pay their rent and feed their families, and maybe they can use the skills they pick up in their current job and in their outside interests to climb to something bigger over time.
Worldwide financial crisis? It seems to be pummeling the US and UK at the moment. Hasn't hit us too hard yet. Economies go through booms and busts, it's just what happens. Things will recover. Maybe people will be a bit more responsible with debts and saving and making wise investments after this is over. Maybe people in charge of large mortgage lending companies will be a bit more responsible! Petrol prices are coming down here. This is a good thing. I think that with escalating house and food and petrol prices and debt over the last couple of years, some sort of opposite reaction was inevitable.
Health? Our system isn't perfect, but it could be a lot worse. It's nice having reasonably affordable doctors fees and knowing that people who can't afford health insurance or private care can still have operations and get broken legs fixed by the Government.
Lets hope the new government keeps things in balance, doesn't move too far to the right and doesn't indulge in any major screw-ups.
Whether they stay sort of centre right and try to aim for some balance in their policies or whether they go further to the right and tip their balance in favour of business and the rich and away from the workers who also make up an essential part of the economy remains to be seen.
I tend to be pretty centrist in my views.
I think it's important to have a welfare system that supports people who become unemployed until they find another job. I think that there could be some merit to work for the dole schemes, I have seen people blob around on the unemployment benefit and take a long time to get the motivation to move on.
Supporting businessses so that they can grow is also important. I don't have a problem with small businesses being able to employ people for trial periods like the National Party has been suggesting. Lets face it, companies have been able to do that anyway with casual workers and short term contracts. Having things like minimum wages technically keeps things balanced for everyone. Workers earn enough that they can pay their rent and feed their families, and maybe they can use the skills they pick up in their current job and in their outside interests to climb to something bigger over time.
Worldwide financial crisis? It seems to be pummeling the US and UK at the moment. Hasn't hit us too hard yet. Economies go through booms and busts, it's just what happens. Things will recover. Maybe people will be a bit more responsible with debts and saving and making wise investments after this is over. Maybe people in charge of large mortgage lending companies will be a bit more responsible! Petrol prices are coming down here. This is a good thing. I think that with escalating house and food and petrol prices and debt over the last couple of years, some sort of opposite reaction was inevitable.
Health? Our system isn't perfect, but it could be a lot worse. It's nice having reasonably affordable doctors fees and knowing that people who can't afford health insurance or private care can still have operations and get broken legs fixed by the Government.
Lets hope the new government keeps things in balance, doesn't move too far to the right and doesn't indulge in any major screw-ups.