There's been a theme in recent months that the poor are responsible for their own state of affairs. This is true to a degree, but nobody can successfully argue that the unemployed are in a position to create jobs, and in many ways the mantra of personal responsibility is being used as a way to abdicate the government's social responsibility to look after the less fortunate.
With his now infamous comments that beneficiaries who resort to food banks do so out of their own "poor choices," John Key shows he has no proper understanding of what poverty is actually like. "It's all their fault" is obviously a belief that the Prime Minister holds dear as a way to not feel guilty for the hardship National's repressive policy changes are causing.
The irony is that Key, who apparently grew up in a state house with free education and Social Welfare Minister Paula Bennett who took advantage of education funding and purchased a house in Taupo while on a benefit have both prospered remarkably under the welfare system, and then set about removing the ladder so that the same opportunities are no longer available.
It's a very ugly side of politics and our society that's in no way helped when the MSM promote hatred towards the less fortunate with outright propaganda.
The Listener's latest editorial (not online yet) is a prime example:
So what's the point in implementing policy that's never going to be used? Is Pamela Stirling saying that it's nothing more than another Balls-up Benefits dog whistle to get the hounds howling? Doesn't she understand that beneficiaries aren't stupid and will simply ignore any threats that aren't followed through?
The idiot editor is clearly basing her assumption that beneficiaries won't be bashed on nothing more than her own ivory tower ignorance. It's far more likely that National's policies that give WINZ the power to cut benefits if clients don't conform will be implemented whenever they can be justified, and sometimes even when they cannot be.
The flipside of their propaganda is the theme that New Zealanders generally believe everybody should have a fair chance in life. Strangely the MSM doesn't recognize the contradiction between giving everybody a fair chance and cutting welfare by $1.6 billion while the rate of unemployment continues to grow. The fact of the matter is that the government's social engineering is designed to save money and nothing more. It will not benefit society or help the welfare dependent one jot.
65,000 more people are unemployed since National gained power in 2008, but instead of focusing on creating employment opportunities, National is focusing on blaming the victims... And that makes them nothing more than a bunch of right-wing bullies. Role on the snap election.
With his now infamous comments that beneficiaries who resort to food banks do so out of their own "poor choices," John Key shows he has no proper understanding of what poverty is actually like. "It's all their fault" is obviously a belief that the Prime Minister holds dear as a way to not feel guilty for the hardship National's repressive policy changes are causing.
The irony is that Key, who apparently grew up in a state house with free education and Social Welfare Minister Paula Bennett who took advantage of education funding and purchased a house in Taupo while on a benefit have both prospered remarkably under the welfare system, and then set about removing the ladder so that the same opportunities are no longer available.
It's a very ugly side of politics and our society that's in no way helped when the MSM promote hatred towards the less fortunate with outright propaganda.
The Listener's latest editorial (not online yet) is a prime example:
Critics say punishing non-compliant parents by docking their benefits will impact most severely on their children, but in practice it will probably never come to that.
So what's the point in implementing policy that's never going to be used? Is Pamela Stirling saying that it's nothing more than another Balls-up Benefits dog whistle to get the hounds howling? Doesn't she understand that beneficiaries aren't stupid and will simply ignore any threats that aren't followed through?
The idiot editor is clearly basing her assumption that beneficiaries won't be bashed on nothing more than her own ivory tower ignorance. It's far more likely that National's policies that give WINZ the power to cut benefits if clients don't conform will be implemented whenever they can be justified, and sometimes even when they cannot be.
The flipside of their propaganda is the theme that New Zealanders generally believe everybody should have a fair chance in life. Strangely the MSM doesn't recognize the contradiction between giving everybody a fair chance and cutting welfare by $1.6 billion while the rate of unemployment continues to grow. The fact of the matter is that the government's social engineering is designed to save money and nothing more. It will not benefit society or help the welfare dependent one jot.
65,000 more people are unemployed since National gained power in 2008, but instead of focusing on creating employment opportunities, National is focusing on blaming the victims... And that makes them nothing more than a bunch of right-wing bullies. Role on the snap election.
