4 ms·

“I typically ask people, ‘So you’re worried about the pitchforks. How much money have you donated to your local homeless shelter?’ This connects the most, in my

“I typically ask people, ‘So you’re worried about the pitchforks. How much money have you donated to your local homeless shelter?’ This connects the most, in my mind, to the realities of the income gap. All the other forms of fear that people bring up are artificial.” I like Max Levchins idea behind this statement. The underlying anxiety shown by a lot of the characters interviewed in this article display a real human dis-connect. There is nothing in the US (and other countries for that matter) that cannot be fixed with hard work, a bit of luck and investment in the right things. Maybe that is the real eye-opener. One of the things I have observed, in crisis the way individuals act, reflects their mental state. "The growing foreign appetite for New Zealand property has generated a backlash. The Campaign Against Foreign Control of Aotearoa—the Maori name for New Zealand—opposes sales to foreigners." NZ, a colonised country with a treaty, has all the same problems the US has in terms of inequity. Way more tribal and dangerous than the tourist brochures suggest. "The original silo of Hall’s complex was built by the Army Corps of Engineers to withstand a nuclear strike." The traces of hydrazine (H4N2), you get for nothing. ~ https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents/hydrazine.pdf https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-09/documents...

bootload 10y ago
another example: "Hawaiians call Mark Zuckerberg 'the face of neocolonialism' over land lawsuits" https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/23/mark-zuckerberg-hawaii-land-lawsuits-kauai-estate https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/23/mark-zuck... Bode well to get on with the local tribe with goodwill instead of using the blunt violence of the (questionable) law.
- bootload 10y ago
  "“Based on feedback from the local community we are reconsidering the quiet title process and discussing how to move forward,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. Hawaiians call Mark Zuckerberg 'the face of neocolonialism' over land lawsuits “We want to make sure we are following a process that protects the interests of property owners, respects the traditions of native Hawaiians and preserves the environment.”" 3 day reversal ~ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/26/mark-zuckerberg-reconsiders-forcing-hawaiians-to-sell-him-their-land https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/26/mark-zuck...
Tomminn 10y ago
In NZ there is free healthcare, free accident insurance and a decent welfare program. Being a capitalist country, there is still income inequality, but the situation is no way near as bad as it is in the US because of these safety nets for the bottom quartile. The homicide rate in NZ is less than 1 per 100,000 inhabitants. And almost all of those homicides are solved, because the police force is large compared to the number of homicides. I disagree strongly that NZ has the same problems as the US. If I lose my leg doing wheelies while drunk on a motorcycle cos I'm idiot, I will be taken care of at hospital, free of charge. If I get cancer, I will get surgery/radiotherapy/chemo till its beaten, free of charge. If I have trouble getting pregnant, the government will fund up to 3 IVF attempts. When I am prescribed drugs, they will basically only ever cost ~$5 a month. All this is possible because the government does a cost/benefit analysis to decide whether various health treatments are actually worth doing. And if it decides something is worth doing, it buys/trains in bulk. As a result, NZ spends ~$3200 USD per capita on healthcare, compared to the >$7500 USD the US spends. And if you're rich, then buy private health insurance. It's waaaaay cheaper, because the government program will happily use private hospitals if they pass the cost/benefit analysis. So private hospitals have a real incentive to provide health care cheaply. But back to the poor. Because of these safety nets, you can be super happy and relaxed in NZ even if you're in the bottom quartile. I would know. I'm in it.
- bootload 10y ago
  "the situation is no way near as bad as it is in the US because of these safety nets for the bottom quartile." I'm not kiwi-bashing, simply pointing out that rich foreign individuals, using NZ as a bolt-hole are faced with similar situation, just in a more dispersed population. "Of all New Zealand children, 22% live in families where the major caregiver receives income from a social security benefit.[0] That is around 230,000, or one fifth, of New Zealand children" This is supporting what you say wrt to welfare, about the same murder rate (0.9 compared to 1.0) to Aus. [1] The biggest thing I noticed last time I was in the North Island was Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi). For the Māori a means of citizenship and redress for stolen land. There is nothing like this in Australia (to its shame) and while I can see the results of standards of living supplied by the state, I'm not convinced the type of systemic, race based poverty is not found in NZ like the US. [2] I still remember the effects of Roger Douglas [3] on NZ in the 80's/90's while studying with my Kiwi mates. It is worse in Aus, the country is geographically bigger, without a treaty and to compare the two places, Australian Aboriginal males have a life expectancy of 69.1 [4] but from anecdotally it's more like 50. In NZ it is 72.8 ('13). "I would know. I'm in it." Kia ora @Tomminn [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_poverty_in_New_Zealand#cite_note-41 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_poverty_in_New_Zealand#c... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate#By_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Māori_people#Socioeconomic_challenges https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Māori_people#Socioeconomic_cha... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogernomics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogernomics [4] http://aihw.gov.au/deaths/life-expectancy/#indigenous http://aihw.gov.au/deaths/life-expectancy/#indigenous
bootload 10y ago
look another rat, Thiel this time, "Thiel's company revealed as Glendhu Bay property buyer" (2015) ~ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11787741 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&o...
bootload 10y ago
read "New Zealand passport row after PayPal's Thiel given citizenship" http://www.france24.com/en/20170126-new-zealand-passport-row-after-paypals-thiel-given-citizenship http://www.france24.com/en/20170126-new-zealand-passport-row... and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13489901 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13489901

bootload 10y ago

another example: "Hawaiians call Mark Zuckerberg 'the face of neocolonialism' over land lawsuits" https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/23/mark-zuckerberg-hawaii-land-lawsuits-kauai-estate https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/23/mark-zuck... Bode well to get on with the local tribe with goodwill instead of using the blunt violence of the (questionable) law.

bootload 10y ago
"“Based on feedback from the local community we are reconsidering the quiet title process and discussing how to move forward,” Zuckerberg said in a statement. Hawaiians call Mark Zuckerberg 'the face of neocolonialism' over land lawsuits “We want to make sure we are following a process that protects the interests of property owners, respects the traditions of native Hawaiians and preserves the environment.”" 3 day reversal ~ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/26/mark-zuckerberg-reconsiders-forcing-hawaiians-to-sell-him-their-land https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/jan/26/mark-zuck...

Tomminn 10y ago

In NZ there is free healthcare, free accident insurance and a decent welfare program. Being a capitalist country, there is still income inequality, but the situation is no way near as bad as it is in the US because of these safety nets for the bottom quartile. The homicide rate in NZ is less than 1 per 100,000 inhabitants. And almost all of those homicides are solved, because the police force is large compared to the number of homicides. I disagree strongly that NZ has the same problems as the US. If I lose my leg doing wheelies while drunk on a motorcycle cos I'm idiot, I will be taken care of at hospital, free of charge. If I get cancer, I will get surgery/radiotherapy/chemo till its beaten, free of charge. If I have trouble getting pregnant, the government will fund up to 3 IVF attempts. When I am prescribed drugs, they will basically only ever cost ~$5 a month. All this is possible because the government does a cost/benefit analysis to decide whether various health treatments are actually worth doing. And if it decides something is worth doing, it buys/trains in bulk. As a result, NZ spends ~$3200 USD per capita on healthcare, compared to the >$7500 USD the US spends. And if you're rich, then buy private health insurance. It's waaaaay cheaper, because the government program will happily use private hospitals if they pass the cost/benefit analysis. So private hospitals have a real incentive to provide health care cheaply. But back to the poor. Because of these safety nets, you can be super happy and relaxed in NZ even if you're in the bottom quartile. I would know. I'm in it.

bootload 10y ago
"the situation is no way near as bad as it is in the US because of these safety nets for the bottom quartile." I'm not kiwi-bashing, simply pointing out that rich foreign individuals, using NZ as a bolt-hole are faced with similar situation, just in a more dispersed population. "Of all New Zealand children, 22% live in families where the major caregiver receives income from a social security benefit.[0] That is around 230,000, or one fifth, of New Zealand children" This is supporting what you say wrt to welfare, about the same murder rate (0.9 compared to 1.0) to Aus. [1] The biggest thing I noticed last time I was in the North Island was Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi). For the Māori a means of citizenship and redress for stolen land. There is nothing like this in Australia (to its shame) and while I can see the results of standards of living supplied by the state, I'm not convinced the type of systemic, race based poverty is not found in NZ like the US. [2] I still remember the effects of Roger Douglas [3] on NZ in the 80's/90's while studying with my Kiwi mates. It is worse in Aus, the country is geographically bigger, without a treaty and to compare the two places, Australian Aboriginal males have a life expectancy of 69.1 [4] but from anecdotally it's more like 50. In NZ it is 72.8 ('13). "I would know. I'm in it." Kia ora @Tomminn [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_poverty_in_New_Zealand#cite_note-41 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_poverty_in_New_Zealand#c... [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate#By_country https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intention... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Māori_people#Socioeconomic_challenges https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Māori_people#Socioeconomic_cha... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogernomics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogernomics [4] http://aihw.gov.au/deaths/life-expectancy/#indigenous http://aihw.gov.au/deaths/life-expectancy/#indigenous

bootload 10y ago

look another rat, Thiel this time, "Thiel's company revealed as Glendhu Bay property buyer" (2015) ~ http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11787741 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&o...

bootload 10y ago

read "New Zealand passport row after PayPal's Thiel given citizenship" http://www.france24.com/en/20170126-new-zealand-passport-row-after-paypals-thiel-given-citizenship http://www.france24.com/en/20170126-new-zealand-passport-row... and https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13489901 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13489901